Stealing Time (8 page)

“Which would be where I come in,” Liam said, grinning as he stalked toward me. I crouched in a fury, confused by Kore’s words and the barbaric laws she described, but determined to take a chunk out of anyone’s hide if they so much as laid a hand on me.

James moved to intercept Liam, as the dark vampire from our escort came up behind me, reaching. I spun toward him, fangs out and ready, when a vise-like hand closed around my neck. Whirling, I lashed out with my foot and broke the other escort’s grip, but the first guy moved incredibly fast and got hold of my arm. Even as I turned on him, hissing, the second one got my other arm. Employing everything I’d ever learned in training, I broke free of both. A third male joined the fray and I was surrounded. Taking up the ready position—balanced, arms up and loosely held—I eyed my opponents, gauging which was the weakest, when James’s will overlaid mine and his voice rang out, “Evie, be still!”

Instantly, my hands dropped to my sides and nothing I did could force them up again.

James’s haunted eyes met my gaze for the space of a few breaths, then he turned away to face Liam. The three guys were on me in the next moment, hard hands grinding muscle into bone as they held me pinned between them—one on either arm, the third behind me, his grip painful on my neck. I was powerless and didn’t even have the satisfaction of cussing them out as one ran his hand down my side, brushing my breast in passing and laughing at my sharp, enraged inhalation.

As James and Liam circled one another, power flowing unfettered to fill the air around them, the hand on my throat tightened. I felt the male’s breath wash over the side of my face as he whispered, “Liam has granted me access to you, female.” His hand ran down my hip to squeeze my rear. The guy on my left chuckled as I rolled my eyes, helpless and silent, screaming in my mind with fury and revulsion.

A savage roar rang out and Liam leaped, hands reaching, fangs bared. James dodged the attack and spun back to hammer the blond across the face, rocking the guy’s head with the force of the blow. Liam cursed and rubbed his jaw. Feinting a vicious kick at James’s belly, he lunged, this time getting an elbow into James’s throat before he whirled clear. The combatants’ power swelled higher, free of the mature vampires’ control and hammering against each other just as their physical bodies strove for dominance.

I never knew that rage had a taste, a scent. That it could thicken the air, could crawl along your skin and get in your head, filling your mind like heat lightning. But James and Liam’s combined fury, the anger rolling off of Kore, Duni’s hostility, the three males holding me pinned…it all combined into a thick, roiling miasma that oozed deep into my senses, clouding my thoughts, suffocating my awareness of
me.

As James and Liam battled, I shrieked silently inside the prison of my body. Muscles would not respond as I fought with everything in me. It felt like the skin of my face was stretched taut over bone while my breath came in great, wheezing gasps. The more I fought, the more the seething rage gave way to helpless panic, like cold, dark tendrils slithering across my senses, blocking out thought and reason. Sensing my growing fear, the hard hands squeezed, enjoying the fact that all I could do was roll my eyes as they deliberately pressed their bodies against mine.

Instincts churned, that primitive part of me rousing to howl its defiance at the increased restraint and violation, and the drive to lash out and punish overrode the fear. The need to
fight
roared through me, to claw and tear, to sink fangs deep into flesh and destroy those who would contain me. Sensing my aggression, one of the males raised his fist as if to backhand me and I met his gaze, battle instincts fully aroused. I vowed to myself if the opportunity presented itself, I would kick this guy’s ass, and I let him see this determination—felt a moment’s triumph as his face blanched and his hand slowly lowered.

The sounds of shattering glass and sheet metal being ripped like tissue paper drew my eyes back to James and Liam’s combat in time to see the blond fall from high overhead, along with part of the catwalk he was standing on. James crouched in what must have been the old manager’s office window, broken glass covering his hair and shoulders like a sprinkling of diamonds.

That’s when it hit me that there was more at stake here than just my being held and pawed against my will. I remembered James’s description of having to fight to exonerate himself before the tribunal and my heart lurched at the realization that this was a kill-or-be-killed battle. Regardless of countless movies and books in which alpha males fought over the damsel in distress, there was nothing romantic about the idea that someone might die because of me. The thought was appalling. Gut-churning. A sour taste filled my mouth and I swallowed hard, frustrated by my inability to do or say anything that might help.

