urgent. The mist seemed almost alive now, coiling and writhing and pulsating with energy. Something told her to stop, push him away, but she couldn’t. The pleasure fed on her fear. She opened herself to him and he pressed more deeply into her, against her. With a gasp, she closed her eyes and clung to him as the mist began to envelop them.
And then it was over. An explosion of white light, and Ree was spiraling back to earth as Hayden collapsed against her with a shudder.
When she opened her eyes, they were swathed in nothing but moonlight.
Ree awakened to sunshine. She bolted upright and glanced around. It took her a moment to remember where she was. Then she saw Hayden. The bathroom door was open and he stood at the sink. He wore jeans but no shirt and his hair was still damp from the shower. She thought for a moment that he was shaving. She swung her legs over the bed and walked over to the door to watch him.
He wasn’t shaving. He stood with his hands propped against the sink, staring into the mirror. Just…staring…
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
“Wrong?” He was still studying his reflection. “I feel a little strange.”
“Strange how?”
“Like I just woke up from a dream.”
Was that good or bad? she wondered.
And then she saw the silver medallion dangling from his neck. Not the one she’d grabbed from her attacker last night because that medallion was in the pocket of her scrubs.
She gasped. “Oh, my God. You’re one of them.”
His gaze met hers in the mirror and for a moment, he seemed to snap out of his lethargy. “I can explain.”
Ree took a step back from the door. “What’s to explain? Are you or are you not a member of that despicable group?”
“It’s a legacy thing.” He turned to face her.
There was something so different about him. Something so odd about the way he’d been staring into that mirror…
If Ree didn’t know better, she’d swear he was a different man than the one she’d met in Oak Grove Cemetery.
Her scalp tingled in apprehension. “What does that mean? A legacy thing? You were automatically recruited because of your family’s history?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t have anything to do with us. You and me.”
As he moved toward her, sunlight sparked off the medallion. Ree averted her gaze and took another step back from him. “It doesn’t have anything to do with us? After what I told you about Ilsa? And you didn’t say anything?”
“It was so long ago, Ree.”
“What about your family? What about other initiation rituals?”
His voice turned cold. “You’re making a lot of assumptions that I don’t much care for.”
“And I don’t like that you lied to me! You know you should have told me.” She drew on the bloodstained scrubs she’d discarded the evening before. “I have to get out of here,” she muttered.
“Where are you going?” He followed her into the living room. “Come on, Ree. It’s not safe for you out there.”
She whirled at that. “I’m not sure it’s safe for me in here. How do I know you’re not the one who told Devlin where to find me yesterday? How do I know you’re not the one—” Her gaze dropped to the blood on her shirt and she shuddered.
He looked suddenly furious. “Is that what you think of me then?”
“I don’t know what to think about you, Hayden. And that’s the problem. I barely you know you.”
Ree didn’t want to believe it, but her mind was racing and things were starting to click into place. How he’d wanted to go with her to see Amelia Gray. How Detective Devlin had known she’d be at the library when she’d told no one but Hayden. On and on it went.
As she hurried out to her car, the tears started to flow. That was her only excuse for allowing danger to creep up on her. He must have been waiting for her to leave. Maybe Hayden had called him.
By the time Ree sensed his presence, it was too late. He’d seized her around the neck, pricked her with a needle and pushed her into the backseat of a waiting car.
A blinding headache awakened her. She opened her eyes and lifted her head, but a wave of nausea flattened her. She lay still for a long time before she felt strong enough to try and get up.
Panic mushroomed in her chest as she realized her arms and legs were constrained. She couldn’t move at all except