Capturing Today (TimeShifters Book 2) (27 page)

“Right.” I cross my arms to put more space between us. “Encourage so you can dash it.”

“I didn’t lie to you. You have only your foolish desires to blame.” He dips his head so we’re on the same level. His voice lowers. “She may not want you, but I do. Everything I did, I did to save you. Isn’t that enough?”

“You hardly saved me.”

His breath tickling against my cheek is about to make me throw up.

I slant my body away from him. “You accuse Nicholas of using the Shifters as pawns when that’s exactly how you work. I know what you plan to do with me. Don’t deny it.”

His eyes snap, cold and hard. “She told you, didn’t she?”

Hopefully he means Rosa and doesn’t suspect Yasmine of deception.

I rock back on my heels. “I will never go along with it. With you.”

His right eye twitches. “Never is an awful long time. And I can be very … persuasive.” He touches a finger to my lips.

I recoil with a growl. “Never.”

“Imagine the man of your dreams. I can become him.” His voice is calm, measured. “I will worship you. Take care of you. Be available to meet your every need.”

“No.” Ready to hoof it down the corridor, I spin around.

Coffee splatters across the ground. Erik snatches my arm and yanks me around. He locks me right against his body. His ab and chest muscles are tense along my side. “Where
exactly
do you think you’re going?”

“I never should have—I’m leaving.” I struggle in his grasp. “You said I could go whenever I wanted.” There isn’t any space between us for self-defense moves. Then again, Eric has magic. Even if I break away, what chance do I stand against him?

I should have pretended I knew nothing. Now I’ve blown my cover. And probably any chance of escape. If I could put a deadbolt on my mouth, I would. Seeing as I clearly lack the ability to rein in my words before considering the impact they might have.

He presses his forehead to my temple, and his voice drops. “Leaving would be unwise.”

I shove my elbows into his ribs as hard as I can. “Let go.”

He releases me suddenly, pushing me away so I reel backwards a little and bang into the solid wall. Air shutters from my lungs, and panic rushes over my skin like static electricity.

Will he kill me?

“Fine.” A cat toying with a mouse, he stalks toward me. “Go ahead and leave, but know this—I will haunt you for the rest of your life. I will make sure everything you touch falls apart, and I will destroy everyone you love. The choice is yours. Remember, I gave you that much.”

“I’m not afraid of your threats.” I hate the squeak in my voice.

“Ah, but you’re smarter than that. Aren’t you?” He smiles wickedly. “If you care about the wellbeing of your father, Michael, Donovan, and the rest of the Brady Bunch, you won’t leave. I’ll put a price on every Shifter’s head. I will wipe them off the earth if you deny me.”

“The Shifters will stop you.” I’m goading him, but playing with fire is better than cowering silently.

Challenge lights his eyes. “Will they? I think not. And if they try … I’ll kill them one-by-one in front of you. Allow you to witness their screams and begging, all the while knowing you could have prevented it if you would have simply obeyed when you had the chance.”

He will.

And it will be my fault. Without chains or gags or jail cells, I’m trapped, and he knows it.

Erik braces his hands on the wall at either side of my head. “I wanted this to go so differently. I was going to woo you, Gabriella. Make you fall for me. Forget all others. You could have been happy—proud to be mine. So honored to do this one simple task for my people.”

Breaking news: Erik is creepy.

He drops his hands so they rest on my waist, his thumbs brushing over my hip bones. “Now I don’t have to, do I? You’ve saved me the bother of being kind.”

Every fiber of my being screams to shove him away—to knee him in the groin and take off at my fastest speed. But I’m in the middle of Mónatos, and I don’t know how to get out. Or if I even can. Erik cloaked the building … does that make it impossible for me to leave? Or does it only keep Shifters out?

It doesn’t matter. Escape isn’t an option right now. Not after Erik threatened everyone I care about. Disowning the Shifters was a mistake. One I can’t take back. But I can protect all of them in this small way. My stomach turns, but I grit my teeth against it. I have to stay. If something happened to my dad or Michael because of me … I can’t handle that.