I sensed the watching vampires’ rising excitement, sensed their enjoyment of the violence and their anticipation of death. Duni’s head swiveled in my direction and I turned my eyes to hers, infuriated by the gloating expression on her arrogant face as she watched me struggle within James’s bindings.

Kore’s laughter rang out and I turned my eyes back to the fight, horrified to see James driven to his knees by the force of Liam’s blow. Fangs bared, the blond roared and leaped for James’s throat, snapping on air as James got clear, somersaulting above Liam and landing ten feet away. Bellowing with rage, the blond’s charge brought him straight into James’s fist. Using his momentum, James rotated at incredible speed, catching Liam by the throat and lifting him high overhead before reversing direction and slamming him into the concrete so hard, it shattered under the vampire’s body.

Twisting, Liam got his legs twined round James’s and threw him to the ground, pivoting in an attempt to pin him. James rolled, catching his opponent across the face, snapping his head back and knocking him flying. The combatants leaped to their feet and stood facing one another, terrifying and feral in their battle rage.

At some unseen signal, they lunged at one another, blows flying impossibly fast as each sought to get the other in a hold, wrestling to get close enough to bring their real weapons—their fangs—into play. Back and forth, they fought across the warehouse, at one point slamming into the furniture and sending vampires scrambling to get out of the way. Liam threw a huge chair at James’s head, snarling with fury as he caught it and hurled it back, nailing the blond in the face before he could duck.

While Liam was blinded by the furniture’s bulk, James raced at him, knocking his feet from beneath him, landing on the blond with his full weight and all his power in the blow. Liam’s head cracked the floor, sending chunks of concrete flying. And, for just a moment, the blond lay dazed. James struck in a blur of speed, sinking his teeth into Liam’s chest and ripping him open. Just as fast, James’s hand disappeared inside and the blond froze, his eyes on James’s face as he lay at his mercy.

Panting, James snarled his triumph over his helpless opponent, and even as part of me recoiled from him—an aggressive male, fully aroused, power unchecked—something primitive inside me stirred. Then James shuddered and his eyes closed, and I sensed that he wrestled with his instincts, fought against their control just as furiously as he had fought Liam. When he opened his eyes, he was James again, his gaze pale-green, his fangs retracted, his astonishing power neatly contained.

Keeping his hand inside the blond’s chest, he stared at Kore. When he spoke, his voice was harsh. “I have no wish to kill your pet. Declare this pathetic excuse for justice at an end and I will release him.”

Visibly shaken and rigid in her anger, her eyes fell to Liam where he lay, frozen. Without looking at James, Kore rasped, “It is done.”

“Say it all or, so help me, I will crush his heart in my hand,” James roared.

The Ancient’s eyes flashed and her voice was thick with rage. “I stand witness. James Wesley, you have kept that which you would hold. The changeling remains yours and Liam’s claim is renounced.”

James nodded slowly. Removing his hand from inside the blond’s chest, he stood, keeping a watchful eye on the fallen vampire. Apparently, treachery was not unheard of among those who were defeated but allowed to live, and James was taking no chances. When Liam stood, his furious gaze on James, I was astonished to see through his shredded shirt that the hole in his chest had closed, the skin was once again perfect.

Removing his jacket with angry jerks, James scrubbed his hand on the fabric, ridding it of Liam’s blood, then wadded the thing up and hurled it into a corner. He stalked over to me, his eyes flaring as he took in the three males holding me.

“Get your hands off her,” he snarled and the guys couldn’t let me go fast enough. Wrapping his arm around my waist, his power enfolded my awareness when he spoke. “Come.” I could once again move but still could not speak.

My legs were like rubber, though, and James had to support my weight as he half-carried me back up the stairs, through the warehouse and out onto the street. We’d gone a few blocks before I regained control of myself and tore free of his hold, flinging his hand off me like it was a snake.

