“You ready?” Clark asked as he reached behind his back to withdraw the same dagger he’d used on me the night before. I stared at that glinting blade, catching the slight reflection of my face. Instead of the fear I expected to see swirling through my eyes, it was determination and ferocity. A strength I didn’t know I had.
I shifted my eyes from the dagger to his gaze, and then I lifted my chin. Just as he inched the dagger closer to my skin, I gritted my teeth, lifted my foot, and slammed my boot right into his balls. His eyes bugged out of his head, and his fisted hand released the dagger. It clattered across the floor. I yanked at the bonds that latched my hands behind my back, tugging with every ounce of strength in my weak-ass bones.
Somehow, I managed to stumble a few feet forward. Chest heaving, heart hammering, I aimed my sights on the distant doorway and charged.
And got yanked back before I’d even made it two more steps. The rope dug into my skin, burning me. Feet twisting beneath me, I tumbled back onto my ass. Whoever held the rope dragged me roughly across the floor.
Tears filled my eyes. Hot, angry tears. Growling, I dug my heels into the floor, but it was no use. I wasn’t strong enough to get away from this, not when there were massive guys with muscles the size of my head doing their damnedest to keep me here.
Clark suddenly rounded me with a dark look in his eye. Shoving his hands beneath my armpits, he hauled me to my feet. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
I smiled and then spit into his face.
With a guttural laugh, he turned to gaze behind me at where I knew Andrea waited to make her command. “You sure you want to do this?”
“Absolutely,” she said with a hiss. “Now, Clark. Before we lose the moonlight.”
“Alright.” Shaking his head, he snatched the dagger from the floor and returned to my side once again. His gaze met mine, heavy and dark. “I don’t want to knock you out, sweetheart, but I will if you try that again.”
“I’m not your sweetheart.”
His brow arched. “That mean you’re going to keep fighting me?”
I ground my teeth. The last thing I wanted to do was give in to this, but I also knew he meant every word he said. If I fought him again, he’d knock me out. I’d be dead to the world with no idea what was happening to me. What they weredoing tome.
“No,” was all I said.
And then he dug the knife into my skin.
5
Eva
Sharp, blinding pain lanced through my left arm, just above where he’d cut me last night. His eyes sparked as the blood began to pour from the wound, and he quickly grabbed a goblet from the tray. The blood dripped into the silver, and then he replaced it with another. And then another. Until all the goblets had a few droplets of my life force in them.
I gritted my teeth against the pain, fighting the urge to shove my knee into his balls. It would do nothing for me but bring the anger back into his eyes.
Andrea shoved me aside and greedily grabbed the tray, holding the goblets above her head for all the cult to see. “And now we will bless the chosen blood with the moonlight. The time is almost here, my friends.”
Andrea’s heels clicked on the floor as she strode over to the open window. A fresh breeze off the ocean rustled her hair, and the sharpness of her face went harsh beneath the glow of the full moon. With a brilliant smile, she held the tray up into the light. A sizzling sounded.
With a satisfied nod, she strode back into the center of the room and handed each of the goblets to the cult members. I watched them with narrowed eyes, my heart thumping, as Clark still held me in place. He was the only one who hadn’t taken a goblet.
“What happens now?” I asked him.
No response. The cult members held their goblets over their heads and clinked them together like some weird cheers a family might do at Christmas dinner. Only that wasn’t wine, and this wasn’t a joyful celebration. At least not for the world.
“Maybe it won’t work,” I said, raising my voice a little. Maybe if I could put some doubt into their heads, they...would what, exactly? Not drink the blood they already had in front of them? They might as well at this point.
I just had to find some way to stop them.Anyway. Caim had warned me what unchecked demons were like. I swallowed hard as I pictured his grim face in my mind. His warnings. What would happen after this cult transformed? I would be the first human any of them laid eyes on...what would they do to me then?
Andrea brought the goblet to her lips and tipped the black liquid into her open mouth. I took a step back and slammed into the hard chest behind me.
“You can let me go now,” I said in a rush of words. “They’ve got the blood. They don’t need anything else from me.”
Maybe he would let me go. Maybe I didn’t have to die tonight.
He grunted. “Not a chance, girl. They might need more.”
