Ensnared (4 page)

“I can see in your eyes you know the place.”

“
Everyone
knows about Chalys.”

“Would you want to live in Chalys?”

She almost said yes until he added, “The people I’d entrust you to live there.”

Zari looked down at that, not wanting the vampire to realize how his words hurt. He really was in a hurry to get rid of her.

Alexandru was about to speak again when a voice in his mind said,
My lord, the ride for the soul seer has arrived.
 

And so it had.

Zari was surprised when Alexandru suddenly took her hand. “What is it?”

“Your ride’s here,” he murmured as they started to walk.
 

Oh.

This was really it. He had rescued her for some reason, and now he was passing her off. She had so many questions in mind but she just couldn’t ask them. She was too busy feeling betrayed that he was giving her up to people she didn’t know.

Didn’t what happen between them matter to him? The question had her cringing. Technically,
nothing
had really happened between them. It wasn’t as if he had taken her virginity.
 

In minutes, they had walked out of the clearing and she saw a huge black Jeep waiting for them. Alexandru dropped her hand, murmuring, “Wait here,” before walking ahead of her to talk to its driver.

This was really it. After this, who knew if she would ever see him again? And even if she didn’t, why should it matter? She should just focus on finding her parents and rebuilding her life. She should forget about ever finding out that not only humans existed in this world. That was the smartest thing to do.

“Zari? It’s time to go.”

She looked up at the words and found the vampire’s eyes hooded as he returned her gaze.

Slowly, she walked towards him and allowed Alexandru to assist her up the Jeep.

“Make sure you don’t forget about me,” he said teasingly, but his smile faded when she didn’t answer, didn’t even look at him. Her gaze remained at her tightly clenched hands on her lap. Another strange painful pang hit his chest, but he told himself it was nothing.
 

“Goodbye then, little pet.”

Still not looking at him, she muttered, “I’m not your little pet.”

The smile that curved on his lips didn’t reach his eyes. “I know.” He closed the door. As he started to walk away, he heard the driver starting the engine.

Master.

It took him a while to realize that he was hearing Zari’s thoughts.

Master. Master. Master.

She was muttering the word out loud, practicing the word over and over in a tear-choked voice.

Alexandru closed his eyes. God, what an idiot. Ridiculously proud, strong, brave,
cute
idiot.

One moment, Zari was fighting back tears. The next moment, a strong gust of wind hit her, and the next thing she knew, she heard the door burst open and slam shut. When she blinked her eyes open, a shriek of surprise slipped past her lips at finding Alexandru sitting next to her.

“What are you doing here?” She tried to sound like she was angry even though she was feeling incredibly relieved at the sight of him.

Her expressive face gave her away, and he shook his head. “You truly should quit lying, little pet. Your face will always give you away.”

She flushed at his words, but even so, she said stubbornly, “You haven’t answered my question.”

His beautiful green eyes bored into her. “What do you think?”

She couldn’t say the words she was thinking, afraid that it would mean hoping for nothing.

His voice lazy, he continued, “After saying
Master
over and over in your mind, after telling yourself you could swallow your pride and call me Master, what do you think?” He waited for a second, and as expected, he was rewarded with another comical look of surprise as Zari’s cheeks puffed up, reminding him once more of a cartoon character.

Zari wanted to die of embarrassment. She couldn’t believe how she had forgotten that the vampire was able to hear her thoughts.
 

“You can still change your mind, you know.” He stopped, frustrated at the way he was privately torn between wanting and
not
wanting the soul seer to change her mind.
 

“It will not be an easy life with me. And though I may look and speak in an easy matter, I am unfortunately very traditional. I do not want you taking your role as my pet lightly.” His eyes narrowed. “Among other things, it means having to call me Master.” He lifted a brow. “Can you do that?”

She thought about it hard, and in the end she realized one thing. At the end of the day, Master was just a word, and it was up to her to decide what that word meant. For others, it might mean giving up one’s freedom. For herself, it meant having the vampire in her life.
 

Slowly, Zari nodded.

“I’m afraid that’s not good enough, pet.”

“Master.” She choked on the word and glared at him as she said it.

Too fucking cute.

Not caring that there was another person inside the jeep, he reached for Zari. In a moment, he had her on his lap, his hand in her hair and his lips on hers. He kissed her hungrily, unable to believe how much he loved the taste of her even though they had just met. Even though she was no one to him. Even though his heart already had someone else inside it.

When the vampire’s lips drifted down her throat, Zari arched her neck, unable to stop herself from giving him more access because it just really felt good. “Is this…part of…being…a human pet?” The way she sounded so breathless made her embarrassed, but she couldn’t help it.

