gun as he crushed it in his hand like it was made of paper. He tossed it aside, and she heard it clatter to the ground. He reached for her, and she took a staggering step back. “Don’t! You can’t touch me, remember?”
“I would like to test that theory. Come here, my dear.” He held his hand out to her. “If you are right, I die, and your problems are solved. If I am right…you will belong to me.” A small, snide smile spread over him. “Either way, I win.”
She furrowed her brow. What did he mean by that? She didn’t have time to dwell on his statement. He reached for her again, and she turned and ran. Vlad laughed behind her. She knew it was pointless, but for now, she was free. There wouldn’t be another opportunity like this one. She took off running in the direction of what she hoped was her home.
It had only been a few hundred feet before she heard wings beating in the night air.
A great deal of wings.
And they were headed in her direction.
She couldn’t help but glance back. The sight of the swarm of huge black bats, swirling in a cloud above the fog, made her breath catch in her throat. Catching sight of the thousands of the animals, dark and innumerous overhead, showed that he hadn’t lied. She realized in that moment that she had no idea who—or more correctly what—she was up against.
The bats dove toward her, and she turned to run again. She couldn’t move fast enough. She screamed as the creatures overtook her, and her world changed from fog into a sea of black wings and claws that scratched at her.
Maxine struggled and fought—swung her arms against the things around her—but it was hopeless. Something else had taken over. There was only sensation of movement and the ground leaving her feet. She felt tumbled end-over-end as though she had been rolled down a hill.
When it ended, she fell to her knees and felt grass, damp in the dewy fog, under her. Grass? Where am I? What happened?
Her world was wheeling around her. She felt disoriented and dizzy. Still, she tried to push herself up, even as she tilted dangerously and threatened to crash back down.
A hand took her elbow and lifted her, planting her on her feet. Firm, but not harsh.
She knew who it was. She turned, looking up at Vlad as he towered over her. His lips formed a line that promised wicked and cruel things. His glinting crimson eyes shone with a deeply sinister amusement. She pushed away from him and took another step back. She glanced around herself for an escape, but she could barely see more than five feet in the dense fog.
“And where will you run? Even if you could escape me on foot, you know not where I have brought you.” He was right. She had no idea where she was, and she had already tried to outrun him once already and had failed miserably.
“What do you want from me?” She tried to sound firm and angry. Honestly, she sounded frantic more than anything, even to her own ears.
“That, my dear, is both a very simple and very complex topic…” He lifted his hand to her. She looked at it, to him, then back to him incredulously. He insisted. “Give me your hand.”
“You’re mad if you think I’m going to—”
He cut her off as he stepped toward her. The simplest action from him choked the words in her throat. If she couldn’t run, what could she do? Punch him? The idea was laughable. The hunters were likely too far away to aid her now. He must have known that when he had brought her here.
“Maxine…” His dusky growl brought her gaze up to meet his red eyes.
That was her mistake.
She should have learned. She tried to look away before it was too late, but if Zadok had been alluring, this man was inescapable. Something seemed to snare her in its grasp like talons, and the whole world dropped away. Nothing else mattered.
There was only him, and her, and this moment in time.
He stepped around her, circling her slowly. She stood there, hovering, feeling as though she was wrapped around his fingers or dangling from puppet strings.
“I am many things…” His voice was quiet and deep, a sensual rumbling sound in his chest that made her eyes slide half closed. “But mad, I am not. Not as of yet.”