Hidden Flames (34 page)
“I’ll remember that.”
Neither of them spoke for several, tense seconds, but Roux refused to break first. Her pride would get her killed, but then again, her defiance was the only weapon she had left. If she had to die, she’d do it on her feet, still fighting, not whimpering in the mud like a coward.
“Collins,” he finally answered. “Captain Deke Collins.”
“Roux,” she returned grudgingly. “Roux Jennings.”
“Okay, Roux, besides you and the five we have in custody, are there any more of you?”
“Humans?” she scratched her fingernails over the wet denim covering her thighs, a nervous habit she’d picked up sometime in the past year. “I’m sure there are plenty of us.”
“I’m going to take that to mean there are no more in your party.”
“Where are they?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes at the sinister figure. “What have you done with them?”
“Your friends are safe. They’ve been taken into the city.” He shifted, turning sideways, and the light from the grocer parking lot reflected in his eyes so that they glowed a strange, icy blue. “You’ll see them soon,” he added, his tone mocking.
Shifter
. Or werewolf, maybe, but Roux guessed shifter. While Deke was certainly big enough to be a werewolf, he moved too gracefully, too quietly. From what she’d seen, the werewolves lacked all subtly and finesse, killing first and asking questions later.
“I’d rather you just kill me and get it over with.” Maybe not the smartest thing to ever leave her mouth, but she meant every word of it.
“So eager for death,” Deke mused. “Why?”
“Not eager. Just not interested in being a walking buffet for a bunch of bloodsuckers.”
“Funny you should say that.” His right eyebrow arched, and his lips curled at the corners. “Did your friends decide you’d make the best vampire bait?”
Roux placed her hand over the bandage on her injured arm and lifted her chin. “What does it matter to you?”
He didn’t answer, but asked a question of his own. “Where was your party coming from?”
“East.”
“I’m going to need more than that.”
“Why?” Roux challenged. “You have us now. What does it matter where we came from?”
“And why are you so desperate to protect the place?” he countered, turning back and taking an aggressive step forward. “What are you hiding, female?”
“I told you my name, asshole. The least you can do is use it.”
“Don’t be a hypocrite. It doesn’t suit you.”
Roux scoffed. “Don’t pretend to know me.”
With another of those strange rumbles, Deke stepped forward, sweeping her off the ground and over his shoulder. Panic flooded Roux’s veins, breaking down her composure, and she flailed, kicking her feet and slamming her fists against his muscled back.
“No! Put me down. Please, don’t do this. You don’t have to do this. Don’t take me into the city.” Tears welled along her lower lids, threatening to spill over, but she fought them back ruthlessly. “Let me go!”
Her struggles barely fazed him, gaining only a single grunt, but even that sounded more frustrated than pained. Deke carried her through the peach trees to the rear of the grocer where he dumped her unceremoniously into the backseat of an SUV with a mesh cage separating her from the front of the cab.
Twisting around in the seat, Roux rolled over on her back and kicked at the window, driving the heel of her boot into the glass. She kicked again and again, even when her knee began to throb and her shin screamed in protest.
“That’s bulletproof glass,” Deke informed her as he slid behind the wheel, his tone calm, almost bored. “You’re going to hurt yourself before you break it.”
Soaking wet, starving, and exhausted, Roux slumped back on the bench seat, closed her eyes, and counted backwards from ten.
Ten. Nine. Eight.
It couldn’t end like this. She’d fought too hard, lost too much.
Seven. Six. Five.
Even if she could escape, she’d lost her bag, all of her supplies, and she no longer had a weapon. It didn’t matter. She’d rather be unprepared in the woods than face the horrors of the city.
Four. Three. Two.
Roux opened her eyes, staring up at the ceiling of the cab with her hands fisted at her sides. Weakness, hopelessness, and defeat had no place in her mind or heart, and if she had to die, she’d take as many of them with her as she could.
One.
Essential Beginnings (Surviving Ashes, Book One)
Hidden Ashes (Surviving Ashes, Book Two)
Captured Innocence (CSA Case Files 1)
Sinful Resurrection (CSA Case Files 2)
Renewed Faith (CSA Case Files 3)
Campaign of Desire (CSA Case Files 4)
Internal Temptation (CSA Case Files 5)
Radiant Surrender (CSA Case Files 6)
Starr’s Awakening (Red Starr, The Prequel)
Hearths of Fire (Red Starr, Book One)
Targets Entangled (Red Starr, Book Two)
Igniting Passion (Red Starr, Book Three)
First and foremost, I love life. I love that I’m a wife, mother, daughter, sister… and a writer.
I am one of the lucky women in this world who gets to do what makes them happy. As long as I have a cup of coffee (maybe two or three) and my laptop, the stories evolve themselves and I try to do them justice. I draw my inspiration from a retired Marine Master Sergeant that swept me off of my feet and has drawn me into a world that fulfills all of my deepest and darkest desires. Erotic romance, military men, intrigue, with a little bit of kinky chili pepper (his recipe), fill my head and there is nothing more satisfying than making the hero and heroine fulfill their destinies.
Thank you for having joined me on their journeys…
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