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He host he&039;d once been called-like the ghost he could&039;ve been if the ruddy gods had been ht did little to shield him from the eyes of the millions who lived and worked in Manhattan, and so he took to the airways, flashing in and out of the crowds until he reached the quieter, less-populated parts of town
SoHo, and particularly the street on which the Roman brothers lived, was devoid of pedestrian traffic, almost suburban in its cleanliness and drawn-curtained s exposing the warht fro this location for their coression and heading toward his destination at an easy jog Though the building they lived within wasn&039;t difficult to find, if one was looking
And he was definitely looking
He rounded the corner of the warehouse, dropped to the ground just before the fence line, and planted five of his strongest ic deflectors Minutes ticked by as he let the deflectors do their job, pulling in and defusing the erly stepped across the line and leaped over the fence
They didn&039;t knoas coiven them a bloody save-the-date card, had he? But the Roht in Cruen&039;s laboratory nearly seven one to rubbish-when his first love had been one there to find Cruen, but had found his love in a cage, nude, starving for sex Believing her a Breeding Fe Lucian Ro Male to her Cruen had wished to force thee, in sexual pain, made his blood churn and heat in his veins He was ready to call in histo find Cruen, take hied to block hiic that both repelled him and destroyed histo ask for help, but it was becoic killed him
He beat his fist hard upon the wood, and in moments, the door opened Lucian Roman stood there, fraave hilare
"Been a while, Brit Boy?" Lucian said "You look like hell"
"&039;Course I do, Frosty I&039;ve been living in it for the past seven months" Synjon Wise nodded at the white-haired paven who had ood friend, Bronwyn, and was his chuffed equal at i pet names "Seven months and I&039;ve yet to capture the devil" Heasked "Don&039;t like asking for help, but it seems I have no other choice"
Hellen landed with a jolt, her feet sether, and her hand auto back for her bow But it wasn&039;t there
&039;Course it wasn&039;t there
She wasn&039;t hoe And she wasn&039;t in the arms of the bloodsucker she was promised to
Her heart pounded hard and fast in her chest, but she forced herself to calm Think Assess
Her eyes took aher She was still outside, but the landscape had changed Beneath the coolhills dotted with trees, and beyond, miles and miles of what appeared to be brown, spindly vines Where was she? Flowing up through her nostrils, the scent of earth was strange and lovely and begged her system to calm, but that wasn&039;t about to happen She&039;d been stolen, ripped away fro, the tank with ar her still
In fact, one of those arainst the wall of muscle that was his chest
Who is he? And how is he connected to Cruen? What did he want froet it?
Every ht, but the shift of space and distance had slowed her reaction tihtly fused as they normally were It was only the years of disciplined battle in the Rain Fields that allowed her to push past these new and frustrating lile
As the reen hillock, Hellen kicked and wriggled to get free As she did, her body slowly realigned Moans, grunts of pressure escaped her throat, and she slammed the back of her head into whatever she couldher, the ainst hiy, nored their need, their protest She hadn&039;t given up everything: her life, her freedoe to coe and heat and deteruts, she cried out in battle, arched her back, and slammed her elbow into the male&039;s belly
The pain came quick But it wasn&039;t his pain "Shit!" she hissed as her bone , worowled, completely unfazed by her assault "You will injure yourself"
His voice, a rough tiue, echoed in the cold air he dragged her through But she refused to heed his warning Again, she screaain she thrust her elbow back, then twisted and snarled and fought like the dele is useless," he said, his breathing unfettered, as though he carried an irritated child, not a fully grown, feral dereat use," she sputtered, refusing to stop fighting, "if I can get one good shot to your crotch"
He grunted as he moved swiftly down the steep slope of the hill "Tell me where your betrothed is and perhaps I will release you"
She would sooner believe a rogue dee to ask him why he wanted Cruen Had the bloodsucker she was toheinous to this male or his fao You&039;ve risked toorin "True But I could ease ain," she spat out caustically "And one I would certainly ain, I do not knohere uest will cause that information to surface"
"Not a chance," she returned, then whipped her head to the side and hit his cheek with a resounding smack It hurt like hell, but she didn&039;t care She reveled in his quick and pissed-off curses She had to get away froet horowl vibrated against her neck and the male came to a fierce halt at the bottom of the verdant valley He released his hold on her waist, only to grab her shoulders and whirl her to face hiood foot off the ground
"Demand?" he repeated caustically "You demand froet one thing very clear, woman There will be no deain Fro to me You are my prisoner and my bait Only when I have back as stolen fro you"
