Davis, Liz - Under His Spell (Siren Publishing Classic) (14 page)

“Okay, well I’m going to need it back.”

“You’ll get it back when I see that Lynn is safe.”

“She’s
fine
. She needed a ride, so I’m taking her home.”

“You’d better be heading straight there.” The tone in Takoda’s voice expressed his seriousness about the situation.

“I really don’t appreciate the way you’re speaking to me right now.”

“Well I don’t appreciate you taking off with my girlfriend. And since we’re on the subject, I know what you’ve been up to.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” David angrily inquired.

“Do you make it a habit to gain entry into women’s homes and try to steal their underwear, or is my girlfriend just a special exception?”

Takoda impatiently waited for an answer, but the only sounds which came from the other end of the phone were the sounds of cars passing by and trucks blaring their horns.

“Hello? Answer me,” Takoda sharply commanded.

“Listen, asshole, if it wasn’t for me, your girlfriend would still be back at that bar, getting harassed by weird creeps. So you’d better show me some fucking respect.”

“You certainly didn’t give her any respect that night you were snooping around in her bedroom. And you’re a creep yourself, so I really don’t trust you at all.”

“Well Lynn seems to trust me just fine. She happily came along with me when I showed up.”

“That’s because she doesn’t know the type of man she’s really dealing with. You might be fooling her right now, but not for very long.”

“Whatever, man. I’m hanging up now.”

“Put her on the phone. I want to speak to her.”

“Tough shit,” David snappily replied.

“You really don’t want to mess with me,” Takoda darkly warned.

There was a pause on the other end of the line and then he heard the sound of David’s voice once again.

“She’s busy right now. She can’t talk.”

“Busy doing
what?
” Takoda’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the cell phone tightly in his hands.

Listening closely to the other end of the line, he focused upon the sound of a car door opening, followed by it slamming shut. Then he heard a soft, female voice which was unmistakably Lynn’s. Takoda heard her ask David who he was talking to, and then he heard David mumble an unintelligible reply.

“You’re a liar. I hear her talking in the background. Put her on the phone
.
” Takoda was quickly losing his patience.

There was pregnant silence between them, followed by the click of the line as it went dead. Takoda angrily snapped the phone shut and then redialed, but the line only rang once and then the voice mail picked up. Takoda tossed the cell phone onto the passenger’s seat and pressed his foot on the accelerator, sending his car speeding down the highway like a bullet.

* * * *

Despite Lynn’s urgency to get home, David had decided to make a few pit stops along the way. First he said he needed water, so they stopped at a mini-mart. Then he’d complained of being hungry, so they stopped at a diner just off the highway. Of course she knew that these were all just excuses. He was trying to delay their arrival to her house so that he would be able to spend more time with her. Nearly an hour of their time was wasted making stops along the road, so once they finally got back onto the highway, she found herself wishing that he wouldn’t make another stop. To her relief, David finally took her home, and as they arrived at her house she felt a huge sense of relief. She was back in familiar territory, and finally able to free herself from the presence of David.

As his car pulled into the driveway, Lynn already had her hand poised and ready to open the door. Once the car came to a stop, Lynn uttered a quick “thanks” and then bailed out of the car, walking quickly towards her front door.

She heard the sound of David’s car door slam as he got out of the vehicle footsteps behind her as he followed her to the house.

“Lynn, wait. Are you okay?” he called out from behind her.

“Of course I’m okay, why wouldn’t I be?”

“You seem mad at me.”

Pulling her keys out of her purse, Lynn responded, “I’m fine. Just would have been nice if you’d brought me straight home.”

A look of regret passed across David’s face. “Sorry about that. I guess I just got so excited spending time with you outside of work that I went a little crazy. We are still friends, aren’t we?”

Slipping her key into the lock, she twisted the knob open and cracked open the door. Then she turned around to face him.

“I don’t know David, I guess.”

“Please don’t be mad at me, Lynn.”

A sigh of frustration expelled itself from her lips. “I’m really exhausted right now, and I’d like to go inside and relax. I’ve had a very long and trying evening.”

“All right, I’ll let you go now. Have a nice night, and see you at work tomorrow.” Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he turned and began walking down the steps.”

“Goodnight, David.”

Once she crossed the threshold, he waved, and she returned it with a quick one of her own. Then she closed and locked it behind her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she slid her palm along the wall until it bumped against the light switch. As the room flooded with light, she tossed her purse onto the couch and took off her shoes. She headed toward the hallway so that she could go to her bedroom, but as she walked she was seized by a nagging sense of dread. Something was off about the energy in the room, and the muscles in her body had suddenly grown tense.

