“Don’t make me tie you up. It seems so unnecessary.” Jon’s voice was gritty but not too hoarse.
She took a deep breath and tried not to hyperventilate. Panicking wasn’t going to help her out of this. For some reason, her stalker didn’t want her to see his face. That was good, right? He wouldn’t kill her if she couldn’t identify him. For now, she had to use her knowledge as a psychologist and figure out who he was without angering him. “What did you think when we first met?”
He frowned, and darn if the mask didn’t move perfectly with his face. “Huh?”
Okay. He must really be in a delusional state. “Why are we here, Jon?” That was an innocuous statement.
He frowned and studied her as if she was missing brain cells. “We’re waiting for transport to headquarters. The plane is on its way, but the storm is hampering its travel. We might be here for several hours.”
Headquarters? “I don’t want to go to your spaceship,” she snapped, letting fear take over common sense.
He smiled, flashing those sharp canines again. “Stop playing dumb. You know you’re enhanced. What do you comprehend of the Kurjan people?”
Okay. This guy was beyond delusional. The outside door opened, and two more men wearing masks walked inside. Like Jon, they had on plain black pants and shirts. They paused and flanked the doorway, gazes flicking to her. They also wore the black and red wigs and the too pale masks.
Was this some kind of a cult?
“What’s up with the masks?” she asked.
Jon crouched next to her, still taller than she. His contacts had some red mingling with the purple. “You’re enhanced and you’ve created a marking already. Surely you know about us.”
It was like he spoke another language. “I have no idea,” she whispered. The guy smelled like too sweet musk.
He frowned, and the mask wrinkled perfectly. “Interesting. You’ve never heard of us?”
She shook her head. So far, he’d seemed rather approachable.
“Have you heard of species other than humans? Surely you have.” He placed a large and bony hand on her knee.
She barely kept from jumping away from his touch. His hand felt cold through her jeans. Other species? “Like animals?”
“No.” He chuckled. “Like Kurjans, vampires, demons, and so on. Well, I guess shifters are animals, but we don’t intermingle with them much.”
She tried to swallow over her dry throat. Were they going to drain her blood? “You think you’re a vampire?”
“Of course not.” His smile slid away from his blood-red lips. “I’m a Kurjan.”
“Oh.” She could play along a little, but she needed information. Were the white roses part of their ritual? “How long have you been stalking me, Jon?”
“Stalking? I just got the orders to take you this morning. Our techs narrowed down your location, and we followed you from your home today. Thank you for making it so easy.” He patted her knee.
“I didn’t see you following me.” She pushed his hand away.
He nodded. “We’re good at the job.”
She shook her head as the fear rose in her until it was difficult to breathe. “You’re talking in riddles. Did you or did you not send me the white roses?”
“I don’t send roses.” He leaned in to examine her eyes and ignored the fact that she shrank back. “Did I give you too much chloroform? Sometimes I get it wrong.”
“Please stop playing games.” There had to be a way to reason with him. “It sounds like somebody else ordered you to kidnap me.” If so, who the hell was her stalker? “Was it Raine?”
“Never heard of Raine,” Jon said. “Our techs found you based on a report filed in Dallas that mentioned a probable stalker with a mating marking on his hand.”
“Mating marking?” The only person she knew with a tattoo on his hand was Raine.
“Yeah. I’m sure the nerds caught wind of a marking and traced it back to you.” He leaned in to sniff her. “It hasn’t been transferred yet, so you’re free game. We’ve been collecting enhanced females for a while.”
She didn’t like the idea of being collected. “Stop this. Now. Take off the mask.” Her voice trembled but she faced him directly.