“It’s sad really,” Erik continues. “You know, Lark did try to warn you. Don’t—” He gasps dramatically and clutches at his neck, making the universal choking sign. “Go. Don’t—” He gasps again.

I see red. All fists and screaming, I fly at him. “You bastard! You killed her.” I strike his chest, blow after blow. “You killed her.”

He catches my wrists in a grip that defies his lean build and pins my arms against the wall above my head. “I did not kill her.”

Blood roars in my ears. “I don’t believe you.” I spit out the words. “Why should I believe you?”

            “I can vow upon whatever you deem appropriate.” His fingers are hot against my skin. “I did not kill her.”

I twist my arms and slip out of his grasp. Then ram my hands into his chest, and he finally backs up. “If not you, then one of your Shades.”

He shrugs. “I’ve told you before, I don’t control their actions. Every once in a while, they do as they wish. What do I care if they take out a useless Shifter girl here and there?”

I slap him. Hard. So hard my hand tingles and leaves a bright red print across his cheek. The line of blood along his chin says my nails got in on the action too.

He tosses back his head and laughs. “That’s cute. Really. You think you can hurt me? You think you have any power whatsoever?” His hands crunch down on my shoulders, and he squeezes, hitting a nerve ending. It feels like someone stabbed a heated knitting needle into my tendons. “That’s what’s wrong with you—all of you. You want to be your own masters. There’s no such thing. It’s Nick or me. You have no power, Gabriella. None at all. You never will.”

I wince and grind my teeth together to block out the pain. “It’s Gabby.”

A sneer pulls his lips. “Excuse me?”

I stand a little straighter. Blinding white agony shoots into my head. “My name is Gabby.”

“You lost your chance to play nice.” He shakes me. “Your name will be whatever I want it to be.” He gets right in my face. “I waited eighteen years for you. You’re mine.”

It feels like my heart is going to hammer through my ribs. “You may be able to coerce me into staying, but I will die before submitting to you.”

His hand rises, and I brace for a blow. Instead he makes a fist and then flexes his fingers a couple times. “And if you ever strike me again … I might be willing to end you and wait eighteen more years for another girl.” He grabs me by the neck and traps me against the wall again. I claw at his fingers, but he presses harder into my windpipe until spots march into my line of vision.

“Your whole life is nothing more than a blip on my radar. Each breath you take is because I allow it. Understood?”

My eye twitches as I try to stare him down.

Finally, he jerks his hand away. I crumble. Hands on my knees, I gulp in air, but breathing hurts. Oxygen isn’t supposed to hurt. Tears blaze against my cheeks. The skin on my neck prickles like a poison ivy rash. 

“Yasmine.” Erik straightens his spine and rubs the red mark on his jaw. “Take my future bride away before I do something terrible to her.”

Yasmine jogs over to us. “Yes, sir. Anywhere in particular?”

“Out of my sight.”

Yasmine wraps her arm around my shoulder and propels me through the doorway. I’m glad she’s steering me because I don’t think I’ll be able to walk on my own power. My legs wobble like half-set pudding. Yasmine navigates through multiple turns as I stare blankly ahead.  Lark died because of me, didn’t she? Her death wasn’t an accident. A Shade murdered her.

And I’m next.

My gut twists. “I’m going to puke.”

Yasmine directs me to a bathroom and holds open the door. My head spins like a tilt-a-whirl as I stumble forward. I drop to my knees and gag before retching into the toilet. Again and again my stomach recoils, spilling the little contents it had and then forcing me to dry heave until both my throat and abs ache. Tears splash into the water in the bowl. Trying to regain a semblance of dignity, I gulp in a few lungfuls of air until finally I’m able to grab the cold porcelain and use it to push myself to my feet.

I’m stuck. All of my bullheaded choices, my refusal to obey people who actually cared, have brought me here. And now I’ll pay.

I have to stay. Have to …

Erik will execute more Shifters if I leave.

And kill me if I refuse.

