“That sounds fine.” He took my hand and kissed the top. “One hour.”
Phew!“One hour.”
He left, and I let out a slow breath. It was going to be alooongnight. The thing was, it felt so easy to pretend I wasn’t mad at Stark, because a big ol’ part of me couldn’t believe he’d done this.
Why take my love and trust and then throw it all away?
He wasn’t stupid. I mean, yeah, in some ways he was clueless, but he wasn’t IQ-less. He had to know that sooner or later, I’d find out the truth.
Maybe he doesn’t care.Maybe this entire hoaxhad nothing to do with keeping my love. Maybe it was about power. There were members of the vampire world who still believed I was his Anna.
So if he turned me, he’d be my master, or “Anna’s” master. And if I went by that little speech he gave last night, our power would be joined once we married. Maybe this was about cementing his place at the very top.
Of course, if I was right, it meant I was the world’s biggest fool. I’d not only let him trick me into believing I was a vampire but that he loved me, too.
The pit in my stomach gnawed away like a rat working through drywall. Only, that rat was the truth, and the wall, well, that was my ego. And somewhere in there, hidden between the layers, was my heart taking cover. It knew it was about to get thrown into a blender.
My heart’s only salvation was knowing that Stark hadn’t turned me. Soon, I’d get back my sun-filled life, which included working at the Rooster, surrounded by friends and family. If I had those things, I could get through anything.
Even the difficulty of taking down Stark.
Because he needed to pay for what he’d done to me.
CHAPTER NINE
“What a bust!” At sunrise, I flopped onto my bed, mentally exhausted from pretending I was still in love with a monster and that I was a vampire.
Stark and I had gone swimming and then hiked to the waterfall, where we spent the night snuggling beside a bonfire he’d arranged ahead of time. We talked about the history of the island and how he’d won it in a war against another coven years ago. Me, I mostly talked about how much I missed my family, which he pretended to be sympathetic toward.
Mr. Fake all the way.
Yet there were moments when I’d stared into his ice-blue eyes and forgotten about his lies. Yes, the man was too beautiful for words, but that was not why I’d originally caught feelings for him. Completely false, misdirected, based-on-his-lies, and now defunct feelings, of course. He didn’t deserve my love, let alone love from anyone.Evil bastard!
Anyway, what had drawn me in originally was Stark’s layers. On the outside, he was a cold, ruthlessvampire who’d crush your skull just for giggles, but beneath his deadly veneer lived a careful man with a cunning intelligence I secretly admired.
Sure, he used that wily brain to manipulate, but he also came with centuries of wisdom and life experience. It was his mental fortitude that fueled his confidence and gave him an almost godlike presence, like nothing could ever break him. That was what had pulled me in, his fearlessness of life.
If it weren’t for his seedy ways, he just might make a decent catch. But he wasn’t, and I could never truly love an evil, self-serving, dishonest man.
Toward the end of our night, he’d wanted to get frisky, so I claimed to be too homesick after video chatting with Mamma and reading all of the texts from my worried friends back home. Everyone had heard rumors of my attack, and I felt terrible for not responding, but it would have to wait if I wanted to escape.
Unfortunately, I’d gathered zero information while hooked up to the Wi-Fi. Most of the sites were blocked, and they must’ve had a VPN because my maps app said I was in Wisconsin. Yeah, definitely not.
In short, I was no closer to getting home and could only fend off Stark for so long without him growing suspicious.
I have to come up with another plan. Fast.
Resting on my bed, I stared up at the faux-palm-frond ceiling fan. Thesun was about to come up, which might give me the opportunity to explore the island for a boat, but was that wise? Teri and Albert had mentioned there were security cameras everywhere. If I risked going in the sun again, word might get back to Stark.
I have to get out of here. I have to escape.
My mind reeled until I realized I’d been overlooking my ace in the hole.
I picked up the phone on the nightstand and dialed 0.
“You want me to what?” The look of fear in Teri’s eyes was palpable as she stood in the middle of my suite, wearing her khaki skort and boxy white blouse.
“I want off this island. Today. And you’re going to help me,” I repeated.