The way Zari’s skin turned pink was a turn-on, and Alexandru’s lips moved back up as he took her lips for another kiss. The way she returned his kiss was still inexperienced and clumsy. It should have made the kiss distasteful and boring, but instead he found her innocence all the more arousing. He had never been a possessive lover, but with the soul seer, he realized that he liked – really fucking liked – the fact that he was the first one to kiss her, to touch her, and soon…to take her.

“With others, it’s…
optional
,” he whispered against her lips. He lifted his head, his gaze intense as it met hers. “But with me, it’s non-negotiable. If I shall be your Master and you my pet, I want the right to touch you as you will and make you cry out in pleasure. It’s a right that I alone shall have.” Slowly, seductively, he traced her lips. “Do you agree with that?”

Even as her cheeks turned redder at his blunt words, she whispered, “Yes.” There was no other answer, not when she couldn’t imagine any other man doing what he did to her.

When his lips curved in a smile, her heart tripped, making Zari realized how much this person had suddenly meant to her. He meant so much, to the point that she hungered for his approval. The thought had her discomfited, and she blurted out, “Alexandru?”

He raised a brow.

After a beat, she realized what it meant and she said, “Master?”

His head bent, and then he was sucking on her lip, as if giving her a reward. When he lifted his head, he asked, “What is it?”

“Is seduction one of your powers?”

He choked.

“Tell me honestly.”

“How would I know?”

She said glumly, “It must be. I’ve never been interested in boys, much less kissing, but with you I’m just…” Her hands flapped in the air.

He suppressed a smile. “Just...what?”

She glared at him.

Too damn cute.

He kissed her again, and when he released her mouth, she said, “It’s definitely one of your powers.”

He laughed but didn’t answer her. He had a feeling it was better for both of them that the little soul seer believed he was manipulating the sexual attraction between them. Instead, he said, “If you are serious about being my pet…”
 

He stopped, giving her a chance to change her mind. In all honesty, he didn’t want to give her that chance. In his mind, he already saw her as his. But he was nothing but fair—

“I won’t change my mind.” She looked down. “Until we find my parents, that is.”

He inclined his head in agreement. “Understood. But for now…you are mine then?”

She flushed at the words, as expected. When she saw him grin, she said with a glare, “Stop it—”

He raised a brow.

She said chokingly, “Master.”

He stroked her cheek, and the tender gesture made her blush harder. She knew that it was his silent way of apologizing.

Alexandru sighed. “Those blushes of yours, pet…remember that they’re only mine, mm?”
 

Before she could answer, he was kissing her again, his tongue possessive and bold as it danced with hers.

When he released her mouth, she muttered dazedly, “Is there some kind of antidote I can take so I’d be immune to your kisses?”

He chuckled, but his voice was sober when he said, “There’s one last thing you have to know about being my pet…and about your real identity.”

****

“Why did you take us back here?” She tried to keep her voice from shaking when she found herself standing in front of the entrance of the mining shaft once more. Although it was already broad daylight, the sun appeared unable to penetrate the darkness inside the tunnels. Its blackness was like a living creature, hungry and intent on devouring everything made of light and life.

If she closed her eyes, she wouldn’t be surprised if she started to hear the same screams, over and over.

“I told you I came to rescue you, didn’t I?”

She nodded.

“It’s because I was sent to look for you.”

She shook her head, bewildered. “Why would you…a vampire…look for me?”

“Because you’re no ordinary human.” He took her hand. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.”

Again, her unquestioning loyalty sent a pang through his chest, and Alexandru swore to himself that it was something he would cherish forever. Slowly, he drew her inside with him, and again she didn’t hesitate even though he felt her body start to tremble in fear next to him.

When they had walked deep enough into the tunnel that it was black all around, he took her hand and placed it on the wall.

He said quietly, “I’m going to bite you now, just to open your mind a little more and let you
see.
”

“I don’t—” But she forgot what else she had to say when Alexandru’s fangs sank into the side of her neck. She gasped at the pain of it, and then she gasped again, her body jerking as images from long ago invaded her mind.

****

Black.
 

Everything in black jumped at Zari, leaving her blind to any other color but black.

Black. BLACK.
BLACK
.
 

The blackness of the soot that marked the children’s clothes as they crawled into the narrow passageways, their tiny fingers gripping explosives. The color of the sky as they worked into the wee hours of the night. The shadows under their eyes as they struggled against hunger, thirst, and most of all, fear.

And then the scene changed, hundreds of sheets of paper falling to the ground. She tried to reach for a piece, and it was only then she realized that she didn’t exist, not in this world from a hundred years back.

Black.

The descent of the papers slowed down in front of her eyes, as if someone had set everything in slow motion. Words written in black ink screamed at her.

MISSING!

Toby Manderley, Age 7.

Katie Sanders, Age 11.

Darwin Colt, Age 5.

Another shower of paper fell, torn sheets of newspaper falling from somewhere above her.

More words cried out to her, headlines printed in black.

Wealthy clan owning mines denies allegations of child labor!