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Authors: Rebekah R. Ganiere

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BOOK: Rise of the Fae
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“Hey!” she said. “I like it rough, but this is a bit barbaric. Put me down.”

The vamp males turned on him. Neeman backed away and the group followed. He glanced behind, but Riley was still nowhere in sight.

“Stay where you are and I won’t take any of you into custody,” he shouted.

The vamps slowed but didn’t stop. Neeman unholstered his weapon. The female squirmed in his arms and beat upon his back.

“Put me down, you arrogant prick. Trust me, you won’t like me when I’m angered.”

“Shut up and I might let you live.” Neeman jostled her on his shoulder. He scanned the advancing males. “Stop, or die. Your choice. Is getting offed over a stupid human worth it?”

“A stupid human?” the female shrieked. “Why you son of a—”

A sudden jolt of electricity coursed up Neeman’s spine, making his muscles tense and his back arch. His knees buckled and he almost went down. Using his gun hand, he slapped the female on the rear. “Stop zapping me with that Taser, before we both get hurt!”

He leveled his gun at the group of vamps in a last attempt to stop them. He didn’t want to shoot. Doing so in the middle of the club would cause problems for Danika, but he refused to let himself get hurt either.

Suddenly another person appeared beside him and he glanced over to see Riley at his side, shirt untucked, hair mussed.

“Nice of you to show up.”

“Sorry, boss. That girl Lana was really… Yeah, well anyway, sorry.”

The vamps halted as Riley drew his weapon. Three bouncers joined the crowd and the vamps backed away.

Neeman swallowed hard, and without a word, holstered his gun, turned and strode from the bar. His adrenaline shot through him like a bullet and he knew it was only minutes before the shakes started. He stomped outside and took a deep breath, letting the now pounding rain slap his face. The perfume of damp earth and metal filled his nostrils, clearing the female’s scent from his head.

The valet moved swiftly to open the door of his SUV. Neeman threw the girl inside while keeping a firm grip on her arm. Riley slid in the driver’s seat and started the engine.

“Where to, boss?”

Neeman eyed the female in the backseat. “What’s your name?”

“What’s it to you?” She smirked.

All sweet innocence and allure were gone from her eyes. She crossed her arms over her open shirt, pushing out her ample breasts and glared at him.

“Where do you live?”

“Trust me, you can’t get to where I live.”

Neeman ground his teeth together. For all her beauty, she was quickly becoming a pain in the ass. “So you’re from a survivor camp then. Why the hell would you come into Chicago? You had to know you’d get caught.”

“I’m not from a camp,” she said with a sneer.

He held out his hand. “Give me the Taser.”

“What?”

“The Taser you zapped me with.”

She laughed. “The only Taser I have is me.”

Neeman growled and tried to keep his temper in check.

“Fine. Keep it. But if you zap me with that thing again, I’m gonna knock you out.”

She smiled. “I’d like to see you try.”

Neeman looked her over. She wasn’t dirty and her bikini and plaid shirt weren’t either. She couldn’t belong to someone in town. He’d have gotten a call about her going missing.

“Did you get out of Coven House?”

She stared at him for a minute. “I belong to Mason.”

All air sucked out of him like a vacuum. Mason had a slave?

“Do you know him?” she asked.

“I’m sure there are many Masons in Chicago.” Neeman’s mouth felt as if it had been swabbed with cotton and his tongue clung to the roof of his mouth.

She shrugged. “Possibly, but this one is the biggest male you’ll ever see and he’s mated to a coven lord named Danika.”

The blood and vodka burned back up Neeman’s throat.

“You do know him. I can see it on your face,” she said.

“To Coven House?” asked Riley.

“No,” said Neeman. “To the compound.”

The female sat up quickly. “But I told you—”

“I heard what you said.” Neeman faced forward. “To the compound,” he ordered again. He reached into his pocket for a smoke, but gripped the pack of gum instead. He pulled a piece from it and stuck it in his mouth.

He stared out the rain-soaked window as buildings flashed by. Mason. She was Mason’s slave.

If what she said was true, this was a problem. Probably for him, definitely for Mason. But either way, Neeman knew one thing for sure. There was no way Danika knew about the girl. And if he took her to Coven House, she’d be dead within the hour.