I took off down the street, running hard and fast, wanting only to put the experience far behind. Rage and horror filled my thoughts and burned along my skin. It was as if all the energy I’d expended trying to free myself had collected inside me and had found an outlet. Stripping my mind of reason, it drove my body to greater speed. My senses expanded to track the night around me and that new primitive awareness resolved that I would not be taken again, not without a fight.

Flying down the sidewalk, I blew by a drunken human couple so fast, the wind of my passage knocked the woman down and almost took the guy with her. Crossing an intersection, I had to leap to avoid a bus and hop-scotched over three parked cars, denting the hoods of each as I landed on them at speed.

“Evie!” James called and I redoubled my pace, wanting to leave him far behind too. At the moment, my instincts saw him only as a controlling male—one who had bound me against my will and was now in swift pursuit.

My frantic flight took me back to Central Park and I had no idea if I’d somehow gone in a circle or if the park was just that big. Fleeing into the dark, I jumped a rocky outcropping and was collecting myself to leap a small duck pond when James appeared in front of me.

“Please, Evie, stop,” he murmured, his hands out in a soothing gesture.

I skidded to a halt rather than run into him, since I knew if he caught hold of me I wouldn’t get free until he decided to let go. Baring my fangs at him, I hissed a warning, the only vocalization I was capable of since he’d bound me to silence.

“Let me explain,” he began and straightened, relaxing with the apparent thought that I’d hear him out. When his guard dropped, I took off like a shot and cleared the duck pond effortlessly. “Evie, dammit!”

The memory of being held, of being helpless, pounded in my thoughts. I drove my feet faster, reveling in the cold air whipping my cheeks, my long braid flying out behind me.

And then James was running by my side, not speaking as we flew along. Infuriated, I dodged down a dark path and through a tunnel, hissing to see that he kept pace. Coming to a clearing, I stopped and he blew past, but before I could take off again, he returned, watching me warily.

Pacing back and forth, I glared at him, breathing hard not from running but from the emotions tearing me up inside. Betrayal, hurt, confusion, anger—it was all zooming around in my head, arcing almost painfully along my skin.

He came closer and I pivoted to hit him, hard, with both fists. James absorbed the blows, not lifting his hands to block me or protect himself. This infuriated me further and I backed away, watching as he slowly followed. The rough bark of a large tree stopped me and, in a fury, I whirled and hammered it as I’d hit James. There was a loud
crack
and the trunk split down the middle as the top half slowly toppled to the ground. I stood there staring at it, my heart in my throat, horrified.

With a soundless cry, I put my face in my hands and sank to the ground. It all came crashing in and I realized that, no matter how fast I could now run, I’d never escape the realities of my new existence.

“Evie?” James whispered and I sensed him kneel beside me, felt his hand on my shoulder. “I am so very sorry.”

His power enveloped my awareness and I knew that my voice was back, although what the hell I could say after…
everything,
escaped me.

“Will you come home with me?” he asked quietly. “So we can talk about what happened?”

Anger heated my cheeks and I lifted my face to glare at him. “I have a choice?”

He flinched and I had to look away from the pain in his eyes.

“I will honor your wishes. Tonight…you must believe me when I say I had no other option. Had I not done…what I did…Evie, you were in grave danger. Kore could have had you killed and I would have been powerless…”

“Powerless?” I whispered. “Like being held against your will? Like being incapable of moving or speaking, even when some douche bag has his hand on your ass? That kind of powerless?”

He bowed his head and we sat there for a time, not talking.

After a while, I had a better handle on the rage that had burned through my veins. My skin no longer tingled and my eyes felt normal. I sat curled in on myself, arms wrapped around my legs, my forehead on my knees. James’s gaze was palpable.

I grew more calm and the habits of a lifetime asserted themselves. Replaying the night’s events, I tried to consider all that had happened with an objective view, the way Gran had raised me to do. I could see that James had been manipulated into the fight—both the pathetic excuse Kore had given for summoning him and Liam’s drummed-up interest in me.

I could also see that James had chosen to fight for me and I had no illusions that life would be vastly different if I were in Liam’s control. As well, there was the choking knowledge that Liam would not have been as merciful as James if the fight had turned out differently.