cave?
"Z!" she shouted. Would he come for her if she were in trouble? Once he'd washed his hands of the pup, he hadn't been concerned with the wolf's welfare. Why would it be any different with her?
The other sorcerer put a hand over her mouth to stifle her screams. "Don't think about biting me," he snarled.
The priest guy stepped forward then; his eyes glowed red and fangs peeked from between his lips. Fiona closed her eyes and resumed struggling.
"My name is Father Hadrian. We don't want to hurt you, we just need some leverage to broker a trade." His voice was hypnotic, and she wondered if he could control her mind with her eyes shut. Why, oh why hadn't she learned to use her magic?
A beat of silence and then he spoke again. "You think we can't make you open your eyes? You have no chance here. If you fight us, you'll end up getting hurt. If you scream, you'll end up getting hurt. I won't use thrall if you'll behave. Will you behave?"
Tears slipped down her cheeks, but she nodded and stopped fighting. The sorcerer took his hand from her mouth.
What else was she going to do? Three against one were terrible odds, especially when it was three males to one female: two strong sorcerers and a vampire against a novice witch. It was like taking a nuclear warhead to a minor playground spat between schoolchildren.
Fiona looked up, determined to avoid the vampire's gaze. It didn't matter because he'd turned and disappeared through a thick patch of trees. The sorcerers dragged her through the woods.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Don't speak," one of them said. "You know, we should kill you right now. Your stupid panther killed two of ours, but the boss says we have to keep you breathing."
Their grips were unnecessarily tight, but she didn't say anything else. She tried not to hyperventilate as they moved farther from the cottage. The fear over being outside and far from safety warred with the real fear - the legitimate fear. This was what the birds had warned about, and the catalyst had been helping the wolf that first day. She should have ignored the pup.
To hold onto the last threads of her sanity a bit longer, Fiona mentally rewound everything until she was back to that day. She counted the steps to the mailbox, pulled out her electric bill, and then counted the steps back. She heard the pup cry, and she ignored him and went back inside. Everything would be better if she'd taken that path instead.
The panther had been on his way. He could smell and track the pup. Her involvement hadn't been needed or helpful. It had only made things worse. She tried not to think about how intense Z had been about protecting the pup from her, how intense he'd been about protecting her in the clearing. If he didn't care, he wouldn't have done those things. He would have left the pup and left her. She'd been the one who'd started the fight and insisted on going home.
She'd been afraid that since Z didn't need her for anything anymore, he'd toss her out. So she'd beaten him to the punch.
"Speed up," one of them said. She'd been dragging her feet. Well, of course she was dragging her feet. She was being kidnapped. This wasn't a field trip to Disneyworld.
Birds flew from tree to tree overhead. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. Their tones were self-righteous and shrill.
She couldn't take their taunting anymore. "Shut UP!" she screamed up at the sky.
The sorcerers stopped. They'd been carrying on their own conversation which she'd been trying to ignore, because it wasn't about her or where they were going or anything she could use to help her escape. They were too smart for that.
"What did you just say to us?"
Fiona froze. "I wasn't talking to you. I was talking to the birds. They were mocking me." It sounded insane, like she'd lost touch with reality. The forest did feel unreal.
The men exchanged a look like they were trying to determine if she was telling the truth or just crazy. "Your gift better not be an act," one of them said.
"It's not an act." It was the only thing Fiona had that counted as a magical talent.
The forest emptied into a gravel parking lot, empty except for a black sedan. Three guesses who that vehicle belonged to.
One of them let go of her arm