CHAPTER FORTY

P iper’s body trembled as she stared at Oliver.

What the hell just happened?

What is he?

The worst thing was, she knew. He was a vampire.

Unless there were some other damn magical species on the planet she didn’t yet know about.

Oliver stood staring at her with an expression she couldn’t place. He looked pained. What the hell was his problem? He knew what species she was.

Holy shit. She had slept with him. Many times. Nausea suddenly hit her, and her hand flew to her mouth.

Oliver’s eyes widened and suddenly he disappeared and reappeared—or wobbled fast—or she was losing her fucking mind. And he was holding a bucket.

Piper didn’t know whether she did it or he did, but when she vomited, the bucket was under her chin.

“Piper!” Sage came flying into the room and skidded to a stop on her knees in front of her.

Sage?

Her eyes darted between the two of them as she wiped her mouth. Oliver ripped off his t-shirt and handed it to her.

Don’t look at his chest.

She wiped her mouth with the shirt and stared at her sister.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?” Sage asked, frantic.

When she glanced at Oliver, Sage shook her head.

“The men who kidnapped you. Did they hurt you?” Sage asked.

“What are you doing here?” Piper asked, confused.

“I live here.”

“With Oliver?”

Her sister lived with vampires. Oh God, were they holding her hostage? If so, Piper was determined to get them both free and expose them all.

“With Ari,” Sage replied. “Look, don’t worry, just know you are safe.”

Oliver groaned. “I teleported with her.”

Teleported?

Is that what had happened? She recalled the feeling of her body particles screaming apart and being thrown back together again. Over and over and over.

“You did what?” Sage said, whipping her head around. “Why?”

He let go of the bucket and stood. Piper moved away further from him, up the back of the couch. Sage narrowed her eyes in concern.

Yeah, Piper was concerned, too.

It appeared Sage was fully aware of their vampire powers, or whatever one called them.

“It was too dangerous to drive, and I obviously didn’t have a car.” He crossed his arms. “I needed to get her home safe.”

Piper glanced around the room, wondering where she was.

“This is my room,” Oliver said in response, as if he knew her every thought and nuance. Maybe he did after what they’d shared, but that no longer mattered.

“You need to get away from me.” She pulled the disgusting blanket from her kidnappers over her. “Get him away from me, Sage.”

“I just saved you.” He threw out a hand. “Come on darlin’, stop it. I know this is scary, but it’s me. Let me explain.”

Was he joking?

“You know this is scary? Are you kidding me right now? What the fuck are you?” she yelled.

Oliver frowned and re-crossed his arms. “You know what I am.”

“Just wait a minute,” Sage said, holding up a hand. “Just stop. Wait until Ari is here. This conversation doesn’t need to continue.”

Oliver took a step forward in front of her. “No. He’s not wiping her memories. She’s mine.”

What the fuckety fuck? She was most definitely not his.

“Like a slave? A pet? What on earth do you people—things—do here?” Piper cried. “I am not yours!”

Sage groaned.

“A pet?” Oliver frowned and shook his head. “Jesus.”

Piper glanced at Sage, who appeared embarrassed by her reaction. Was she a part of this somehow?

“Sage? What the hell is going on? Is this a kind of vampire cult?” she asked.

“Oh, my God! Now we’re a cult and keep humans as pets. I cannot believe this.” Oliver threw his arms in the air.

How dare he! He was the vampire.

“She’s scared. She doesn’t understand. When Ari told me, it took me ages to accept. And I had far more knowledge than Piper does right now.”

“Wait a minute. You’ve known all this time? I bloody knew it. Also, I’m right here, so can you stop talking as if I’m not. And I knew about vampires,” she cried, then pointed at Oliver. “He told me I was an idiot.”

Oliver leaned forward. “ He is right here, and you told me you loved me.”

The room went silent as that bomb dropped.

Sage gave her a look as Piper pressed her lips together, then a lightbulb went off in her head.

“Wait. Ari is a vampire too?” she asked, and Sage nodded. “I was right all along!”

“Nice deflection, darlin’.” Oliver growled and walked over to a stool to sit.

Sage began rubbing her leg. “You really are safe here. I promise.”

Piper didn’t believe a word of it. Her entire reality had been blasted apart. Yes, she had said she loved Oliver. She had also thought he was a damn human.

Now?

No. She couldn’t love a vampire.

Suddenly, he stood and began to walk out of the room. At the door, he stopped and turned. He looked directly at her with piercing eyes.

“By the way, if we choose, we can read minds. Thanks for sharing the truth about how you feel.” He spoke calmly, but she could hear the hurt in his voice as the door slammed behind him.

His pain sliced through her, and she tried to tell herself it didn’t matter. But it did. She just couldn’t let it. She swallowed and turned to Sage. “Can you take me home?”

Then her last thread of hope was lost as her sister shook her head. “No, Piper. I can’t.”

PIPER STIRRED AWAKE and stretched out on her bed.

Nope, not her bed.

She sat bolt upright and every muscle and bone in her body screamed.

She groaned loudly.

Blinking away the sleep, she glanced around. She was in a different room. After Sage had refused to take her home, and it had become clear she couldn’t leave, she’d asked if she could have another room. After all, this place was enormous. She’d seen it from the outside.

This was Ari’s mansion, and he ran a private security company within the walls. Sage also lived here because she was mated to him. A vampire.

Piper groaned.

Oliver was also a vampire, and she’d told him she loved him.

She groaned again and fell back on her pillows, pressing her face into the feather-filled linen.

Jesus.

She’d also been kidnapped by very dangerous men and was lucky to be alive. Thanks to Oliver, but she couldn’t focus on that right now.

Her tracker had been set off. Was her company looking for her? Or the local authorities?

She could be all over the news.

Missing journalist.

She climbed out of bed and on her way to the bathroom, she saw her bags. Piper needed to get to a phone. Her own had been crushed by Oliver, and she wondered if he would follow through with his promise to give her a replacement.

And what the hell did he mean by mine ?

She didn’t belong to him.

Piper had listened to her sister’s explanation about their way of life and trusted Sage believed what she said. It didn’t mean Piper did. As a journalist, it was her nature to ask questions and while she had expected the same from Sage—after all, she was a scientist—she seemed to have just accepted the status quo.

Now Piper had slept a few hours her mind was clearing. She had more questions. Namely, how the fuck would she get out of the mansion and find the authorities? Was there a way out of this life? Or, once you knew about vampires, like the Mafia, were you in it for life?

She wasn’t sticking around to find out.

First, she’d find out just how brain-washed Sage was. If there was no hope, she was going to save herself. If that meant having to play along with this charade, then she would do that.

And hope these animals kept their teeth to themselves.

She didn’t want to become anyone’s pet in the meantime.

Least of all Oliver’s.

How dare he let her fall in love with him?