“How about we agree to meet in a public place, in half an hour, and we can discuss anything you want?”
“Ma’am, please open the door.” I looked back out of the peephole, and a large bald man blocked my view of the other two. “I’m afraid I must insist.”
“Is he serious?” I asked into the phone.
Roan chuckled. “He’s serious.”
Baldy stepped back and the third man moved forward. I heard a voice through the phone, deep and strong. I gasped when the doorknob began to glow. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m sorry,” Roan said. “This wasn’t my idea.”
The door opened with a pop andBaldy pushed his way inside. I started spraying the pepper spray and launched myself backward toward the couch, where I had my revolver in the drawer of the end table.
I didn’t make it. As I fell, I pointed the pepper spray toward the door with my right hand, and reached for the drawer with my left, but when I hit the ground, I most definitely wasn’t in my living room any more.
All the breath left my lungs, and my body ran cold.
I wasn’t in my apartment anymore. And the men were gone.I was in a cell. The walls were made of gray brick, and the door was metal. There was no doorknob that I could see.
“How is this possible? Hello?” I ran to the door and banged my fists against it. “Help!” I screamed. “Where am I? Hello?”
I got no answers. I turned back to where I fell into the room, but there was nothing in the air but air. No sign of a doorway, or a way to transport a person from one location to another one.
A small bed sat in the corner with no bedding on it. That was it. The rest of the room was bare—and tiny.
I screamed in frustration. When that brought no one to my aid, I screamed again and again until I finally collapsed on the bed, throat raw. Then the tears came, and still, nobody came to save me, or at least explain what in the hell was going on.
***
Tears leaked from my eyes. I’d been lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling for what felt like hours when I finally heard voices in the hall. Being confronted with the possibility of answers should’ve excited me, filled me with hope. Instead, I dreaded what might be coming. What if whoever was coming wanted to hurt me?
I wasn’t given much time to ponder the possible risks, because the door slid into the wall, and a slender man with long black hair walked in. He wore a suit, black on black. He was absolutely stunning in a bad-guy, rip-your-heart-out sort of way. My heart raced in fear, but my panties didn’t care that my heart was scared.
Pull it together Jen, don’t be an idiot.“Are you here to explain to me what the hell is going on?” I found my backbone. It was right where I’d left it, in my living room floor hours and hours before. “Whodo you think you are to kidnap me, apparently with magic, to some dank prison cell?”
“Hello, Jenieviere Leah Johnson.” His voice was smooth and rich, and flowed over me like a warm shower. My instincts went on high alert. The man was dangerous.
“Hello. What’s going on? Why am I here, and how exactly did you get me here?” I squared my shoulders and pretended his knowledge of my full name wasn’t chilling. When it came down to the insanity I’d faced since my trek out of the courthouse, the matter of him knowing my name wasn’t such a big deal.
“You are here until you decide to come clean about what you are and why you exposed yourself in front of a large number of humans.”
Of all thethings.“I don’t know what happened. I don’t even know what day it is or how long I’ve been in this cell. I don’t know anything! Why don’tyouexplain it to me? I have rights. You can’t arrest me, magic or not.”
“You have no rights. You broke Unseen law, and you must give valid reason or face the consequences.” His voice grew frostier, and I would’ve sworn the room itself chilled. “What are you?”
“I. Don’t. Know.”
“Shift now, please.”
“It’s not that easy! I couldn’t have shifted back if that Roan guy hadn’t helped me. And when I tried it again, it took a hot bath and intense focus. And music. I don’t know any more than you do about what’s going on.”
He shook his head. “I’d hoped you’d be honest with me, and something could be worked out. I dislike punishing beautiful women.” He turned toward the still-open door. “Perhaps a few days alone will change your mind.”
“What?” I jumped up and ran after him, grabbing his arm. “Please don’t leave me here. I don’t know what’s going on.”
He looked down at my hand, apparently contemplating his words before gently removing it from his arm. “There hasn’t been an undiscovered species of Unseen in a thousand years. From Roan’s account, you are something unknown. Unless you choose to reveal your bloodlines, you’ll stay here where we can keep you from exposing yourself to the general public again.”
My jaw unhinged. “You’re keeping me here. You’re not kidding. This isn’t legal. This isn’t possible. Why?”
