A Grave Exchange (9 page)

Gretchen greeted me with a warm cup of coffee
. E
yeing me
,
she frowned
.
“What’s happened
,
Ivy
;
you look like you’ve seen a ghost
.
”

I s
hivered
at her
observations, but determined to keep my reality in check
,
I smiled
. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just cold. It’s freezing outside.”

She grunted, shrugged, and then
walked to the desk
, where she’d sit and do her knitting or read a novel, unless and until I needed her to help out with something
.

The afternoon flew by, between calls about animals that were available and people coming in to visit and play with the
adoptees
.
A
ll
too
soon
, the clock struck
four
.
Someone knocked on the front door, and
I looked up to see
Fausto walking
inside
.
Again
,
my wrist burned with an
intensely painful
itch
.
I rubbed it furiously and pulled my sleeve down
to hide
my
scar
as Fausto approached
me
.

He n
odd
ed
and said,
“Miss
,
Sir Valentine
sent me to collect you
.”

I did not recall Lucius saying Fausto would
come for me,
and I was pretty sure we had arranged for five o’ clock
,
but I could have been wrong, as I was so easily distracted
when it came to
anything to do with Lucius
.
The shelter had become quiet over the past half hour
,
so I calculated that it was safe to
leave early.
Gretchen
could handle anything between now and
when
the part-time evening manager, Georgia, arrived at five. We’d already
fed the animals
,
and for whatever reason
,
Zeus did not want to go on his afternoon walk
.
I told Fausto I would meet him at the car in a few moments
,
as I needed to get my coat and lock up the shelter
.
He nodded and
walked back out the door.

For a moment, I stood there watching him through the window. He walked to
a darkened SUV
and climbed inside
.
W
hy
wasn’t
he driving Lucius’ Jaguar
? P
erhaps Lucius preferred the SUV in the stormy weather that was brewing outside
again
.
I shrugged.

“Gretchen, will you be okay if I leave early?”

The elderly woman looked up from her book. “Oh, of course, honey. You go on. I’ll be just fine.”

“Thank you, Gretchen. You’re a lifesaver. And Georgia’ll be here in less than an hour, so it’s not like you’ll be stuck here ‘til closing.” I slipped on
my parka
, zipped it up,
and wrapp
ed
a scarf around
my neck.

As I headed out the door, I heard what sounded like
Zeus
’
howling
, coming from the back room
.
The noise
bothered
me;
Zeus was usually such a placid old boy
.
I decided to call the vet in the morning to check him out
.

I
crossed the lot
to the SUV
,
the wind hurl
ing
dancing leaves around my face
. A
strong gust of wind
came up, blowing me sideways
,
and
as I veered back on course toward the vehicle
,
I saw what appeared to be Lucius driving his Jaguar up the street
.

“Fausto, is that not Lucius driving toward us?”

No sooner had the words left my mouth, than
my head exploded with pain as it slammed against the door of the SUV
.
I heard glass smash, tires screeching
,
and then before the darkness took over
,
I heard savage growling.

Chapter
Eight

I woke up and gingerly tried to reach the side of my head that was pounding, but nausea prevented me from my objective
.
I
nstead
,
I rolled onto my knees and threw up
.
Gasping for breath, overwhelmed by the pain
,
I shook from head to toe
.
Suddenly
,
I realized with absolute clarity that I was in mortal danger
.
I tried to open my eyes wide and see where I was, but my
they
felt dry and raw
.
I reached up and rubbed them
,
and my vision cleared enough for me to see
my surroundings
.
I had no clue where I was or what time it was
.
I tried to stand up
,
but
legs wouldn’t hold me, so
I sat
back
and stared
,
horrified at what
I
saw.
A
concrete room
—no
windows, no flooring,
no furnishings
just concrete
. T
he only non-concrete item in the room was the door,
and
it was made of a thick metal
.
I pushed myself up on to my protesting feet and sluggishly shuffled over to the
check the knob.
I did not really believe it would open
,
but I had to try.

Of course
,
the door would not budge; I laid my head against it and listen
ed
f
o
r
any sound from beyond
, some
thing
to
indicat
e
where I was
, but I heard n
othing
.
I remembered I had my phone in my pocket and hoped there was enough
of a
charge
for me
to make a call
. S
urely
,
Lucius
would be missing me
.
The
n, what he’d told me earlier
hit me
,
and I fell to the ground
,
cowering in fear
.
Was this to do with the
k
ing
?
What was going to happen to me
?
I absently rub
bed
my wrist
, although
it wasn’t throbbing
. S
urely
,
with me
being in this much danger
,
it should have me screaming
?
Maybe my ward didn’t work anymore
. D
id that mean I would die
?
I
sat for a moment, wondering who I would call. Gretchen? Was she still at The Humane Society? I
hit the
speed dial
button
I had pre-assigned to my work
and waited
.
N
othing
happened
.
No ringing, no busy signal. Nothing.
I tried Gretchen’s number
with the same results
.
What was going on? Why would
n’t
my phone work
?

