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VIKTOR DROVE ME TO my apartment where I fed the cat, who sat on the back of the couch and glared at me the whole time, and packed a small bag of clothes. I didn’t know how long I’d have to stay at Viktor’s. If I had my way, I’d turn myself over to Sebastian at the first chance I got. All I needed was for Viktor to give me a few minutes alone.
“Are you hungry?” Viktor asked once we were back on the road.
“No. But I could really use a drink.” I hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but Viktor chuckled and a part of me relaxed when I heard it.
“I know just the place.” He made several left turns so that we were going back toward the college campus. But then he dipped in and out of back alleys and side streets until I was so turned around I just closed my eyes and waited for us to stop.
We pulled up to a fine-dining restaurant and I immediately gave Viktor a look. “I can’t go in there dressed like this.”
He shook his head. “That’s why we’re going in there.”
I followed his eyes to the other side of the street where a rounded stone bar jutted out from the corner. There were no flashing lights in the windows or people lined up around the block to get in. In fact, I wasn’t even convinced it was open.
Viktor got out of his SUV and opened my door faster than I could grab the handle myself. I slid out onto the sidewalk, pulling down the man’s shirt to make sure it covered my hips in the yoga pants. Walking beside him, I noticed how quiet the street seemed and wondered again where we were. There was something here that called out to me. Not in a literal way, but some vibe...something familiar tugged deep within my memories.
“You coming?” Viktor asked. He was holding the door to the bar and giving me a strange look.
“Yeah,” I mumbled, walking past him and stepping into an empty room. “Where are we?”
Viktor brushed his hand against my lower back and pushed me further into the bar. And I use the word “bar” loosely. A small wooden serving bar sat against the one wall, while four bistro tables had been pushed against the other wall. With it being a row house, the whole place was maybe twelve feet wide. No wonder why no one else was in here.
“An old friend owns this,” Viktor answered. “I thought it would be a quiet spot.”
“Does anyone ever come in here?” I asked, looking around at the dust in the corners of the wooden floor.
“Only when I allow them,” a gruff voice answered.
I looked up, surprised to see an elderly gentleman with the body of an Olympian starting back at me from behind the bar. His hair had already turned silver and his face looked leathered and sun-stained, but his impressive size would still intimidate men half his age.
“Owen,” Viktor said with a laugh, “So nice to see you again.” He stepped forward to great the giant and gave him a hearty handshake and genuine smile. “You look good.”
“And you haven’t changed one bit,” Owen said with a shake of his head. “Immortality. Gotta love it.”
Viktor chuckled and gestured toward me. “This is Sophia Glen.”
Owen held out his hand and I placed mine in his. He squeezed it extra tight as he studied my face. “A vampire hunter?” Turning toward Viktor, he added, “Need a little excitement in your life?”
Viktor opened his mouth to answer, but I cut him off. “We’re working together.”
Owen grinned and finally dropped his grip. “I bet you are.”
I huffed and readied myself for a reply, until Viktor shook his head at me. “We just need a little night cap, Owen. Got anything old?”
“Old? Huh. I don’t think I have anything as old as you but I may have something that aged properly.”
Owen turned and looked at the bottles he must have had hidden under the counter. When his eyes caught the light, I caught a slight glow to them. No, not a glow. A reflection. Like an animal. I must have made a noise because both Viktor and Owen looked at me in amusement.
“Want to ask?” Owen teased.
“What?” I said, trying to play it off. I failed miserably.
“Go ahead, hunter. Ask.” Owen lifted a bottle of scotch and presented it to Viktor who nodded in approval.
“Are you a shifter?” A guttural laugh filled the tiny bar, and when Owen was finally finished I crossed my arms and glared at him. “Why are you laughing at me?”
Pouring three drinks, Owen couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off his face. “You sound so...scared. I’m surprised really, given your chosen career.”
“I didn’t choose this career. I had no choice.”
“You always have a choice,” he replied, handing one glass to Viktor and lifting the other toward me. “And the answer is yes.”
“Yes?”
“Yes. Cougar, puma, mountain lion...take your pick but that’s what I am.”
A cat shifter. I thought about my housecat that slept no less than twenty hours a day and acted like I reeked of decay the other four. It must be nice being a cat.
“I’ll let you two be,” Owen said, interrupting my thoughts. “Nice to meet you, Sophia.”
Viktor nodded toward one of the small tables and I sat down across from him with my drink. I wasn’t really a scotch drinker, but tonight seemed to be the night of firsts, so why not? I took a sip and was surprised by how much I liked it.
“So, he’s a big cat?” I asked.
Viktor smiled. “He is.”
“And how long have you known him?”
He tilted his face toward the ceiling in thought. “Almost one hundred years now.”
“What?”
Viktor took a drink and then raised his brows. “How much do you know about shifters?”
“Enough.” When he continued to stare at me I sighed. “Okay, not much. But I’m guessing they live longer than regular humans?”
“They do.”
“And they are friends with vampires?”
“Some of them.”
“And those friends will help us find Ezra?” I whispered, suddenly feeling sad and remembering the events of the day again.
“I believe they will.” Viktor watched me as I took another swig but he didn’t say anything else.
“No one told me how they got him.”
“Ezra?” Viktor asked.
“Yeah. How did Sebastian take him? He’s the most skilled hunter we have.”
