Page 5 of Leif

The scene before me disappeared, and I saw myself standing beside Flara and Draco.I owe you a debt I can never repay. I’ll protect you with my life, with my blood, with my being.

“You follow the old ways. I trust that.”

I stared at the scene, stunned fear filling me. “You can see anything?”

He shook his head. “There are limitations. I tried to see who poisoned you, but it’s…”

The scene shifted, and I saw what he meant. The whole scene looked like an old TV trying to tune into a channel through the black and white lines. Nothing was clear. Only hints and innuendos without anything I could identify.

The real world phased back.

“I’ve never told anyone what I can do. I trust you to protect my secret.”

What’s one more secret?

3

Mel

Iblinked, then opened my eyes as the crash sprang back into my mind and flowed with a sickening speed through my foggy mind.

The hair on my arms and the back of my neck prickled and stood on end. With an exhale, I took stock of myself. I’d been partially stripped down. My belt was gone, as was my gun. My button-down shirt had been taken away, and I was left in nothing more than the white tank top I wore under my uniform. I still had my slacks on, thankfully.

I shifted, trying to figure out what bound my arms. The ground was cold under my knees, and I realized I was on the dirt with both arms stretched out to the sides and bound in a way that made both my hands numb.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Iknewsomething was wrong.

I lifted my chin from my chest and swept the room, looking for clues. Despite the dark, I made out some shapes. Out of sight, the scent of smoke and the light crackle told me there was a fire, but it was contained. I couldn’t tell if I was inside or outside, and the clues were confusing. There was dirt under me, but something told me I must be inside. My internal clock said it was about time I’d usually wake up; five a.m or so.

Fuck. I was due to have this prisoner in by six a.m.

But what had happened? I remembered the wreck. I remembered the sound of tires on gravel. So why wasn’t I in a hospital?

Nothing made sense.

Unless this went deeper than I was thinking. Maybe the vehicle behind me had been an escape route for the criminal, but maybe the deer had happened on me before they could stop me. Which would have made everything more convenient for them. A natural wreck instead of an obvious assault of an officer.

I shouldn’t have made the drive.

A light flickered to life, and I glanced up at the man who’d been trapped in the back seat as he walked in and pulled up a chair, turned it around backward, and dropped into it in front of me.

He pulled my wallet out of his pocket. “You are Melanie Jacobs. So I had that right. You’re twenty-five. Brown hair, brown eyes, five foot six.” He tossed it aside and scooted closer to me. He lowered his head to look me in the eyes. “But that doesn’t tell me shit about you. Tell me aboutyou, Melanie.”

“I like long walks on the beach, fruity drinks, and seeing guys like you get what’s coming to them.”

He laughed, but the sound was more cruel than humorous as he turned away from me. In the light, he was far more handsome than I expected. Dark eyes—dark blue eyes, I could tell now—strong features and olive skin made a neat package on a man that had been found guilty of killing a woman quite like me.

So I knew what he had in mind for me. He was going to force himself on me and kill me. I prepped for the worst while trying to think my way out of this.

“Are you married?” His attention came back to me, a sick light in his eyes.

“No.”

He seemed satisfied with my answer. “Do you have kids?”

“No.” This was bad. I was telling him that no one would miss me. That the world would forget about me. Rule one of hostage situations like this is to humanize yourself. Make them see you as a person so they might decide not to kill you. But something told me it was futile in this situation. I couldn’t live, that would put him in danger.

“Pets?Anything?” He arched an eyebrow at me, a hint of annoyance creeping into his voice.

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