Wracking with sobs, I couldn’t help wonder if she was as much a prisoner as I was? And honestly I sat there, bawling my eyes out speculating if her situation was direr than mine. She was living with the enemy, sleeping with the enemy, nurturing the enemy.
I on the other hand, had the bitchin-of-all-half-demons on my side. And you can’t forget the little tidbit that we were soulbond. If anyone was going to come out of this predicament, it was going to be me.
Fact.
Now I just had to start believing it.
What worried me most was not if I would be rescued, but what could happen to Chase. The longer we were apart, the weaker we both became. So that meant my part demon better-half wouldn’t be at full capacity either.
That plain out sucked some serious ass.
Somehow I ended up falling asleep. My body was fried worse than a blistering Malibu sunburn. I had no idea how long I was out, but I woke up instantly alarmed with a hair curdling feeling chasing over my skin. My body went rigid as I lain as still as possible, listening.
I definitely wasn’t alone.
Gathering enough courage to open my eyes, I saw a glint of something shiny. Confusion clouded my brain as I slowly recalled this terrifying horrible dream I had. But when eyes focused on a face that looked an awful a lot like Emma’s dad, my heart plummeted.
He was leaning against the wall peeling a red apple with a very sharp and dangerous looking knife. Dressed to the hilt in black cargo pants, black t-shirt, and black combat boots, he looked like he had just finished an operative mission. All that was missing was a smear of black war paint under the eyes. Something told me he probably had gallons of the stuff in his garage. If he was going for the whole intimidation route, it was totally working.
I was quaking in my fuzzy socks.
Closing my eyes, I tried to pull myself together before I fell apart, which was the exact last thing I wanted to do in front of him. I didn’t want him to think that I was weak, or that I was going to break easy. I wanted to be brave, strong, and indifferent to his sick little games.
Now if I could only pull it off.
I had faced demons, hellhounds, and the school bully, one round with Emma’s dad should be a piece of cake. If there was one thing I knew about myself, it was that fear often made my tongue only that much sharper. I was counting on it.
“I was wondering how long you were going to feign sleep.” His voice gave me the heebie jeebies. Big time.
I blinked. “Geez, Mr. Deen, I was wondering how long you were going to hold me against my will. It’s a felony you know, kidnapping and whatnot. A pretty serious crime.” Emma’s dad scared the ever-loving-crap out of me. I was proud that I’d been able to control my voice, keep the shaky feeling from surfacing, because inside I was shivering in my sparkling converses.
His green eyes sharpened. I don’t think he expected me to call it for what it was. Super duber illegal. “Let’s skip the formalities shall we? Considering you and I are going to be spending quite a lot of time getting to know one another. Call me Eric”
“I think I’ll just call you like I see it. You’re nothing but a filthy criminal. A bastard.”
“Emma warned me you had tongue as sharp as a razor. Doesn’t surprise me since the kind of company you prefer. It’s no wonder you are rotten inside. They’ve poisoned you.” He cut a huge hunk of the apple with his hunting knife. “Poisoned your humanity,” he said, pinning me with his hateful gaze.
It was ten times as potent as Emma’s. I dug my nails into my palms to keep from shuddering under his spiteful scrutiny. This guy was off his friggin’ rocker. My humanity? I couldn’t be held accountable for what I said or did next. “What are you, a cult leader?”
The jagged blade moved to his lips with a slice of apple at the end. He ate the piece of fruit right from the tip of the knife. “What I am Angel…” his voice got scary low, and his eyes looked wild and crazed. “Is a savior.” He tossed the rest of the uneaten apple across the tiny room. It hit the solid wall with a juicy crack.
I jumped, sitting up at the end of the bed. He was only feet in front of me, leaning on the concrete blocks. Yikes. Someone had anger issues. His levels of weirdness just went beyond acceptable. “Why am I here?” I demanded, skipping the formalities. We were way past that now.
He gave an uncanny short chuckle. “You are going to get me what I’ve been pursuing for years.”
His mood swings were giving me whiplash. Yep, I was right. He was a total goner, a raving lunatic. Emma so needed to have a daddy dearest committed. ASAP. “What makes you think I would ever help you?” I didn’t even attempt to hide my disgust of him.
“You and I both know that you will help me.” His eyes darted to the four walls of my cell, smirking. “Really, what choice do you have?” The cockiness in his voice had me wanted to bitch slap him. It wouldn’t be the first time that I slapped a monster.
Or probably the last.
My hand trembled.