Viktor set down his drink. “There were too many. I imagined Ezra made a choice not to fight in order to give us a chance to save him.”
I thought about that for a second and then shook my head. “No. Ezra would never choose not to fight.” Especially not if he knew what they really wanted, I mused.
“If he died, they would still come after you, Sophia. Ezra knew that and you know that. This was the only way he could buy us time to come up with a plan.”
“But we don’t have a plan yet,” I said, finishing off my drink.
“Want another?” Viktor asked.
Shaking my head, I continued. “We don’t even know where to start—”
Sophia.
The whisper came from behind me and I jumped in my seat and turned to face the door.
Sophia, come to me.
Chills raced down my neck and my bite flared to life. I stood and rubbed at the spot, feeling my chest tighten with each breath I inhaled.
“What’s wrong?” Viktor placed his hands on my shoulders and I jerked away.
Sophia.
“Do you hear that?” I asked in a panic.
“Hear what?” he asked, his voice deepening with concern.
And just as I was about to explain, a searing pain raced down from my neck to my toes and I doubled over in agony.
“Sophia!” Viktor shouted. “What’s wrong?”
Viktor and Owen’s words faded into the distance as the whispering voice grew louder inside my head. Out of my control, I started to walk toward the door. Viktor tugged me back, but I couldn’t stop my forward progression.
“Well that’s pretty crappy,” Owen said. Somehow I understood his commentary better than what he and Viktor had been speaking about a few moments ago. But their voices quickly disappeared into muffled words again and I kept moving toward the door.
Viktor let me go, but I felt him close behind me. I think he kept asking me what was wrong and where was I going even though I never answered. I simply walked toward the voice calling for me.
Sophia.
“I’m coming,” I said automatically. When we stepped onto the sidewalk, I turned to the right and walked into the shadows of the neighboring building. Viktor held onto my arm but kept scanning the environment around us like a predator.
“Sophia? Come on, snap out of it. We have to get out of here.”
My skin tingled with excitement and warning as a vampire stepped out of the shadows. It wasn’t Sebastian based on the size. He was a tiny man, shorter than me. Maybe not meant to be a threat? My hunter instincts flared, yet there was something different about this vampire.
“Sophia.” The man opened his mouth and the words came out, yet they sounded like Sebastian and not this stranger.
“A minion,” Viktor breathed. “Jesus, he’s powerful.”
“What?” I asked in a daze, still pulled toward the man yet fighting the curiosity inside.
“This isn’t a vampire, Sophia. He’s a human messenger being controlled by Sebastian. Most of us can’t do that.”
“How is he controlled?” I studied the man and we looked into each other’s eyes for what seemed like minutes.
“By blood,” Viktor growled.
I wanted to ask more, but yet I was drawn to the messenger in front of me. He opened his mouth and spoke my name again. I shivered with the way my bite wanted me to go to him.
“Sophia, you are so beautiful.”
Viktor stepped in front of me. “Call him off, Sebastian.”
The man laughed like a robot being controlled by someone else—which was exactly what was happening here.
“I have a proposition.” The man dragged out the sound of the word long enough to snake through the silent air around us.
“No,” Viktor shouted.
“You will come to me, Sophia, or your friend will die.” The stranger standing in front of me looked too kind to say the vile words and threats spewing from his lips.
“Let’s go, Sophia.” Viktor tried to pull me back toward the car, but I couldn’t make my legs move.
“This will be your last warning.” Sebastian’s words terrified me. But then his minion handed me a small package wrapped in black velvet. “You have twenty-four hours to come to me willingly. Otherwise you will never find all of the pieces.”
As soon as the words left the man’s mouth, he collapsed to the ground and hit his head so hard, I knew he must have knocked himself out. At the same time, my bite calmed and the pull I’d been feeling rushed from my body in a wave of relief.
I looked down at the cloth and felt the warmth of something trickling over my hands. Fear throbbed against my ribs, pushing to get out in the form of a scream. Whatever I was holding wasn’t something I’d ever wanted to touch.
“Let me see it,” Viktor said, snatching the gift away. He opened it slowly and I gasped when I saw what was inside.
“Oh my god,” I breathed. “Ezra.”
Viktor and I stared at Ezra’s hand, bloodied and ripped from his wrist if the damage was any indication.
“This is a warning,” Viktor said.
“Of course it’s a warning!” I shouted. “He’s being tortured and...dismembered because of me!”
“Sophia, calm down.”
“No!” I turned and stomped back toward the car. “I will not let him die in my place, Viktor.” I got in the car and waited until Viktor placed the severed hand in the back seat and climbed behind the wheel. “Take me to Sebastian’s club.”
“No.”
“Take me!”
“I won’t.”
I glared at him and then jumped out of the car and began walking away. I didn’t know where I was going, but I didn’t care.
“Sophia, wait!” Viktor ran up behind me but I didn’t stop. “You need to give everyone a chance to find him first. Trust me, you do not want to be one of Sebastian’s whores.”
I stopped and turned. And then I slapped Viktor hard enough across the cheek that my palm stung. “You don’t get to make this decision for me.” Turning from his glare, I took a few steps.
“Sophia, look at me!” Viktor’s voice oozed with anger and desperation. “I said look at me!”
He grabbed my shoulders and jerked me around. My eyes locked with his and everything I was feeling inside suddenly disappeared. The anger dissipated. The fear faded away.
And a second after that, everything around me went black.
*