“I would be tied to just you?” I ask. “Not the rest of those twelve idiots? Because you mentioned sharing my blood with all of them, and I’m not too crazy about that idea.”
As I’d hoped, Elijah’s eyes fill with jealousy and possessiveness. “Of course not. I brought Parker here so that I wouldn’t have to share you.” He sucks in a deep breath and steps right up to my bars. “You’re mine, Nora. And I’ll kill anyone who touches you. You have my word.”
He’s getting more and more excited now that I’m not fighting him. He wants this union. He wants me. Badly. This is it. Time to use my feminine wiles on this guy. I’ve never done it before.
When I purposefully try to lure him in, he leans closer to my cage, as if he’s literally being drawn to me. Surprise rocks me. Am I doing this? Is this a power of mine? Like Cecile’s?
I grip one of the bars and look at him as if I’m falling under his spell instead of the other way around. I chew on my bottom lip, and his gaze falls to my mouth. His eyes glaze over. “Elijah…” I whisper. “Come closer.”
He does. Without question. Holy shit! I’m better at this seductress thing than I thought.
I lick my lips and push out my chest until it presses against the bars. I’m in a T-shirt that doesn’t show any cleavage, but I’ve got enough of a shape that the gesture still catches his attention. He gulps and places his hand around mine on the bar. “You can trust me, Nora.”
He really believes this. He believes he wants to protect me and take care of me. And he’s certain that once we forge our connection, I’ll feel so close to him that I’ll want to be with him as much as he wants to be with me.
He reaches through the bar to cup my cheeks in his hands. I place my hand around his wrist and allow him to touch me while I prepare to make my move.
“Nora…” he says softly. “I need you. Say you want to be mine.”
I know I’ll only get this one chance, so I give it everything I’ve got. I grip his wrists and yank him forward as hard as I can, smashing his face into the bars of my cage. The hit stuns him but doesn’t quiet knock him out, so I reach through the bars and grab him from the back of the head. “I’ll never be yours, asshole,” I say as I smash his head into the bars three more times, until his eyes finally roll back in his head.
A long, low whistle sounds and Maya says, “Nice move,” when Elijah drops to the ground in front of my cell, knocked out.
“The keys! Get the keys!” the man on my other side shouts. “Quick, girl! He won’t be out long!”
“No shit!” I snap. I’m already on the ground, checking his pockets.
Bingo. I get my cell unlocked and hurry to drag him in. He can probably unlock the bars with a magic spell, but I’m hoping it’ll slow him down once he wakes up.
I unlock Maya next and then try to unlock her cuffs. It doesn’t work. I need a different key. She gives me a pained smile and nods to the other cells. “Free the others. They can go for help.”
I was going to do that anyway, but I’m glad she agrees with me. I go to the man on my other side and unlock his door. The man is probably only four feet tall and looks grumpy. He gives me a solemn gaze. “Thank you, girl. The brownies will not forget this,” he says, and then runs out of the room before I can even reply.
“Yeah, thanks for your help with the others!” I yell after him.
“Hurry, girl!”
“Do me!”
“Get my door next!”
Though everyone sounds weak, they all seem to have come alive at the possibility of freedom. I quickly get to all of the cages and find one man also in silver cuffs. “The key is with the chains in the cupboards over there,” he says, pointing across the room. He sounds like he’s taken several beatings, or maybe he’s dying of silver poisoning.
“I’ll get it as soon as I get the others free.”
“Maya first,” he says. It’s noble of him, and I nod as I move onto the next cage.
I know the next person is Nadine by the sharp beauty of her and by the deep scowl on her face. “Hurry, human!”
Her eyes are red, and her fangs elongate as I near her cage. I hesitate to unlock the door. “Are you going to attack me if I let you out?”
“Unlock me!” she growls.
I don’t think she’s in control of herself, so I move to the next door. Let Parker help her after I wake him up. Nadine rages when I pass her cage and go to unlock Parker’s instead. I ignore the hissy fit and fall to the ground beside Parker. “Parker?” I pat both of his cheeks, then slap him a little harder when that doesn’t work. “Parker, wake up. I can’t carry you out of here.”
“He needs blood,” Nadine shouts. “They drained him to make him weak. He needs to feed.”
Crap. “This is probably going to bite me in the ass,” I grumble as I drag the key across my wrist to scrape it open. It’s not a knife, but it’s the best I can do, and a small line of red bleeds to the surface.
I hold the scrape beneath Parker’s nose. “Come on, Parker. Wake up. I’m not leaving here without you.” I shake him and hold my arm directly to his lips. “Come on. Your one chance to taste me. The buffet closes in three seconds. One. Two—”
Parker’s eyes flash open, and he grabs my arm, locking it to his mouth. I gasp as his teeth pierce my skin, and suddenly a warm sensation fills my whole body. I’ve never felt anything so good in my life. I want to smash my body against Parker. I want him to touch me. I have too many clothes on, and so does he. I just want to rip them all off and make sweet love to him for hours. I let out a moan. I think I’m starting to see dark spots, but I can’t tell because my world is overwhelming right now. I’ve never been so full of ecstasy before. If I’d known getting bitten by a vampire felt like this, I might have let Henry go for it rather than shoving a barstool through him.
The feeling disappears, and suddenly I’m the one being shaken. “Nora? Nora!”
“Holy shit, Parker. Is it always like that?”
“Damn it, Nora, that was dangerous! If I didn’t have the control I have, I could have killed you!”
“I trusted you.” I giggle, as if I’m completely drunk. “Now help me. We need to get the werewolves out, Nadine wants to eat me, and I can’t lift Shandra by myself.”
I blink my way back to reality and look around. A soft groan rings out, and Maya shouts, “Hurry, Nora! He’s coming to!”
“Shit!” I grab Parker’s wrists and jump to my feet.
The second I do, everything goes sideways. Parker catches me with a curse. “Damn it. You shouldn’t have fed me after Elijah took too much from you yesterday.”
“Whatever. Let’s just get the others.”
Parker shakes his head as he scoops me into his arms. “I don’t think so. The Agency will come back for them. I’m getting you out of here.”
“No way.” I struggle to get out of his arms and point to the wolves and Shandra. “I’m not leaving without Shandra! I promised Terrance. Get her out of here while I unlock the wolves.”
“Not a chance.”
“PARKER!” I push away from his chest hard enough that he drops me to my feet. “I’M NOT LEAVING HER!”
His eyes meet mine, and I shake my head. “Please, Parker. Just get her first.”
Whether he decides I’d just run right back in here—which I would—or he just wants to get on my good side, Parker nods, then runs to Shandra’s cage. I head for the cupboard with the keys to the silver cuffs, and by the time I find the key, Shandra and Parker are gone.
I run to Maya, but before I can get her free, Elijah is there. “You shouldn’t have done that, Nora,” he says, dragging me backward out of her cell by my ponytail.
I fight with everything I’ve got to escape his grip, but I’m weak from blood loss and he has some kind of inhuman strength. I toss Maya the keys as I’m dragged from the cell, but they don’t quite make it to her. “I’m sorry! But Parker will come back, I promise!”
She shakes her head at me, as if her safety doesn’t matter. “Be careful!”