Terror fueled her fight as she kicked wildly, but herattacker was strong and she couldn’t stop him from throwing her through theside door of his van.She landed hard on a metal floor, and before she couldeven process the fact that her vision was dimming, she felt a blow that put herinto complete oblivion.
Her last thought before she lost consciousness was that shewould have been home right now if she hadn’t spent those extra ten minutesdebating between Cheerios and Frosted Flakes.
Chapter Two
Hawkyn groaned as he opened his eyes, the stench ofcharred flesh rousing him to consciousness.
He must have been struck by a bus.Or a bomb.Had to be.Ashis visionclearedhe realized he was in a parkinglot,laidout at the base of a light pole, and it allcame back to him.
He’d made a split-second decision that was probably a hugemistake.
He’d flashed to one of his Primori’s locations and, in aninstinctive reaction, had tried to interfere in a woman’s abduction, somethingthat was against Memitim rules.And he’d paid for it.But dammit, the prettyblonde had looked afraid and helpless, and he’d known full well what the ownerof the van was going to do to her.
But she’d clearly not been as defenseless as Hawk hadthought.No, she’d had a trick up her sleeve.A trick powerful enough to damagean angel.Which meant she was either nothumanor shewas a human who possessed the kind of magic that could be wielded by very few.Maybe a demon-slaying member of The Aegis or an investigator with the DemonicActivity Response Team.She could also be a witch or possessed by a demon.
Interesting.
He eyed her car, remembering the terror in her face as shewas dragged toward the van.Hawk had attempted to help even after she’d blastedhim, but she’d left him paralyzed, unable to do more than wiggle his fingers.Hell, it had taken as much effort as he could muster to even remain consciousfor as long as he had.
Headlights from an approaching car cut through the thick fogand blinded him, reminding him that he was still on the ground, in public,smoke wafting from a searing chest wound.Pain ripped through him as hestruggled to his feet.He needed to see a healer, and fast.Whatever the femalehad zapped him with wasn’t healing as rapidly as it should, and anything thatpowerful could continue to cause damage until the magic was neutralized.
Clutching his charred rib cage, he limped over to thefemale’s car and checked for ID, but the bastard must have taken her purse.Thevehicle registration, however, indicated that the Mercedes belonged to anAurora Mercer.Okay, now what?He’d interfered with fate by trying to keep herout of the man’s clutches...But had her fate been to be captured, or would shehave used her weapon on her attacker instead of Hawkyn?
Shit.He was going to have to fix this, and fast.
But right now, he needed medical attention.He just hopedAurora didn’t need it as badly as he did.
Faintly, somewhere in the distance, a roostercrowed.
A rooster?Usuallyit was theneighbor’s yappy dog that woke Aurora in the mornings.She wasn’t in her bed athome, was she?
Pain and cobwebs in her brain left her confused and panickedas she opened her eyes.Then shit got a whole lot worse.
She’d cometo inwhat appeared tobe a giant metal room, a box, maybe, lit by a single, dim bulb hanging by acord from the metal ceiling.Against one wall was a wheeled table, the objectson top of it concealed by a sheet.Was this a shipping container?Or a traincar?Didn’tmatter, she supposed, and thinking toohard about it only madeher headthrob more.Shetasted blood, and as she raised her hand to test her swollen jaw, chainsrattled.
Wincing, she looked down at the shackles around her wristsand ankles.The connected chains had been attached to hefty anchors in themetal supports in the wall.
Oh, God.Deep inside her chest, fear made her heart cower socompletely she swore it was pressing against her spine.
But hey, at least she had a moldy, stained mattress to lieon, and her abductor had left her water.In a dog bowl.There was another bowltoo, for going to the bathroom she assumed, given the partial roll of toiletpaper next to it.How thoughtful.
Shit, she was in trouble.
Closing her eyes, she reached deep for her powers, but theempty tingle she felt in her chest was as she’d feared; she’d blown her entirewad on the one man in the parking lot, leaving nothing for the second.
How many times had her parents warned her about keeping acool head in times of crisis?Her people had been warriors since the day theircreator had crossed a male human witch with a succubus who drained humans oftheir energy and life force.But Aurora had turned her back on that history.Had fancied herself a rebel...which was also a hallmark of her species.
Their creator had attempted to harness their power for hisown sadistic purposes, using them as soldiers in his bid to wrest power awayfrom the rulers of ancient human empires.But Aurora’s people had rebelled,killing him and his associates, and then they’d spread out, living amonghumans.Mating withthem.Practically becoming them.
And now, because she’d embraced humanity and forsaken herwarrior background, she was probably going to die a slow, torturous death, justas her annoying Navy SEAL brother had warned her.He’d tried to prepare her, tomake it clear that one should hone every skill they had at their disposal, andthat her stubborn refusal to use magic would fail her someday.
She hated that he was right.Shecouldpracticallyhear Aaron at her funeral already.
“I tried to tell her.Take some self-defense classes.Practice your magic.Build your stamina.Maintain situational awareness.Butno, she chose to live and die as a human rather than embrace what made herspecial.And now Ihave totake time out of my day forher funeral.”
Okay, so he wasn’tthatcallous.But still.He’d beso disappointed in her.
The sound of footsteps outside scared her out of the glibthoughts she shouldn’t be wasting her time with.Aaron would, no doubt, havespent his time plotting an escape.She’d just disappointed him yet again.
