tale, or …”
He didn’t have to finish the threat. Heck, leaving it unsaid did far more internal damage. Elena’s mind took over the challenge and filled in that unfinished sentence with any number of horrifying possibilities. And she had no way to defend herself against any of them. She was at his mercy and judging by the cool dispassion in those gray eyes, mercy was not something Parnell was very familiar with.
“Parnell,” she said, using his name deliberately, to forge some bare-bones connection with him. To force him to see her as a person and not just an impediment to what he wanted. “I don’t know what you think I know, but I can assure you—”
He smiled. “Another lie. I can smell them on you, you know. Your blood chemistry changes. Humans are very … predictable in their responses.”
“Humans?” Fear ratcheted up inside her. Just when she had thought she was as panicked as it was possible to be and still live, she found out there was more.
Yes, she knew he had magical abilities. But so did Teresa and she was human. How could he not be? What was he? If he wasn’t human, what exactly was she dealing with and how in the hell was she going to survive? “You’re not—”
“No, I’m not. Haven’t you already noticed that I’m something a little more than your average male?”
Yes, she had. The trail of fire across her desk had given her that much information. But what was he? Witches were women. Were there other forms of supernatural beings out there that the world hadn’t discovered yet? Well, why not? If witchcraft was alive and well, why not a man made of fire?
“Ah,” he said, watching her. “I see that I’ve made my point. Maybe you’re ready to be more cooperative now?”
“Yes.” She set her purse down on the nearby desk and reminded herself to breathe. “What do you want to know?”
“Where did Teresa go?”
“I really don’t know,” she told him and waited for his super-sensitive nose to pick up on the fact that she was telling the absolute truth.
Parnell smiled and nodded. “Very good. Keep being honest with me and we’ll get along just fine, Elena.”
A rising tide of panic lifted from the pit of her stomach to sweep through her body. That was all the information she had to give him. She couldn’t tell him anything else even if she wanted to. So why was he still here? What more could he want from her?
“But I’ve just told you. I don’t know where Teresa went.”
“Yes, but you do know the witch,” he mused and closed the distance between them in the span of a single heartbeat. “I’m sure if you really search your mind, you’ll be able to give me lots of details about Teresa’s life. Where she might go. Who she might trust.”
Elena’s breath caught in her throat as his big hands came down on her upper arms and he lifted her up until she was balanced on her toes, trying to keep her feet.
“Now,” he said, locking his gaze with hers, “we’re going to have a long talk, you and I.”
Elena swallowed hard and tried to look away. But that pale gray gaze was now swirling like liquid silver, glittering with power and secrets, and it held her as if she were a rabbit staring down a cobra.
“I have no wish to torture you,” he said.
Good. That’s good.
“But make no mistake,” he promised as his eyes glowed with a hot brightness that shone like the porch light to hell, “I will. To get what I want, I will do whatever’s necessary.”
Helpless, Elena did the only thing left to her.
She prayed.
Chapter 14
R une drew on the fire and flashed himself to the interior of Teresa’s house. The moment he appeared, he sensed the imminent danger. There were hunters nearby. Probably watching this house and if they were, then he knew they had seen his arrival. He had only moments before an attack came.
Not that he was worried about his own survival. Yes, white gold could bring him down, but he was still a true immortal. The only thing that would kill him was decapitation. And even then, he doubted that his god, Belen, would allow him to die permanently. At least, not until their task was complete and Belen’s lover, Danu, was satisfied that her witches had at last corrected the hideous wrong committed so long ago.
He glanced around the small room with its comfortable but worn furnishings and