 

 

Chapter 3

 

Selene sat on the small white bed and stared at the door. She tried to piece together what had happened in the last hours. She remembered going to her apartment, and lying down on the couch to get over the trip. Then she’d got up and went out and… She’d just woken up in this room with the sexy blond vampyr thrusting a set of clothes fit for a drill sergeant at her and telling her to stay put. A worrisome sense of foreboding sat in her stomach. It had been decades since she’d woken up somewhere new and that had only been because of—

She leapt from the bed.

No. This couldn’t be happening.

She reached for her amulet, wishing she still had it. Taking a deep breath, she tried to retrace her steps from the night. She pounded her fists on her temples and focused. She started at the beginning, getting flashes.

In an effort to gain her bearings, she’d gone north to the park where she and Mason had found each other. She’d gone around on foot for hours taking in the devastation of Chicago, the buildings, the smells, the cars, the phones that had no wires, and the closed businesses. All of it was different. She’d kept to the shadows easily so as not to be seen in the darkness.

Going to the club had been a whim. With fifty bucks in her pocket and no idea what to do, she’d gone to get a drink. One thing she’d missed from this realm was margaritas.

That’s where things started to get fuzzy. She’d used her magick and the Vampire at the door had let her in. The vamp at the bar had given her a margarita without asking for money, and the vamps on the dance floor had flocked to her like bears to honey.

She’d been dancing, by herself, when the blond male had shown up and carried her out.

She got the vague sense she’d tried to charm him, but it hadn’t worked, because now she was stuck in this tiny room without windows, a prisoner.

“Way to go, Seraphine!” she whispered. She crossed her arms over her chest.

A chuckle of laughter sounded, chilling her soul. Real great way to spend her first day back in Chicago!

The door to the room opened and the blond male vampyr stood holding a tray of food.

He was handsome with shoulder-length hair and a stubbly chin giving him a rugged appearance. Memories of pressing up against him in the club and the feel of his sinewy muscles, which bunched and coiled beneath his clothing—

“I thought you might be hungry.” He stepped into the room and set the tray on a small table.

“I’m not,” she lied.

He looked at her and his brows furrowed.

“What?” She eyed the tray of food.

He shook his head. “Nothing, I just thought your eyes were a different color. At the club, they looked purple but they’re not. They’re jade green.”

Dammit. It was happening again. “Where am I?”

“You’re at the tracker’s compound.”

“Do you know Mason?”

“Yes.” Neeman crossed his arms over his broad chest and leaned against the wall.

“Can you call him?”

He looked at her quizzically. “I already did. We’ve had this conversation, remember?”

Crap. Selene crossed her legs and put on her best annoyed face. “Well?” she finally asked. “What did he say?”

“He said he didn’t own any slaves.” The blond shrugged.

Selene jumped to her feet. “But did you tell him my name?”

“Yup.” He watched her closely, making her cheeks heat.

Sheesh!
He was infuriating. “And?”

“He said he’d come down and take a look at you.”

“Take a look at me?” Selene’s anger blossomed. Her cheeks flushed with heat and she rubbed at them in annoyance. “You’d think I was a dog at the pound.” She turned from him and his icy stare.

It didn’t matter. What mattered was Mason was coming and he’d see her and take her to his house. Then they’d take up where they’d left off. Hanging out and doing whatever they wanted.

“Why did you lie?” the vampyr asked.

“What?” She spun to face him.

“Why did you say you were his slave when you aren’t?”

“Because…” She didn’t even know his name.

“Neeman.”

“What kind of name is Neeman?”

“What kind of name is Selene?”

She liked her name.

“It’s not your real name.”

“Anyway, Neeman, I said I was his slave because I’d hoped you’d take me to him.”

“How’d that work out for you?” He cocked his head to the side and chewed on a piece of gum. Selene had to squelch a flutter in her stomach at the sight. He really was quite an amazing specimen for a vampyr.

“Usually it works out fine.” She gave him her most beautiful smile.

His expression darkened. The gum snapped and popped in his mouth. “Not with me it doesn’t. I don’t like being lied to, or manipulated for that matter. If you want my help, you have to be honest.”

