And the room she was in looked all too familiar.
Memories of the night’s events flooded back.
She’d been in Dev’s office working on her dissertation paper, all the more determined to finish it since she’d come up with her new long-term plan. She was so worried about Dev it made it difficult to concentrate, but she needed to do something to get the fact that he was in danger off her mind. This was her world now and her new mate took care of his problems himself, even if that put him in danger. Like it or not, she would have to accept it.
Giselle sat across the room from her, as far away as she could get. She could be across the massive mansion and it would still be too close as far as she was concerned. She’d told her to leave, but Giselle refused. ‘My lord’s command,’ she’d said. ‘Bitch’, she’d thought.
Giselle scared the shit out of her when she jumped up and rushed toward the open office door. She closed it softly, belying the sudden concern worn on her face.
“Get under the desk,” she commanded Kate.
“Get under the desk? What the hell has gotten into you? Just because Dev commanded that you babysit me like some four-year-old does not mean I’m going to—”
“Get under the fucking desk. Now. There’s someone here.”
Terror had run through Kate. The only ones at the house were herself, Leo and Giselle. Everyone else had gone on the dangerous mission.
She complied, hiding under the massive cherry desk. Now she couldn’t see a damn thing. “Who is it?” she whispered.
Giselle gave no response, but she knew she was still there. Giselle may not like her, but she knew that Giselle would never leave her. She would protect her to the death.
Abruptly the door flew open and pandemonium erupted. She heard cursing, grunting and furniture breaking. She could smell blood, which made her incisors involuntarily lengthen. She was terrified for Giselle, but also, selfishly, for herself. Yet, here she sat, like some stupid, helpless female, letting someone else defend her and possibly get hurt. She was just about to come out when…silence. Everything just stopped.
She strained to hear what was happening, but heard nothing. She slowly rose from behind the desk and was completely shocked by the sight before her. Giselle, who looked badly injured, and the vampire she was fighting were immobile. Frozen in mid fight. Had she done that without realizing it? She didn’t think so, but she wasn’t sure. She didn’t have good control over her powers yet.
Just then she heard heavy footsteps and as she turned toward the office door, a large, imposing figure entered. Covered in blood. The half scarred face was wearing a malicious grin. She would recognize that face anywhere.
Xavier.
“Hello, Katherine.”
After a brief struggle, her world went black.
Xavier hadn’t been able to immobilize her for some reason, but she wasn’t strong enough to fight him on her own, especially without Giselle’s help. She’d tried to freeze him, but it didn’t work and next thing she knew, she was waking up in this cage. Where was Giselle? As much as Kate disliked her, she certainly didn’t want something bad to happen to her. Giselle had fought to protect Kate’s life.
The door opening brought Kate out of her thoughts and well into her living nightmare as Xavier walked into what must be his study.
“Well, well, well. I see my pet is awake.”
Pet? While she’d rather tell him to go fuck himself, she remained silent.
“Don’t feel like talking? That’s okay, my sweet. I have more than enough for us to talk about.”
He pulled a chair up in front of her cage, leaning toward her after he sat. She could see the fury in his terrifying eyes. What did he have to be furious about? She was the one in a fucking cage.
“Tonight has definitely been full of surprises, sweet Kate. And I don’t like surprises. When I finally manage to find one of my greatest nemeses, imagine my surprise when he is nowhere to be found. Imagine my further surprise when the dreamwalker he is protecting is immune to my powers. I don’t know how that can be possible. Most unfortunate. And imagine my shock when I return to my compound to find all of my pets gone and my men slaughtered. That made me most unhappy.”
Kate internally sighed. At least the mission was successful.
“Where is Giselle?”
He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “But the night wasn’t a complete waste, you see. To my utter delight, I was particularly surprised to find that you are Devon’s Moira.”
Bad, bad, bad. How did he know she was his Moira?
“Ahhhh, sweet Kate. I can see your head spinning. You’re thinking…how did he know we were bonded? I’m surprised Devon didn’t explain that to you. You see, when a vampire bonds, the mating marks that wrap around each mate’s left thumb are not only a symbol of their love and devotion, but also a replica of the male vampire’s family crest. That way, any vampire she comes across can clearly identify the female. They all know she’s taken, and by whom. It can be both a blessing and a curse for the female. In this case, a curse for you, my sweet, but certainly a blessing for me.”