1
Eva
The barred window kept the rolling waves out of reach. I wrapped my fingers around the cool steel and tugged, even though I knew it was useless. Even though I’d already tried to yank them out of the wooden frame five hundred times since I’d woken up in this bedroom a few hours before.
Sighing, I plopped back down on the plush red velvet sofa and glared at the door. The last thing I remembered was two members of the Cult of Lilith showing up at Caim’s apartment and knocking me out. I’d woken up here—a surprisingly lush bedroom with original hardwood floors, an impressive four-poster bed with silky red sheets and soft-as-cloud pillows. A sitting area was tucked into an alcove, complete with this sofa, built-in bookshelves that filled an entire wall, and a massive TV.
It was surprisingly normal other than the barred windows. Oh, and the massive Lilith seal painted on the ceiling. In blood.
With a frustrated sigh, I pushed up from the sofa and strode over to the door for the hundredth time. Despite my exhaustion, I couldn’t sit still.
Fisting my hand, I banged on the door. “Hello! I know someone must be out there. Look, if you’re going to keep me as some kind of weird cult prisoner, the least you can do is give me some food.”
To say I was famished would be a massive understatement. Before the cult had so rudely abducted me, Caim had been on his way to grab us some breakfast bagels. That had been hours ago, and I still hadn’t had a single bite to eat. My stomach was practically gnawing on itself now, and I could barely think around the pangs of hunger.
The door suddenly whipped wide open, and I stumbled back from the shock. No one had paid me any mind so far. The woman who stood before me wasn’t the same one who had grabbed me from Caim’s loft. The brunette had a much more commanding presence. Her teeth were a bright, pristine white as she gave me a smile and a once-over with her slate grey eyes. She wore white, just like the others. A simple cotton dress that hit just above her knees.
“Hello, Eva. My name is Andrea.”
“I don’t care what your name is.” I fisted my trembling hands. “Let me go.”
Her eyes flicked down to my fists, and she cleared her throat. Two large, muscled men, also wearing white, whispered into the hallway behind her. A warning to me, obviously.
Make the wrong move, and these guys will take care of you.
Still, I didn’t release the tension in my hands as I continued to glare at her.
“It’s come to my attention that you’d like some food.”
“What I’dreallylike is to get the hell out of here. Why have you abducted me? What do you want? You’re obviously all deranged and—”
She lifted her hand as if toshushme. “We’ll answer all of that in due time. For now, you may eat.”
I opened my mouth to argue. As hungry as I was, it was nothing compared to my desperation to get out of here. Clearly, they didn’t go to all the trouble to abduct me just to let me walk out their front door. I wasn’t an idiot. But I wasn’t a demon either. I was human, just like them. So far, they hadn’t harmed anyone with a mortal soul. Maybe if I appealed to their sense of compassion and reason, they’d let me go.
Oh, who was I kidding? They were a demon death cult.
Andrea motioned toward someone else just out of my sight. They passed her a plate full of eggs, toast, and bacon, and instantly, my gnawing hunger rose up inside of me like an iron fist. I swore I even drooled a little.
Her smile widened. “That’s what I thought.”
I snatched the plate from her and hurried over to the alcove where I plopped it onto the oak coffee table, and then I dug in. In only minutes, the food was gone, and with it, the flickers of pain in my belly. By the time I thought to glance back at the door, it was shut.
I blew out a frustrated sigh. No answers then. After ‘checking’ the bars on the window one last time, I grabbed a romance book from the shelf and settled into the sofa. I wasn’t getting out of here anytime soon. Might as well keep myself entertained instead of glowering out at the distant sea for hours.
* * *
Just after sunset, a knock sounded on the door. I dropped the book onto the coffee table next to my empty plate and crossed the room in three quick strides. When I opened the door, Andrea stood before me, clad in yet another white dress, only this one was silk.
“We’re having our nightly meeting, and we’d like you to join us,” she said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
I wrinkled my nose. “You mean, a cult meeting? Yeah...I think I’ll pass.”
As desperate as I was to get out of this hellhole, I wasn’t about to sit through a meeting with a bunch of delusional cult members who were obsessed with bringing Hell on Earth. I’d rather get back to my romance novel.
Her smile turned sharp. “I’m afraid you don’t have a choice, Eva. Unless, of course, you wish to stay here forever.”
I stood up a little straighter.
