Tasha

It figured that I finally fell in love with someone and not only do they not like rock music, but they also actually think people still watch DVDs. Sure, Wanda was older than me, but she wasn’t eighty for cripe’s sake.

“You need a babysitter, huh?” Mark asked with a smile. Something about the way he was looking at me made me nervous.

I realized it was a weird request for Wanda to ask him to stay with me while I was in one of my private residences. We never did that, unless there was a party or some other reason for strangers to come inside. Most of the time, I preferred that no one came inside besides Chloe. And Monica.

Monica. I was still irked with her. How dare she talk to Wanda like that? When she’d started to insult my mate, I’d seen red. And I’d also called her my mate in my head, which was the exact moment I realized that I’d fallen in love with Wanda.

I’d never been in love before. I’d never even believed love existed, if I was being totally honest. And I certainly never would have thought that I’d fall in love with anyone. But there was definitely something different about Wanda. Something that called to me, attracted me, and made me the tiniest bit obsessed with her.

After that hot kiss we’d just shared, I decided that I needed to give into the inevitable. I wanted a relationship with Wanda. And when this was all over, I was going to tell her that. We could date and hopefully have sex and see where things go from there.

That was the last thought I had before everything went dark.

When I woke up again I was cold, my hands were tied behind my back, and I had a splitting headache. Pushing myself up to seated with a groan, I tried to figure out where I was. Judging by the musty odor and the tiny windows placed up high on the walls, I was in a basement somewhere. And it was nighttime.

I wiggled until my fingers touched the back pocket of my jeans. Unfortunately, the cell phone that had been in my back pocket last time I was conscious was now gone.

What the hell was going on? I heard the sound of a door opening, then a harsh fluorescent light turned on overhead. I blinked.

“Ah good, you’re finally awake. I made you some dinner.”

My mouth dropped open as I saw Monica come down the stairs carrying a tray of food, like she was delivering room service. She gave me a cheerful smile, the same way she always did when she cooked for me. At least until Wanda had come into the picture. Her demeanor had cooled significantly after that, even before she caught us making out.

“What time is it?” I asked, my voice scratchy. “What day is it?”

Monica handed me a bottle of water, then when she realized my hands were tied behind my back she put it down.

“It’s still Tuesday. You’ve been out for a few hours, I guess Mark hit you harder than he meant to.” She laughed lightly. “Sometimes my brother doesn’t know his own strength.”

“What?” I yelped. That was when I felt the throbbing bump on the side of my head. “Have you guys kidnapped me?”

“Some people might consider it kidnapping,” she said glibly.

It took everything I had to not start screaming, but I knew I probably needed to be calm.

My throat was so dry I started coughing. “Can you please untie me so I can have some water?” I asked, trying to make myself small and non-threatening.

“Okay Tasha but don’t try anything funny. Mark is just upstairs, and he won’t like it if you act out.”

She pulled a pocketknife out of the pocket of her chef’s jacket and for a second, I thought she might stab me with it, but instead she leaned behind me and cut the bindings from my wrists. I brought my hands around, shaking them to bring the circulation back to my arms.

Monica handed me the bottle of water and I was glad that the lid was still sealed so I knew it was safe. At this point I wouldn’t put it past these people to drug me.

“Monica, can you tell me what’s going on? Please?”

She pushed the tray of food closer to me and I ignored it, despite the hollowness in my belly.

“You know, my brother’s been set on you for a while,” she began, settling on the floor across from me like we were just having a friendly visit. “You run hot and cold with him though. Sometimes you’re real friendly and flirting with him, other times you act like he’s the hired help. We’ve both been praying about it, and it seems to us that you just need to spend some time with Mark and get to know him, and then you’ll fall in love with him and realize why God has brought you together.”

She fingered that giant crucifix she always wore around her neck.

“God?” I asked in confusion.

Monica beamed like I’d gotten the right answer on a test. “Yes. It’s preordained that you two be together. And once you’re married, you and I will be sisters.”

She looked positively thrilled at this idea.

“Monica,” I said as gently as I could. “I’m a lesbian, you know this.”

“Oh sure, you say you’re a lesbian, but we’ve been working for you for a long time, and you never actually have a girlfriend. Neither of us have even seen you kiss anyone.” She made a sour face. “At least until that vamp came along.”

This didn’t feel like the time to talk about how a person could be lesbian and demisexual. They hadn’t seen me be romantic with another woman because it had been a long, long time since I had an emotional connection with someone that led to sexual attraction.

And it had never happened almost instantly, the way it did with Wanda. The more I researched about cross species mating between supernaturals and full humans, the more I realized that my ability to connect with Wanda so deeply and so quickly had to be the magic of the mate bond. There was no other explanation for it.

Wanda. I wondered if she knew I was gone yet. She must, if I’d been gone for hours. With Monica and Mark gone too, she’d know they were involved, but I didn’t know if she’d ever be able to find me.

“Are you the ones who’ve been sending the letters?”

Monica nodded.

“And the dead animals?”

“That was Mark’s idea,” she beamed. “He figured if you got scared enough, you’d start reconsidering your life choices, especially with him around to protect you. Now that you’re here, the three of us can live together as a family. And when you give my brother babies, we can all raise them as a family.”

I’d never understood what it meant for someone to look psychotic before, but now I did. Monica was coo-coo crazy and if she and her brother thought I was going to live her in the damned suburbs and be a baby breeder, they were even crazier than I’d initially thought.

The most troubling thing was that both of them had always seemed relatively normal. To find out that they’d created some out of this world fantasy about me was scary as hell.

I took another drink of water, finishing the bottle. My mind raced furiously as I replayed everything that Monica had told me. I assumed that Wanda and the bears were looking for me, but I had no idea how much of a head start we’d gotten on them. I needed to be smart and examine my options.

“Where are we?” I asked.

“This is mine and Mark’s house,” Monica said. “I know it’s not as fancy as you’re used to, but Mark wants you to raise your children in a nice middle class lifestyle, just like we were.”

“Just so I understand, Mark wants me to be his wife and the mother of his children, and he – you both – thought the best way to make that happen was to terrorize me with threatening letters and dead animals and then kidnap me?”

“Well, we wouldn’t have had to do any of this if you’d just paid attention and done what you were supposed to do,” she said calmly. “Soon you’ll realize that Mark is the one you should love.”

“Can’t Mark find his own girlfriends?” I asked. “Why do you have to help him?”

“Because I’d do anything for my brother. Anything.”

Crap. There was a good chance Wanda and the bears weren’t going to find me here and even if they did, I had no idea what Monica and Mark were planning for me. I needed to get myself out of this situation before one of these psychos really lost it.