Page 98 of Magic and Muffins

“Where am I going?” I asked as I watched the screen go dark.

“With me.”

I looked up again, meeting his gaze. “Why?”

“To spare the lives of the people you love and of those you don’t even know.”

He leaned in close to whisper in my ear. “Do you know how many people I can kill between here and the studio? Twelve. And someone brought their daughter to work today. She’s three, Everly. Her blood smells sweet like the candy they gave her to be quiet.”

My stomach churned, and my hand shook as I tossed my phone toward the coffee table. The sweat on my back that had started to dry surged to the surface again.

“Youareinteresting. No begging. No denial. No surge of last-minute anger. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I’m wondering why you haven’t compelled me yet.”

He smiled, showing his teeth.

“Because I want to know the real you, Everly. Now, will you follow me out of this room, or will you scream for help the second I open this door?”

I studied him as my thoughts continued to whirl. He knew making me bleed would draw Cross’ attention, but I was certain he knew a hundred ways to hurt me without making me bleed. So this wasn’t about hurting me. If he’d wanted to, he would have done so already.

And if he wanted the ring, he could have held me hostage and demanded it from Cross in front of all the cameras, where he could have shown the world the real hate between vampires and werewolves. But his video message hadn’t been about the hate the two races had for each other. It’d been about the power struggle.

“The clock is ticking.”

“Do you really hate Orphia?”

“I do. But don’t worry, like you, my hate isn’t monogamous.” He swept up the pile of black, which turned out to be the awful hat he’d worn the last time I’d seen him.

He didn’t put it on, though. He pinned it to his side with one arm and motioned with the other.

“Shall we?” He went to the door and opened it. “To the right. And remember, how we exit is up to you.”

He waited until we got close to the sunlit exit to pull on a pair of leather gloves and sweep the hat and full-body veil over his head. Then, he pushed his way out into the sunlight. I was a step behind him. We left the building and headed toward the parking lot.

I glanced at the veil, and my heart started to race harder at the thought of ripping it from his head. A second later, I was pinned against a car, and his hand was on my throat, cutting off my air and blood flow in a punishing grip.

“There are nuances to a human’s pulse,” he said. “Don’t think I can’t tell when you’re planning something.”

I could barely hear his words over the sound of my pulse drumming in my ears. If he didn’t ease up, I was going to die.

My hands, which had automatically gone to the hand gripping me, shifted to his veil, pulling it hard enough that the hat started to slip off.

His hand left my throat. My necklace thrummed as he swung his fist toward the side of my head, but it was useless against the power of Vivian’s. His necklace flashed red just before his hand connected with my skull.

Dazed and unable to breathe, my knees gave out.

“Although seeing you on your knees is tempting,” Vivian said, straightening his hat and veil, “I’m no longer in the mood to play.”

He gripped my arm and dragged me upright as I wheezed in a breath.

“I haven’t been in the mood to play since your lovers killed mine.”

He pushed me forward, propelling me toward a car with extremely tinted windows. I didn’t fight him as he shoved me in the passenger seat and buckled me in. I was still trying to wheeze in air.

He blurred and was in the driver’s seat as I continued to rub my throat.

“It seems I was a little rough with you,” he said.

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