Surrendering(96)

His fowl breath gagged her, as he laughed in her direction. Her nausea returned with such a vengeance, she didn’t think she’d be able to hold the meager contents of her stomach down.

“Do you want to know why this is a blessing for me, sweet Kate?”

No. She did not want to know.

“Because if I have you, I will also have Devon in very short order. He will move heaven and earth to save his lovely mate. And lovely you are. But alas, all he will do is succeed in getting himself captured as well. And it will be so much sweeter to do what I have in mind with you, if he is forced to witness it all firsthand. Sweet retribution, really. Why this turned out just delightful!” His laugh was maniacal. He really was a deranged lunatic.

He reached his hand in between the cage bars, trying to touch her and she cringed toward the back, trying to get as far away from him as possible. His face turned menacing as spittle flew in her direction with his tirade.

“Yes, he’ll have to watch while I fuck his mate so hard you bleed all over my cock. And while I shove my cock so far down your throat, you won’t be able to breathe. My come will coat your tongue and run down your chin. He’ll watch while I feast on your blood as I take your ass. After I’ve had my fill, I’ll let every one of my vampires have a go with you. There will be no place on you that goes untouched, my sweet Kate. Your precious Devon will watch as I break you piece by piece, bit by bit, until the light fades from your eyes right before him. And once you’re gone, that’s all he’ll want, too. He’ll want to follow you into sweet oblivion. But I won’t let him. I’ll keep him alive, torturing him to within an inch of his life for years on end. It’s not even near an equivalent price to pay for everything he’s done to me.”

Holy shit. Her father was one fucked up dude.

He stood up abruptly. “Well, got to go. I have quite a few plans to make before I’ll be ready for my next houseguest.” Then he vanished.

She couldn’t keep the vomit down and barely had her head turned before she retched everywhere. Great. Now she was a caged animal, covered in puke.

“Giselle,” she whispered. Silence. She called a little louder, but there was no response.

Dev, can you hear me? No answer.

Tears now ran down her face. She was petrified. She was well and truly on her own. She didn’t know if Giselle was alive and she didn’t know if Dev would find her in time. Hell, she didn’t want him anywhere near here. She wouldn’t risk him being captured. Xavier was more depraved than they had all imagined.

She tried her powers again. Nothing. She’d tried to flash several times while he was talking to her, without success. She’d tried to freeze him while he sat in front of her. Nothing happened…except he continued to run his foul mouth. She’d improved her skills the last couple of weeks, so while not perfect, she was able to pretty readily use her power of stasis.

Except on Xavier. But he couldn’t use his power on her either. And that was clearly a conundrum to him. So maybe their powers wouldn’t work on each other because they were family? If that was the case, it was both good and bad for her. Good, as he couldn’t immobilize her, but bad, because she couldn’t protect herself. She was on the verge of a panic attack.

Pull it together, Kate! You are the mate of one of the most powerful beings in the world. Stop being a sniveling little baby and save yourself.

Right. Time to problem solve, not fall apart. She could do that later when she got out of this mess. It was up to her to either live or to die, and by God, she intended to live. She didn’t know how she was going to accomplish that, exactly, but she knew she’d rather kill herself than be subjected to anything Xavier, modern day Attila the Hun, just described in unnecessary and nauseating detail.





Chapter 61





Dev





Thank God they’d had the foresight to send the detective to a hotel last evening. He didn’t need another lost soul burned on his conscience. Thatcher must be pretty taken with Elle, if the broken lamps and furniture were any indication. Apparently Dev would be getting a hefty bill from the hotel for all the damage the detective inflicted. After they told him, Thatcher insisted he be brought back to the house until they found her.

As for Dev, he was absolutely beside himself. A ruthless, cold-blooded killer had stolen his mate. And Xavier wasn’t stupid. He would quickly find out that Kate was his mate and use that against him. He was simply waiting for his phone to ring with Xavier’s directions. He would do anything to save Kate, even sacrifice his life for hers. No question, no hesitation. He loved her that much.