“I’m sorry about that.” I scrub the back of my hand over my mouth and cross to the sink.

Yasmine offers me a sad smile and a pat on the arm. “Don’t be.”

Cupping my hands, I fill them with cool water. Then I tip the water into my mouth, swish it, and spit it out. Repeat. I press my cold fingers to my aching neck.

She pulls a stick of gum from her pocket and offers it to me. “Are you strong enough to walk, or would you like to rest a little longer?”

I grab the gum and jam it into my mouth. A burst of overly fruity juices washes away the last traces of after-taste from throwing up. 

“I’m fine.” Biggest lie in history. “Lead the way.”

We walk another ten or fifteen minutes. Every time someone rounds a corner, my muscles coil and scream for me to flee. Yasmine pauses and ushers me into a room located near a bank of windows.

“Why did you bring her here?” A male voice. “If he finds out …”

She lets go of me and closes the door. “It’s time to get her to safety. As planned.”

Gaining my bearings, I blink a couple times. Carl—the Shade that helped me haul Michael to the Portal—hovers nearby. In the light of day, his face is more sharp angles than I noticed before. His jaw could cut ice. Deep set eyes cast shadows, making him look eternally sleepy. He has the emo slouch and
don’t care
stare down to an art.

“You didn’t cheer.” For some reason that feels important. “In the crowd, when I first came here.”

One dark eyebrow rises. “Do you blame me?”

“Did you know?” I stumble over a grouping of rugs covering the wooden floors in his room. “When you helped me? Did you know what Erik wanted to use me for?”

He shoves his hands deep into the pockets of his oversized coat. “All of Mónatos knows.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“What was I supposed to say?” I’m sure he’s shrugging, but his coat is eating his tiny frame, so I can’t totally tell. “Hey, you don’t know me from Henry, but just a mild warning here—you may want to stay clear of Erik and most of the Shades.”

He wraps an arm around Yasmine’s waist and pulls her to his side. He presses a kiss to her cheek before looking back at me. “I’m sorry. I thought the whole
don’t go to Mónatos
thing was common knowledge among the Shifters.”

Yasmine spins away from Carl. “Stop. We need to get Gabby out of here.”

Carl’s room is sparse compared to my mother’s. As if he still hasn’t finished moving into the place. I snatch his salt shaker off the table. It’s shaped like a half circle and fits right inside my fist. “I don’t know if you didn’t hear Erik from where you were standing, but I can’t leave.”

“Everything he told you is
why
you have to leave.” Yasmine puts her hands behind her back and crosses the room, soldier straight. “Unless you actually want to be his bride?”

“Gross.” I set down the salt shaker with a loud bang. “No.”

But I don’t have a choice.

“Then?” Yasmine folds her arms over her chest as Carl looks off and to the left. I’m going to take a wild guess that she wears the pants in this relationship.

“I can’t. You heard him.” I tug at the bottom of my shirt. “He’ll kill more Shifters.”

Carl works his jaw back and forth. “You’re right. If you leave, he’ll go after the Shifters. Anyone he can get his hands on.”

His confirmation hits me like a baseball bat to the gut.

Yasmine rolls her eyes. “Not helping, Carl.”

“I wasn’t finished.” Storm clouds gather behind his eyes. “And if you stay, he’ll kill all the Shifters.”

“But—”

“End game.” He crosses his arms. “Erik wants the Shifters gone. For the moment, they’re more or less protected because he can’t afford to kill people who may join his team. He’s dependent on the Shifters in that way.” Carl toes his clunky, unlaced boot on the edge of the rug. “If you go along with him, you buy them some time. But in the end, you’re signing their death certificates.”

Yasmine steps around him. “What Carl’s trying to say is, think long term.”

I blow a long stream of air out of my lips, ruffling my hair. “If I was good at long term, I wouldn’t be here to begin with.”

A curse flies from Carl’s mouth. “So stop sulking over your past, and do the right thing now.”

“There is no right thing. Only two no-win situations.”

He loses his too-cool persona for a moment, his nostrils flaring. “There’s always a right path.”