Annie Nicholas - Bait

I took a step forward. “We’re not the ones who attacked your lair. We never found it. I don’t believe you’re responsible for this crime. I want to help prove your innocence.”

An eyebrow raised in disbelief. “Then who attacked us?”

“Dragos, maybe Tane.”

“Dragos would be crazier than I thought to attack me in my own city and Tane is my strongest supporter. He even keeps a companion in the same manner as we do.”

I nodded. “Eric.”

A look of surprise graced his face. “You know this?”

“Remember the A38, when Tane tossed me overboard? He admitted to hiring us, through Eric, to hunt you. It was after that meeting I realized the pictures could be false and started to believe in your innocence. I’ve been trying to help you.”

“Only after that? The bathhouse? The club?” He covered his mouth with his hand as if to block those questions. “The attack at the party. I knew they were slayers but not that you’d lured them there.” His eyes narrowed and pierced my heart. “Such a clever little Rabbit.”

“We need to discuss this. I’ve been—”

“Only now you want to discuss this? Not last night, before you seduced me or when we were at the Bastion? But after I find these pictures.” A small growl escaped him. “You weave your way into my life, collaborate to kill me, try to turn me against my friend, and worst of all, you steal my heart.” His voice choked on the last confession.

I couldn’t defend myself. He was right, on all counts. “You stole my heart too.” It’s all I had to offer.

He shook his head, not listening. “Get out.” When I didn’t move he grabbed my arm and shoved me toward the door. “Get out,” he yelled as his eyes dilated, absorbing the irises.

I didn’t need to be told again. I ran.

In my rush, I slipped on the stairs and slid down the last five steps on my behind. A gray haired woman hurried from the living room to my aid. “What’s going on?” She looked over my head at the top of the staircase. “Rurik!”

I turned to see him, his eyes blackened and fangs exposed. He hissed then retreated back to his room. The sound of the heavy wooden bedroom door slamming vibrated through the house.

The woman touched my shoulder. “Are you injured?”

I felt stunned. He hated me. My barbed wire soul should have protected me, it’s why I kept to myself and never opened my heart, but I lowered those defenses. I swallowed the pain. It burned as I locked it up with all the rest. The ache almost unbearable in comparison to rest since it was shiny and new. I deserved it.

“I’m all right.” The banister felt solid in my hand as I used it to stand. “You have a phone I can use to call a cab?”

Everything I owned sat in Rurik’s room including my wallet. Someone else would need to get them for me. No way would I go back in his room.

She glanced at the landing above and I resisted the urge to do the same. “I will call one for you but first come sit with me. I have a fresh pot of tea and we can talk.” She gave me a reassuring smile before leading me to the living room.

“It will be dawn soon.” She sat on the sofa and indicated for me to join her.

“I think I should go. He’s pretty angry.”

She raised an eyebrow and pointed for me sit. “They don’t kill and they’re not petty enough to injure others. I wouldn’t tolerate them in my house otherwise. Though I have to admit, I’ve never seen Rurik so upset.” A twinkle of curiosity lit her eyes.

It annoyed me. I sat next to her, not answering the unspoken question. Rurik’s distraught face kept popping in my mind. Each time I squashed it down it returned. He hated me. How could I ever be able to make this up to him?

She sighed and passed me a cup of black tea.

The next thing I knew, my cup was empty. I drank the tea without tasting it. She sat next to me, quiet and still, to offer a refill. My opinion of her changed. She hadn’t tried to pry but to offer an opportunity to talk. My cup rattled as she filled it. She reached out to steady my hand. “Thank you.” I tried to smile but my face felt dead.

“Marie.”

I nodded. “Rabb—Connie.”

“It’s dawn.” She stated. The birds sang outside the dark windows but the eastern sky lightened to hide the stars. “Let him sleep the day. Tonight it will be better. You can work out your differences.”

“I don’t think so, Marie. He’s got good reason to be angry.” I was so stupid. I should have confessed to him earlier, before I crawled into bed with him. Now he thinks I did it for a job. That I came here with the intention to help would be of no consequence.

“You are the first woman he’s brought to the clan in my lifetime.” She smiled and patted my knee. “Trust me, he’ll forgive you.”

Her words sank in. “The first?”

She nodded. “It’s a strict rule. Lovers are not to be brought home unless they’re to be accepted as part of the family. You’re the first he’s brought home.”

This made me feel worse, not better. The pain I tried to lock away was too strong, it broke out and attacked. I thought it would rip me apart. A tear spilled from my eye, it traced its way down my cheek to drip into my tea. He hated me.

What should I do now? I tore my plane ticket home to pieces. The last thing I wanted to do was phone Colby. I still needed help. I had Tane, and probably Dragos, looking for me. My silent tears flowed freely now.

Marie made a sound of dismay. She set her cup down and hurried from the room while she called back. “I will get tissues.”

I didn’t want any freaking tissues. I wanted a cab. I wanted out of this nest of heartbreak.

The teacup bounced as I banged it onto the table and decided I’d walk until I found a pay phone. I marched back to the foyer, opened the front door only to surprise a young man about to knock.

I wiped my tears and nose with my sleeve. “What do you want?”

“I’m looking for Rabbit.”

My eyebrows shot up. “That’s me.” He stood only a few inches taller than me, short for a man. Mouse brown hair neatly combed framed a freckled handsome face. A set of hazel eyes scanned me head to toe then glanced behind me.

I twisted around expecting to see Marie but the foyer remained empty. A white cotton cloth covered my mouth as this stranger pulled me against him. It smelled of heavy medicine. He half carried me, half dragged me out of the doorway.

I kicked and struggled, trying to hold my breath to no avail. The chemical soaked cloth won the fight. Its fumes finally made their way to my lungs when I gasped in desperate need for air. I heard Marie cry out but my vision tunneled, all I could see was the stranger’s face as he laid me on what felt like a car seat.

I really needed to lay off the sauce. My mouth tasted like a hamster crawled into it and died. Industrious elves hammered in my head, which only got worse when I rolled to my side. I opened my eyes and sucked in a yelp. A rub to the sockets didn’t change anything.

I was blind.

On my hands and knees I rolled to touch my face but no veil covered my sight. I groped around the unfamiliar area where I’d passed out. My heart fluttered and panic clawed at my throat. I crawled forward and tried to feel for something. Anything.

The soft threads of a carpet met my hands as I scurried aimlessly until I caught the corner of a solid piece of furniture across my forehead.

It cleared my thoughts. I sat back to squat on my heels and pressed my hands to the bump on my head. My poor brain throbbed in time with the hammering elves but the pain over-road the panic.

I gave up the bottle over a year ago. What the hell caused me to fall off the wagon? After a few deep breaths I blinked my eyes to make sure they were really open. Damn. The darkness sat heavy on my shoulders. This wasn’t a hangover. I’d been drinking tea not alcohol. Why did I feel so horrid? A vision of a handsome freckled face came back to me. I’d been at Rurik’s hideout. We’d been in his bedroom. The memory of Rurik’s last words stung and I flinched. He’d scared me and I ran. It all came back, my opening the door, the stranger, and the drug soaked cloth.