Into The Dragon's World - Brittany White Page 0,48

explosion of blood. He fell back, shouting in pain, and she scrambled away from him. She made it to the door before she heard him whistle at her.

He crouched beside Jasmine, blood streaming from his nose, smiling broadly. He held Jasmine by the hair, pulling back her throat. He’d reverted one hand to a bear’s claw again, and he lightly scratched a furrow down the length of Jasmine’s neck. Blood beaded and trickled down her chest.

Casey froze.

“You leave, and you know what will happen.” He traced a parallel line beside the first. More blood flowed. “Jasmine and I will have a little discussion that I don’t think she’ll enjoy…”

“No. Evan...please.” Casey heard the begging tone in her voice and hated him for it. “Please... Leave her alone.”

“Nope. Not happening.” Evan turned his head to the side and spat blood onto the floor. “You know what I want.”

“Okay, okay…” She held her hands up, palms out, and stepped back into the apartment. “Whatever you want.”

His dark eyes lit up at her words. He lowered his claws from Jasmine’s throat. In one smooth movement, he stood and studied Casey. She could see that he was aroused, and the thought made her sick to her stomach.

“Do what I want…” he said in a sing-song voice. “Casey says I can do what I want…”

He walked over to her, still smiling. Casey forced herself to keep her gaze locked on his eyes. She ground her teeth, trying to remain still.

“You have no idea what I want, Casey-Case.” His smile widened as he swung his fist, catching her in the temple and knocking her to the ground.

As she sank into blackness, she could still hear him speaking.

“You have no idea at all…”

Now, as Casey leaned against the cave wall, she gently touched her temple and worked her jaw. Not broken, at least. And no teeth had been knocked out. She looked down at herself; in the dim glow of the torches, she could see that she was still dressed. Torn and disheveled, but still dressed.

So, that was something to be thankful for.

She heard movement coming from another part of the cave. Instinctively, she laid down again, half-closing her eyes to feign unconsciousness.

Evan appeared from behind an outcropping of rock. Casey could see that he held something limp and bloody in his left hand. A rabbit, it looked like. He sat down against the wall across from her and began to eat, taking huge, messy bites out of the rabbit.

“I know you’re awake,” he said quietly, swallowing a bite. “Might as well sit up.”

Cursing under her breath, Casey slowly sat up again.

“I would’ve brought you something,” he said and held up the rabbit carcass, “but you’re not going to be around long enough to eat anything.”

Casey said nothing. She couldn’t let him see how terrified she was. He was enjoying her fear, feeding off it.

“I’ll bet you’re wondering why I chose you,” he said, then nibbled raw flesh off the rabbit’s leg bone. “It wasn’t because you’re the most beautiful woman in the world or anything like that, because...well, let’s face it. There are prettier girls out there.”

He paused, as if waiting to see her hurt reaction. Instead, she glared at him, stone-faced.

“You’re not the smartest of them all, either. There is absolutely nothing notable or extraordinary about you.” He flashed her a toothy grin. “In fact, you are spectacularly unspectacular. There is nothing about you that makes you stand out in a crowd.”

Casey remained silent, gritting her teeth.

“But you were vulnerable. I could smell it on you.” He tossed a bone away and immediately started gnawing on another one. “I watched you on campus. Listened to the gossip. Apparently, that boy you were sleeping with—Paul? Was that his name?—liked to tell stories. He got you to do anything for him, didn’t he?”

It was killing her, but she said nothing.

“You were a pushover,” Evan said, leaning forward slightly. “Weak. Desperate. I knew you wouldn’t put up much of a fight. Hell, I thought you might even enjoy having somebody pay attention to you for once.”

Don’t listen to him, she told herself. That’s not true. None of it’s true.

“It’s fun, doing what I do.” He licked blood off his fingers. “You should feel honored that I chose you. I only do the Hunt two or three times a year.”

“The Hunt?” Casey clenched her aching jaw.

“Mm-hmm...oh, yeah.” Evan finished with the rabbit and threw what remained of it aside. “I thought about letting you go after you disappeared on