Dark Seduction (Vampire Royals of New York #2) - Sarah Piper Page 0,93
again, shoving her face into the window. “Sasha’s tied up at the moment. Sorry you didn’t get the message.”
Charley tasted blood. She forced herself to take a deep breath.
Stay focused. He’s lying. Play it cool, and eventually Rudy will tire of the games and let you go. Sasha is fine. She’s fine. And so is Dorian. And Aiden and Cole. Everyone is fucking fine…
Silas finally backed off.
“Do you know what they say about apples falling from trees, Charlotte?” Rudy asked.
Charley nodded, unable to take her eyes off the gun, the glint of it in the moonlight.
“It’s just that I worry,” he said. “What if you have the same plans for Sasha, whisking her off into the sunset and betraying us in the process?”
Charley’s mouth hurt to form words, her lip split and bleeding, but she forced herself to speak. “Sasha doesn’t even know about this. She has a life here. School, work, friends. I wouldn’t take her away from—”
“Still, I don’t think I’d be where I am today if I didn’t consider all of the possibilities and take the necessary…” He raised the gun, aiming it at her head. “…precautions.”
“Please, Rudy,” she whispered, fear mounting inside. “Where’s my sister? Is she in trouble?”
Silas laughed.
“Trouble?” Rudy asked. The ice in his tone chilled Charley to the core. “I suppose that depends on you, Charlotte.”
Rudy nodded at Silas, who pulled a cell phone from his shirt pocket.
A cell phone with a pink-and-white striped cover that most certainly did not belong to the vampire goon.
He thumbed over the screen and read, in a high and mocking voice, “Come alone no matter what, Charlotte!”
Charley’s whole body went limp, her heart sputtering to a stop.
They had Sasha’s phone.
They had Sasha.
A demon and a vampire, and who knew what other monsters… They’d taken her sister.
Charley stuck a fist in her mouth, biting down to keep from vomiting. Tears stung her eyes, but she didn’t feel the pain in her hand, even when she drew blood.
“She’ll be well taken care of.” Rudy finally lowered his gun. “Three meals a day, a shower, some books to keep her occupied. As long as you cooperate, and our Ravenswood job goes off without a hitch, you’ll be reunited soon enough.”
The interior of the limo spun before Charley’s eyes. The whole world was tipping on its side, leaving her scrambling for purchase on a slippery slope, nothing beneath her but a bottomless pit.
“Don’t… don’t kill her, Rudy,” she whispered. “She’s just a kid.”
“Kill her? Aww.” Rudy’s voice was mocking, his eyes dancing with pure hatred. Reaching across to pat Charley’s knee, he said, “I suppose we could kill her, but I don’t think you’ll let it come to that, will you?”
“What… what do you want?” Charley’s voice was trembling and weak, but at that point, she didn’t care. She wasn’t acting. She wasn’t manipulating them. This was real. Rudy had taken Sasha, and Charley would do whatever it took to get her back.
“Simple,” Rudy said. “As long as the job goes off as expected, and we recover all the artwork we’re looking for, I will personally deliver Sasha to your door the following weekend.”
Charley swallowed her panic. “Rudy, please. Please! She’s still just a kid. You can’t keep her hostage and—”
“Relax, Charlotte. Enjoy your time in Hawaii with your billionaire boyfriend. When you and your sister are reunited, you can swap vacation stories.”
“But I—”
Rudy cut her off with the wave of his hand, a signal that Silas interpreted as permission to hit her again. He shoved her against the window, fingers digging hard into her shoulder.
Charley was hot and dizzy, sweat trickling down her back, her mouth filling with the salt-and-copper taste of more blood.
“No more questions,” Rudy said. “No more talking. We all have roles to play, just like your father had a role to play. Just like Dorian Redthorne has a role to play. Even Sasha. I suggest you learn yours, Charlotte.”
Rudy nodded at Silas.
“Time for a nap, bitch,” the vampire said, wrapping an arm around her midsection like a vise. He opened the door and hauled her out into the alley.
“I’ll be sure to give Sasha a goodnight kiss for you,” Rudy called out, then closed the door. The limo didn’t peel out of the alley—not like she expected it to. It simply rolled away, taillights glowing like vampire eyes as it drove off into the night.
Without warning, Silas grabbed her and blurred. When the world finally came back into focus, she was in a different alley, dark