She stared at hiaze It was all she could do, as her throat and tongue refused to work Gods, she was pathetic She hung there, ily fearful She had been raised by theof all beasts, in fact Abbadon was the Devil hily, feral, and he loved to strike fear in every cell of everyone he encountered But this malethisblack hair, severe catlike features, and silver eyes that smoldered with deterant threats No, thisher hostage was fueled by soerous Deep e the fearsome creature desperately wanted, and Hellen knen to her very core that he would stop at nothing, not even the proet it back
The male watched her, knew her mind raced with assessers dug into her skin as he stared at her His lip curled and the rowled "This dangerous ga hi an attitude of confidence had always served her well in the past
"I play at nothing," she said through gritted teeth
He glared at her as if she were soive you one chance Tell me where your beloved is, where the location of your soon-to-bebed resides, and I will return you"
She shook her head, nostrils flaring "I can&039;t help you"
Fury glittered in his diamond eyes "A liar and a hellion"
She didn&039;t deny the latter, but he was kidding hi to him "Do you really think I want to re to gain in that"
He sniffed arrogantly, as though the ansas as obvious as the sneer on his face "If you would mate with Cruen, you would also protect him"
"You think Cruen needs protection?" she said with a trace of black humor "Clearly you don&039;t know hiine"
The corners of the male&039;s full lips curled up into a demonic smile He pulled her closer The scent of hile, and perhaps so in her belly as well
"You have seen this power up close, have you?" he asked, his face a th from her own
"Of course," she lied She had no intention of letting him know she&039;d never met her fiance-that, in fact, she&039;d basically been sold to the bloodsucker "And if you don&039;t return me this very instant, that power shall be released on you Are you and those you love prepared to die for this cause?"
His face turned to stone in an instant His nostrils flared as he pinned her with a look so still, so cold, she thought her breath would be visible when she exhaled
"Yes, woman," he said "I am prepared to die"
Hellen didn&039;t say another word She never had the chance Without warning, the male tossed her over one shoulder and started up the rise Panic shot through her and she continued to fight, using every part of her body that wasn&039;t contained But even as she fought, she kneas no use He was irew tight, the air fighting to get in and out If she didn&039;t find her way to Cruen, mate with him, her father would punish her sisters, perhaps even force one of them to wed the bloodsucker in her stead She&039;d sworn to their mother before the female died that she would care for her sisters, protect them from Abbadon, the male her own mother had been forced to wed And Hellen had-she&039;d done everything she could to keep that proetting in her way
Facing backward, nearly i to glance over her shoulder She wanted to see where he was taking her Under the bleak light of the ray stone castle spread out across the land, its four turrets rising up to the clouds With its slit s and acres of grapevines in ruler-straight rows, it was iht her prison would look like
An iron gate surrounded the property, and a pair of massive wooden double doors announced the entrance When the male stopped before theh her field of vision hadn&039;t been opti the quick surveillance over her shoulder, she&039;d seen no guards The ate, wouldn&039;t he? She waited, slowed her breathing, and combed the landscape behind them for the best route once she broke from him-the thickest stand of trees, the darkest spots within the small forest
It was in that rowth of trees in the distance, that her ears caught the sound of quick pain, and her nostrils the scent of blood
She gasped, flinched, thinking that it was her own blood she scented He had cut her How had she ain as her mind searched for the point of pain on her skin But this tiht-based awareness she was striving for and sent flares of sick panic coursing through her
Thethe wound toward the gate, blood dripping froround
"You&039;re a bloodsucker!" she cried, as he pressed the wound against the lock
He hissed, perhaps at the pain of it or the coolness of the metal Perhaps at her
"You&039;re a vampire," she continued, true fear within her no hadn&039;t she guessed this? He wanted Cruen It stood to reason whatever issue they had would steed world
"You sound horrified," he said with mild amusement
There was a sharp click, and the double doors drew back at a slow, even pace
"I as The blood You bit into your own flesh"
"Get used to it," he said, carrying her toward the front door of the castle "The paven you are to ill be biting into far "
She didn&039;t want to get his h she saw it clearly in herNot the sex; she could blank out and open her legs easily enough But the bite of a va sucked out of her It sickened her She began to struggle once again as he moved up the stone steps and entered the castle