He was a vampire; she was a mortal. If that weren’t enough of an obstacle, he’d freely admitted he went through more women than she went through underwear, and that heneededthose women to help keep him from going over the edge. She was the only woman here, and she’d been more than willing to welcome him into her body.
But that was over now; it was time to go. Once they were free of here, he would find someone else, and she would find her father. She hoped he’d still help her find her dad, but if he didn’t, shewouldfind him. She couldn’t think about what the Savages would do to him once they discovered her gone; she wouldn’t leave here if she did, and staying meant certain death for both of them.
Besides, she didn’t think Saxon would let her stay. He may not know why the Savages imprisoned her, but he wouldn’t let them keep her.
Rising, she gathered her clothes from the floor and went to the bathroom. She did everything she had to do before dressing and returning to the living room. A clattering in the kitchen drew her to it; she discovered Saxon pulling the tops off some of the cans and setting them on the counter.
“Don’t!” she cried when she realized he’d openedfivecans. She’d have to put them in the snow to keep them from going bad. “I can’t eat all that now, and I can’t waste it!”
“You’re never going to have to eat this shit again. This is your last meal in this place, so consider it your feast.”
She swayed at his words. Her last meal meant no more canned food. She’d known they were leaving, but as it fully sank in, she was almost giddy, and it took all she had not to dance around the kitchen singing “I’m free”at the top of her lungs.
The singing was probably best saved for a time when she wasactuallyfree of this place and when Saxon couldn’t hear her. She was aware her voice sounded like a cat coughing up a hairball whenever she tried to get lyrical. Their relationship may be coming to an end, but she wouldn’t destroy his eardrums before then.
Pulling the blanket closer around her shoulders, she staggered toward the table and sank onto a chair. Her breath plumed before her as she pulled a can of baked beans toward her.
“Freedom,” she murmured as she sank her spoon into the can.
“And better food,” he assured her.
“Hopefully, it will be reliable food.”
She had no idea what to do once she located her dad, how she would get him free, or where they would go after, but she couldn’t think about that now. One thing at a time, and the first thing was finding him. She could do it, but she didn’t know how to get him free of the monsters holding him.
As uncertain as her life had been while here, it was probably going to get worse soon.
“Reliable food?” he asked.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand before speaking. “My captors were vampires; sometimes, they forgot I required food to survive.”
Saxon’s hand clenched around the can opener. “Theyforgotto feed you?”
“A few times. I tried to monitor my rations, but even when I’d tell them I was getting low, I could sometimes go a day or two without food.”
Saxon set the can opener on the counter before he crushed it. “Why didn’t they turn you and make you one of them?”
She paused with the spoon halfway to her mouth. “You know the answer to that.”
He studied her as he contemplated this. “Because they planned to kill you eventually.”
“Yep.”
Which meant… “You’re valuable to them, but whatever you can do also frightens them. They don’t want you out there as a mortal or a Savage who could be caught and used against them. They kept you mortal because you’d be easier to control and kill when they finished with you.”
“Yes.”
Elyse stared at the can of beans as she stuck the spoon in it; she suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore.
“Did they ever compel you to do what they commanded you to do?” he asked.
“Compel me?”
“Vampires can control the minds of their prey to make them do what they ask or to make them forget things.”
Goose bumps broke out on her skin as he revealed this distressing little tidbit; vampires could controlminds! She swallowed the bile rising in her throat as she tried not to lose her breakfast. “Canyoudo that?”
“Yes. We can also cloak our presence from another and change what a person is seeing.”