As I closed my phone and was about to put it back in my coat pocket
,
I noticed
scratches on
the back
cover. I lifted up
for closer
inspection, pulled off the backing, and
saw
the chip had been removed
. T
hat would explain why it didn’t work
.
I froze
. W
hile I was out cold
,
what else had been done to me
?
Apart from
the pain in
my head
,
I didn’t really any
different. I had
a few bruises on my wrists
,
and I noted my ankles felt sore
. O
pening the zip on one of my boots
,
I saw the beginnings of a wicked bruise. Who
’d done
this
?
Fausto
?
But h
e was
supposedly
Lucius’ trusted friend
.
As I sat there
trying to piece things together,
with the makings of a ferocious migraine
forming behind my eyes,
I
heard footsteps
approaching
.
I hastily retreated f
a
rther back into the room against the wall
. The
few martial arts classes I took suggested if you were in the line of attack and couldn’t run away to back yourself to a wall
.
I never did finish the course
.
C
ursing my stupidity
,
I sat like a duck with a target on its head
.
The lock clicked
,
a
nd the door slowly opened.

Expecting
Fausto
, I looked up in surprise as
four men in
ornate
uniforms entered
,
and moments later
,
a man who took my breath away for all the wrong reasons entered the tiny room
—the king
.
Claustrophobia
made
my lungs
ache,
preventing me from
drawing a full breath.
I shivered wildly
, and began hyperventilating.
Dots appeared in my line of vision
.

“Woman
,
snap out of it or I will put you down like the creature you are should be.”

His s
hock
ing words
pulled
me back to
the present
.
Feeling completely out of my league and fearing
for
my life, I
stayed
mute
.
Nothing in my life
could
have
ever
prepared me for this moment
.
I was in a room of vampires
, and
I had no chance of getting out of ther
e
alive
.
The
k
ing stood there
,
towering over m
e
.
He had eyes the color of a cold winter sky,
and
hair so
white
blond
,
it
looked like
snow
.
There was nothing warm about this man
.
Shivering
,
I glanced down at my wrist
,
wondering why nothing was happening
.
I thought Lucius said I had a safety
ward, that the scar
protect
ed
me;
perhaps
,
it only
worked
when he was with me
?

“Silly
child
;
that
ward will not protect you from me
.
Maria may have cast
a
spell
of protection
,
but I am
the
k
ing
of all
,
and as
the
k
ing
,
my spells
and enchantments
are
far mightier than any
mere
witch
’
s.”

I couldn’t speak; n
o words would form,
and
my brain felt totally addled
.
Too much
was happening too fast
me to think
coherent
ly
.
The
k
ing chuckled
, leaned down,
and lifted my chin
.

“I do not know what Lucius sees in you
. P
erhaps I will later
.
”

H
is
gaze
travelled down my body
,
and I felt completely naked
. S
hivering
,
I tried to wriggle free, only to have the
k
ing clutch my chin harder
.

“Ivy, I have not finished with you
.
I will get to know you intimately yet
. A
fter that, your life will be worthless to me.”

As if the
k
ing silently commanded them, the men in the room turned and left us alone
.

I
scrambled to my feet, but I had nowhere to go, so I
cowered against the back wall of the room, tears threatening to
fall
. V
iolently
,
I brushed my eyes with my fist
.

“So brave
,
little one
. A
las
,
resistance is
futile
. And
as soon as I get what I want, you will cease to exist.”

With that
,
the
k
ing stormed out of the room
. T
he door slammed shut and locked again
behind him
.
Falling to the
hard concrete
floor,
I lay there, letting the tears finally fall freely
.
How did I ever get into this situation
? W
hy me
?
I lay there crying
,
and eventually
,
sleep c
a
me to me
.
Slowly
,
my world
of terror
faded for a few moments
. S
weet
moments
,
during which Lucius came to visit me
.
As sleep closed her arms around me
,
I
felt his presence
,
his arms around me, his mouth upon m
ine
,
and
passion ignit
ed
my body once more
.

My limbs
felt heavy with desire, my eyes too
leaden
to open
.
I lay there imagining Lucius beside me
. I moved
my hand down my stomach
until I
reached my
scarred pelvis
,
which Lucius had showered with love
. G
ingerly
,
I slid my fingers over my scars
. B
utterflies spread through my tummy as I remembered Lucius using his skilled mouth
.
My nipples hardened at the very thought of
his
tender
ministrations. No longer able to hold off
,
I slid
my
fingers under my skirt and found my wet panties
. S
lowly
,
I started rubbing my
pussy
, hardly able to breathe
.
I found myself
grinding into my fingers, harder and faster,
and
I became so wet
,
my finger slid into my tight pussy
.
I gasped at how good
it felt as
passion spread throughout my body
, and all the while,
I thought of Lucius, thought of his naked body
.

“Ivy
,
little one, slide
a second
fingers inside, now
. F
or me.”