Chapter 29

Icurled onto my side, clinging to unconsciousness like a security blanket.

I hurt. My head. My hip from the cold, hard surface beneath me.

My eyes were crusted with sleep, my tongue thick and swollen.

I swallowed and choked on my lack of spit, which brought me fully awake.

My eyelids popped open.

The baby. Jesus, the baby.

They'd kidnapped me. Knocked me out with some unknown drug. Had they hurt the baby?

Tears trickled from my eyes. I spread my fingers over my abdomen. No pain or cramping. That was good, right?

Please, please let him be okay.

I turned my attention to my surroundings. Pitch-black and musty. Hard-packed dirt, not concrete.

I waited for my eyes to adjust but it remained dark. So, a basement or cellar…or a crypt.

The fine hairs on my arms stood on end. Had they left me here to die?

Deep breaths.

Deep. Breaths.

I pushed myself to sitting with my palms against the cool, gritty surface. I wasn't tied up, and I was still dressed in the clothes I'd worn to my parents' house. They hadn't molested me. Another good thing.

But who…? And why…?

My mind supplied the answer.

"Talon will think you ran away."

A chill crawled up my spine. My nape tightened.

This wasn't about me. This was about Talon.

A few meters away from me, the air seemed to shift. I froze, concentrating on the spot.

The seconds ticked by. Then a glowing face appeared. A vampire, a male one. It was too dark to see anything but his face and throat, but he appeared to be seated on something because his face hovered three to four feet above the ground.

Lean, angular face. Prominent cheekbones. Short dark hair. And dressed in a suit from what I could see of his neck, which sported a buttoned-up collar and the knot of a necktie.

Against his paper-pale skin, his lips appeared to have been drawn on with black ink, his eyes dark holes like a nightmare come to life.

The inked-on mouth moved. "You're awake."

I didn't want to be awake. I wanted to curl up and pretend I was still asleep. But that wasn't an option, so I drew my legs in, knees bent, feet on the dirt floor and wrapped my arms around my bent knees, grateful for the warmth of the puffer jacket.

I didn't try and stand up. That seemed too chancy on my jelly legs.

Rubbing the crust from my eyes, I croaked, "Who are you?"

"You can call me M'sieur." A French accent, but not French Canadian like the dhampir in the SUV. This man sounded colder, more cultured.

An older vampire then. Typically, the longer a vampire lived, the less they recalled they'd been human once, too.

Panic coated my insides. I swallowed thickly.

"You're thirsty." He bent forward, then came upright again. I heard a cap being unscrewed from a plastic bottle, the sound loud in the hush. "Would you like water?"

"Yes, please," I said as meekly as I could. If I had to kiss this man's ass, I would. Whatever it took to keep my baby alive and well.

"M'sieur," he corrected.

I dug my nails into my palms. "M'sieur."

A thin smile. "That's better. You can have this water, but first, you have to do something for me."

I licked dry lips. "What, M'sieur?"

"You will record a message for me."

"What message?" This time, I didn't tack on the M'sieur, but he didn't call me on it.

"Tell her, Esposito."

I jolted. Someone else was in here, too?

"She needs a drink, first." A male voice.

"A sip, no more."

"Got it."

Footsteps in the darkness, coming in my direction, then Esposito hunkered down before me. Human—his skin didn't have that moon-like glow. I couldn't make out his features, though. Actually, I hadn't even seen him crouch; I'd sensed his motion.

"They're not going to hurt you or the baby as long as you do what you're told," he told me.

Yeah, right.

I lifted my chin. "Water, first."

"Here."

Something cold touched my arm and I flinched, until I realized it was a water bottle. I grabbed it and took a couple of gulps before he snatched it out of my hand.

"Just a sip, I said," he muttered.

"I was thirsty," I said as contritely as I could, adding, "Thank you."

I sensed rather than saw his shrug. "I have a phone here. He wants you to make a video."

The camera came on, set to film a video selfie, painfully bright in the darkness. I had to close my eyes for a few seconds.

When I opened them again, the light illuminated enough of Esposito's face to see his deep-set eyes and curly dark hair touched with silver. I was pretty sure he was the man who'd been driving the SUV. He looked familiar, but maybe he was from Lilith Island, someone I'd seen but never met. About 15,000 people lived on the island, too many to know everyone personally, especially a man thirty or forty years older than me.

Esposito noticed me eyeing him and withdrew his head further into the darkness. That was encouraging, actually. If he didn't want to be recognized, then he believed I'd be alive to identify him.

On the other hand, he was only a human servant. Who knew what the vampire intended?

"A video?" I asked.

"To send to Talon. Instructions."

"Instructions?" I repeated, my brain still fuzzy. "But why?"

The vampire answered. "Because if you don't, I will drain every drop of blood from your body and leave you and your spawn here to die."

My swallow was loud in my ears.

A bright blue line had flared to life around the vampire's irises. His tongue flicked out, like he was literally tasting my anguish.

The prick was aroused by my pain and helplessness.

"Do I have your agreement?" he asked.

"Yes," I bit out.

"Yes, who?"

My jaw tightened. "Yes, m'sieur."

"Good girl. Tell her what we want her to say," he told Esposito.

Esposito.

That's why he seemed familiar—he looked a little like Talon, especially around the eyes. They both had that sexy, hooded-eyelids thing going.

Could this be the shitty father, the one Talon saw only when the man needed money? Something told me not to say anything, though.

"Okay." Esposito's mouth turned down like he didn't like being part of this, but he dutifully gave me the words I was to say.

When he was finished, I swallowed queasily. Making this video might break Talon's trust in me forever.

"Ready?" Esposito asked.

Behind him, a small smile played on the vampire's inky lips.

He could've compelled me to obey him, but he hadn't even tried. No, he wanted to force me to do it on my own so he could watch me squirm.

Well, fuck you, too.

Anger pushed through the helplessness, energizing me, making me determined to do whatever was necessary to survive and escape.

I straightened my spine. "Let me hear that one more time."