Page 3 of Taken By the Fae

“There’s never much to feed on around here. Nothing I’m allowed to, anyway.”

“Try a McDonald’s drive thru,” I remark bitterly, even as my voice shakes.

He laughs. “You’re funny, too. Good to know.” He reaches out and grasps my chin. Panic floods through me, and I attempt to rip his hand away, lifting both my arms and digging my fingernails into his skin as hard as I can.

He reels back momentarily, hissing, “You stupid girl.” His hand shoots toward me, wickedly fast, and he wraps his fingers around my throat. The subtle scent of his cologne hits me, along with the coffee on his breath. “Forgive me,” he mutters with fake sincerity. “I get irritable when I’m hungry.” Black dots dance across my vision, my heart slamming against my chest as I struggle to breathe. My eyes roll back, but he scoffs and releases my throat before I pass out. While I cough and wheeze, he takes a step back, his face contorted with annoyance. “Try anything, and I don’t care what my orders are. I will drain you.”

I suck in a breath, greedily filling my lungs with air as he removes the rope from my wrists. “Please,” I force out as the rope hits the floor. “Let me go. I won’t—”

“Tell anyone?” He barks out a laugh. “Of course you will.”

When he steps forward again, I act without thinking, driving my knee up and catching him in the groin. He doubles over, growling loudly as he clutches himself, and I bolt for the door, yanking it open and throwing myself into the hallway. My ankle boots echo against the marble floor like thunder as I run with my heart in my throat, too afraid to look behind me. As I round a corner, I’m grabbed from behind and thrown against the wall, the edge of an art print slicing into my forehead. My head throbs as I turn away from the wall, and I reach up and touch my forehead with a shaky hand. I’m unsurprised to find blood when I pull it away. A trail of warmth trickles down my face, dripping onto the floor at my feet.

“I’ve decided that I don’t like you,” he hisses in my ear, and I shudder. He grabs my face, forcing me to look at him. “Your fear…” He slams my back into the wall, and I cry out. “It’s stronger now. Lucky me.” He grins, but all I can focus on is the darkness in his eyes as he leans in, his unforgiving glare dropping to my mouth as my breath hitches.

“Seriously, Max?” a sharp, female voice says. “You can’t follow the simplest directions, can you?”

Max scowls, turning to look at the tall Asian woman coming toward us with her brows raised. She stops off to the side, radiating elegance in a plum dress and heels that have to be at least six inches high, though I didn’t hear her approach because Max was about to… I’m not even sure. Kiss me? My gut tells me that was definitelynotwhat he was going to do, but I can’t rationalize anything else.

“Back off, Skylar. This has nothing to do with you.”

She rolls her dark brown eyes, sparing me a brief glance before returning her attention to Max. “I’m looking out foryou, asshat.”

Max pulls his hand back, shifting his body away from mine to face the woman.

“What would you have me do? Let her go?”

“That’s not my call,” she says. “Or yours.”

How is she being so casual about this?I shake my head, then bolt again. I need to get the hell out of here and… do what? Call the police and report my kidnapping by whoever these people are? I can’t think about that now. It’s something to figure out once I escape them.

I have no idea where I’m going, but when an elevator comes into view, my heart nearly trips over itself with relief as I sprint toward it, slamming my fist against the call button.

“You’re going to let her get away?” Max hollers, making the panic in my chest dig its claws deeper.

There’s a delicate chuckle and then: “Let her try.”

With a faintding, the elevator slides open, and I throw myself forward—into a solid wall of muscle. I reel back as my eyes meet a pair of lapis lazuli irises. They’re like the darkest parts of a lake, woven with lighter hues, and dangerously captivating; it’s hard to look away.

Relief pours into me, but before I can tell this guy about the psycho who knocked me out and brought me here, the aforementioned grabs me again, pulling me back as the new arrival steps off the elevator and it slides shut behind him. The stranger in front of me is tall—at least a foot taller than I am—and built. I think he’s older than me based on his expensive-looking dark gray suit. He exudes power and control, and if I wasn’t battling the fear and anger in my chest, I might think he was even attractive. Who am I kidding? They’re all impossibly stunning in an almost creepy, ethereal way, which leads me to believe there’s a good chance I’m hallucinating this entire ordeal.

“Max,” Blue Eyes says in a measured voice, “remove your hands from our guest. Now.”

My stomach drops; this guy knows the one who took me, which means he isn’t here to help. And he has the audacity to call me a guest. I clench my jaw and press my lips into a thin line.Guestimplies I chose to be here, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Max huffs under his breath before letting me go, and I realize Skylar isn’t anywhere in sight. Maybe she didn’t want to be an accomplice to whatever the hell these guys are up to, which only fuels the fear raging in my chest.

Those blue eyes hold mine as he says, “Leave us,” effectively dismissing Max.

The heat of him at my back disappears, and when I turn, expecting to find him walking away, I frown at the empty hallway.What the—

The man clears his throat, and my gaze whips back to him. He focuses his attention on my forehead, and a muscle feathers along his defined, stubble-shadowed jaw when he sees the gash there. My face stings where blood continues to trickle from it. I touch it again and wince at the sharp pain that follows. My eyes flit to the closed elevator, narrowing at what’s between me and my freedom.

“Move,” I demand, surprising myself with the harsh tone of my voice.

The man raises his brows; I’ve surprised him as well. “And where exactly are you going to go?” He sounds curious, amused. “Do you know where you are?”

I ignore that and say, “I don’t know what the hell you’ve got going on in this place, but I’m not going to die here.” Despite the shallow quality of my breathing, the determination is clear in my voice.

---