Page 93 of Darkness Bound (Night Prowler 5)
The thought of drugs made her pause. Something about the word filtered through her haze . . .
No. Nothing.
Okay. Don’t panic. Think. Concentrate. Her last assignment had been . . . Manaus. That’s right! Relieved, she clung to the memory. She was getting off a plane at the Manaus airport. She’d checked into a hotel—not here, wherever here was—she’d gone to check out the Mercado Municipal . . .
After that there was a big black hole where her memory used to be.
Thinking she might have fallen and hit her head, Jack carefully felt her skull. She found no telltale lumps or bumps. Other than her throbbing head and a general sense of illness, her body seemed to be unharmed, too. So what happened?
There was a sound from somewhere below. Downstairs? Yes, there were footsteps on stairs, definitely. Someone was coming. Someone else was here!
“You’re awake.”
Holy shit.
That was her first and only thought as she stared at the man who’d appeared out of nowhere, charging into the room as if he belonged here. He pulled up to an abrupt stop when he caught sight of her standing beneath the eaves on the narrow porch that ran around the house.
He was huge, rugged, and altogether beautiful, staring at her with a tender light in his eyes like she was something out of a dream. But maybe this was her dream. Maybe she was still asleep?
No. The sunshine on her shoulder was real. Her pounding heart was real. Her sense of terror and confusion were definitely real.
The man took a step toward her. She took a step back. A flicker of worry crossed his face. Taking another step forward he said, “Jacqueline?”
“Stay away from me,” she said, beginning to shake.
He froze. His gaze, electric green, raked over her. The intimacy of it made her feel utterly exposed, as if he knew all her secrets. As if he’d seen straight down into the darkest corners of her soul. His eyes flicked back up to hers and now they were wide and horrified. His expression turned horrified, too. He whispered, “The spirit vine. It wore off, didn’t it?”
He took another step toward her, hand outstretched, and Jack did the only thing she could think to do.
She screamed.
“What do you mean, she doesn’t remember anything?” said Xander, confused.
“Just what I said!” shouted Hawk, red-faced. “She doesn’t remember a thing!”
“Inaccurate,” said Jacqueline between gritted teeth. “I remember my name, my age, where I’m from, and what I do for a living. The pertinent facts are intact. I just don’t remember”—she glanced around the Assembly room—“this.” Her gaze flicked between Morgan, Xander, and Hawk. “You.”
The three of them stood on one side of the room, in front of the long, curving tables where the members had been sitting when Hawk made his declaration of war, which now seemed lifetimes ago. Jack stood across from them in almost the exact spot Hawk had stood, her feet spread apart, still in the chemise she’d slept in. Her lips were pressed thin. Her eyes blazed blue fury. Her legs were long and bare. And because Hawk hadn’t been able to get her out of his home any other way, her hands were tied behind her back.
She hadn’t liked that at all.
In fact, it would be accurate to say she hated it.
“Bloody hell, she isn’t a farm animal—untie the poor thing!” snapped Morgan, glaring at Hawk. “Are you off your trolley? Jesus H. Christ on a cross, this entire day has gone pear-shaped!”
Hawk looked at Xan
der, who shrugged and nodded.
Swallowing around the fist in his throat, he approached Jacqueline, his hands spread wide in a placating gesture. “Jacqueline, I’m going to untie your hands.”
“About friggin’ time!”
“So don’t try to hit me or anything.”
“Gee, why would I want to do that? It’s not like you overpowered me, and bound me, and threw me over your shoulders like a sack of potatoes! It’s not like you walked a mile while I was hanging upside down—”
“It wasn’t nearly that far—”
