I start to capture that thought, but my hand jerks, and the pen scratches across the page in a jagged line. My throat seizes. Clutching my chest, I stagger to my feet, bumping into the table and knocking the notebook to the floor.
What’s happening to me? I need Gabriel. Killian.Someone.
Only the thinnest stream of air makes it into my lungs. The compartment door slams open. “Gabriel,” I croak. “Help…”
But a tall, pale woman with sleek black hair steps inside, her hand lifted toward me. Blood-red nails, sharpened to deadly points, flutter. I’m lifted off the ground, then slammed back against the window. I can’t move. Can’t breathe. Can’t scream.
“Don’t fight, Willow dear,” a lilting, hauntingly familiar voice calls.
My body relaxes immediately, and the woman lowers her hand, sending me crashing to the floor.
Hannah strides into the room, a placid smile curving her lips. For a moment, I believe everything will finally be okay. She’ll take care of me. But then I blink, and those perfect white teeth yellow and sharpen. Her brown eyes darken until they’re nearly black.
She’s not human. You can’t trust her.
“Calista, take care of her. Quickly. We don’t know how strong the warlock and his mate are. We might only have a few minutes before they realize they’ve been spelled..”
The young woman kneels in front of me, grabs my hands, and traces circles around them with a finger. Red ropes appear out of thin air, binding my wrists and tightening to the point of pain.
With a sharp nail, she traces anXover my lips, then stands. I try to scream, but I can’t open my mouth, and a thin whimper dies in my throat.
“Iwashoping to find your handsome protector in here as well,” Hannah says. “He resisted me back in San Francisco, and I’m dying to know how. But this is easier, I suppose. You’ll tell me all about him soon.”
I shake my head. I’ll never tell Hannah anything about Gabriel. If she finds out he’s an angel, she’ll want his power—and she’ll use me to take it.
“You don’t have a choice, Willow dear. I’mverypersuasive. After all, I had you in my thrall for two weeks, and you never suspected a thing.” She crouches down and drags her knuckle along my jaw. I jerk away from her touch, and her eyes harden. “Clearly I’ve stayed away too long. My control is slipping. Let’s remedy that, shall we?”
I whimper my protest, but Hannah curls her lips back. Pressing her index finger against one sharp tooth, she pierces the tip and a generous drop of blood wells on her skin.
No, no, no.
She’s a vampire? But…it’s daylight. And we went out in the sun more than once. Didn’t we? The few times she hugged me, she was warm. Not like Mist and Kàra and Ewan.
“I can see your confusion, my dear. It’s adorable. Truly. Don’t fight this. You’ll only cause yourself an endless amount of pain.” She grabs my chin hard enough to bruise.
My gaze zeros in on the blood. I’m screaming inside, but I can’t move. Can’t turn my head.
“The Fae power running through my veins lets me sway anyone’s thoughts with only my voice. Courtesy of my mother. But it was my vampire father who gave me the most precious gift. Have you ever heard the term ‘blood bound’?”
She doesn’t wait for an answer. “Once you have tasted even a few drops of a vampire’s blood, you will doanythingthey command. The more blood you consume, the longer the bond lasts.” Hannah sweeps her finger into my mouth and laughs. “I dosed your coffee every morning, Willow. You hold such power, yet you’re helpless to fight me.”
The taste of her blood on my tongue turns my stomach. I’d retch if I could move at all. Tears well in my eyes. I turn my gaze to Calista, silently begging her to do something—anything—but she bows her head, staring at the floor.
“Calista cannot help you,” Hannah says. “She was my father’s blood slave until he met the sun. She has belonged to me for centuries now. The one time she eventhoughtabout disobeying me, I cut out her tongue. She knows the next time, I’ll take an eye. Very slowly.”
How could I have ever thought Hannah was a good person?
Somewhere deep down, I know I need to keep fighting. To find some way to escape. But my head feels like it’s full of cotton. I can’t think straight.
What’s happening to me?
“I’ve been hunting the Blade for my entire life, Willow. Four hundred and thirty-two years. I’ve had kings, presidents, and dictators worship at my feet, but never a whisper keeper. With you in my thrall, I’ll be unstoppable.”
Thrall. Whisper. Blade.
The words mean something to me. I know they do. Hannah rises, and the motion stirs the air, bringing the most delicious scent to my nose.
Gabriel. I was with Gabriel. I love Gabriel.