“Well you won’t have to worry about it after tonight. As soon as Mason comes, I’ll be out of your hair.” She let her smile drop.

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” he muttered.

“You think I’m lying again?”

Neeman shook his head. “No. Just mistaken.”

“How so?”

Neeman chuckled and snapped his gum again. “You really aren’t from around here, are you?”

“What does that mean?”

“It means things aren’t how they used to be when humans ran the country. Not in the encampment you came from and especially not here in the cities. Unless Mason is prepared to take you on as a slave, you aren’t going anywhere. And believe me when I say, I know his mate, and it isn’t going to happen.”

Anger flushed Selene’s skin. He had no idea. When Mason saw her, there would be no doubt. Whether he was now mated or not didn’t matter one whit. What they shared was a bond that couldn’t be broken by mating or years apart or anything.

“You’re different,” he said.

“Different. What do you mean?” She walked to the tray of food, picked up the lid, and picked at the food with her fingers.

“I don’t know. In the bar you weren’t so…”

“So what?” She looked up at him.

He shrugged. “Bitchy.”

She slammed the lid back down, pinching her finger. “You think
I’m
bitchy? Me? I’m not the bitchy one. I’m the nice one!”

Neeman opened his mouth to speak but there was a knock behind him. He snapped his gum and pulled open the door.

The years melted away as Mason entered the room. Selene’s head went fuzzy as she was flooded with wave upon wave of unexpected emotions. Her heart beat wildly but her stomach turned to gelatin as anxiety knotted her chest.

He shook hands with Neeman before turning to her. He stared for a long time, looking her up and down. He’d gotten older and his hair was longer but other than that, he was exactly the same. He didn’t move and her surety that he would take her with him ebbed away. The anxiety in her chest wound tighter and she feared she might pass out.

“Seraphine.” He crossed the room in one large stride and lifted her off the floor.

Crushed against his giant chest, she let out a sob and clung to him.

“Mael.” The feel of his hug was so familiar it was if she’d never been away from him. He shuddered and warm tears fell on her cheek. Memories long since buried rushed back to her. Long walks at night. The park they’d gone to visit that was no longer there. So many things. Years and years and years together. Times when all they had was each other. And now after being separated, it was like she’d never left to begin with.

They held each other for several minutes before he finally set her on the floor and pushed her to arm’s length to look at her again.

“I thought you were dead.” He brushed the tears from her eye. “Where have you been?”

“With my mother.”

He twirled a lock of her hair and tugged on it. “You cut your hair and went natural.”

“Yeah, there’s no such thing as hair color where I was.”

Mason nodded and his brows knit together. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m so glad to see you I can barely contain myself, but, why are you here? How are you here?”

The truth bottled up inside her like a shaken soda can. The pressure built and built and she wanted to release it before she exploded. She didn’t want to lie to him. It didn’t matter what her mother said, or what the elders of the fae wanted her to do to him. Let them come and try to wipe out the Earth, at the end both she and Mason would still be standing.

She opened her mouth to tell him the awful truth. To tell him about her mission to ensnare him and what was going to happen if she didn’t succeed. To tell about the fae and the demons and what was coming for him. All of it. Everything. But the words that tumbled out of her mouth were not her own.

“I escaped. It was terrible. You have no idea how they treated me. I couldn’t stand it anymore. I was no better than a
curlumon
. Only at least
curlumons
get patted down and brushed by their owners and a nice place to sleep after a hard day’s work. I had to get away. To get here. Back to you.”

She resisted the urge to cover her mouth with her hand. Her voice had been too husky. Hopefully he would attribute it to her being emotional.

The words that rushed out weren’t far from the truth. In a way, she had escaped and it was true about the things that had been done to her… She sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes in an effort to force away the images.

When she opened her eyes again, his golden stare pleaded with her. He wanted it to be the truth. She knew he did. But she read the wariness in his gaze. She’d seen that look before. She couldn’t blame him. She’d been gone for over twenty years, not a word, not a whisper, nothing. She held his stare. If she showed one ounce of nervousness, he’d know she’d lied.

BOOK: Rise of the Fae
3.17Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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