There was also a strange scent in the room, a smell which was definitely foreign to her house. Struck with the sense that she was being watched, she whirled her head around, glancing behind her to see if anyone was there. She looked over her shoulder and all around the room, but as far as she could see, there wasn’t anyone there. Despite the hairs which had pricked up on the back of her neck, she decided to brush it off. The strange turn of events that evening had caused her to feel a little jumpy, and her nerves were badly jarred.

Holding her shoes in her hand, she continued on back to her bedroom. She was just stepping into the hallway when she saw something shift from out of the corner of her eye.

Turning her gaze toward the far corner of the room, she rested her eyes upon an armchair which was cast in a shadowy corner of the room. Walking toward a floor lamp with bated breath, she switched it on to immerse the other part of the room in light. As the shadow dissipated, she saw there was nothing there, and she exhaled a breath of tension. She had to loosen up and stop getting spooked so easily. She’d been on edge all evening long and was tired of feeling this way.

Lynn headed down the hallway to go into her bedroom, and as she pushed the door open she saw that the window was slightly ajar. Walking over toward it, she shut it closed and then locked it. She felt alarmed for a few moments, and then she suddenly remembered that she’d opened it earlier that morning. She headed out of her bedroom and made her way toward the bathroom to freshen up, but the sound of a knock at the door caused her to halt her steps.

Figuring it was David, she remained still and froze in place. Then she remembered that Takoda was supposed to pick her up from the bar, so she headed out of the hallway and made her way toward the front door. As she looked though the peephole, she saw a tall form standing on the porch. Not doubting for a minute that it was Takoda, she unlatched the lock and twisted the doorknob, but as she swung the door open, she realized there was nobody standing there at all.

Knitting her eyebrows in puzzlement, Lynn glanced to her left to see if there was anybody standing on the other side of the porch.

“Hello?” her voice called out into the darkness of the night.

The feel of an icy-cold breeze hit the back of her neck, and then suddenly she felt the energy around her shift, followed by the sound of a voice. It wasn’t coming from outside, though. It was coming from right behind her, within her own house.

Spinning around to face the intruder, her gaze fell upon a pair of emotionless blue eyes. As she saw the familiar face leering down at her, a loud scream of terror ripped from her throat.

“Hello, beautiful.” Dex’s lips pulled up into a dark grin.

She noticed that his cowboy hat was no longer on and as she stared into his cold orbs, she was struck with a feeling of nausea. The sight of him here in her house made her physically sick.

“Get out now before I call the police,” she shakily said.

Throwing her a look of amusement, he replied, “Go ahead. The phone’s on the other side of the room, though. You’ll have to get past me in order to get to it.”

Giving a deep swallow, she weakly uttered, “My boyfriend is on his way over. If he sees you here, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”

Releasing a small chuckle, Dex replied, “Mmm, right. Guess I should be worried then. He’s a tall, long-haired fellow isn’t he? I’ve seen him around.”

Struggling to maintain a calm exterior, Lynn silently called out to Takoda, utilizing every bit of energy inside of her as she communicated her desperate need for his presence.

Dex took a step towards her, prompting Lynn to call a firm warning out to him. “If he finds you here, he’ll kill you.”

His lips pulled into a wide grin as he responded, “Shifters don’t scare me, Lynn. And I highly doubt that he can kill me.”

He began taking steps toward her, and as he moved closer to where she stood, she began to panic. Her back was already against the door, which meant she had nowhere to go.

“What do you want from me?”

Grabbing her hand by the wrist, he held it up in front of her and ran his thumb along a protruding vein. The feel of his flesh against her own filled her with disgust, and she was shocked to find that his skin was ice cold. Flinching beneath his touch, she felt him slide his digit slowly back and forth, watching her with a look which made her feel as if he were looking at a four-course dinner. Then suddenly, she realized that she was his dinner.

Her eyes widened and her voice wavered as she said, “You’re a vampire.”

Giving her an evil smile, he stated, “Not exactly.”

“Well if you’re not a vampire, then what are you?”

He gave a little chuckle and then said, “A hybrid, of sorts.”

A chill swept through her body as the words left his mouth. She didn’t know what he meant by a hybrid, but she wasn’t certain that she wanted to find out, either.

“Look, I don’t want to fight against you. So if you’re going to drink from me, then just do it already and get it over with.” She tilted her neck to the left so that her neck was more exposed, coaxing him to take what he wanted.

Dex’s eyebrows furrowed together and he blinked in surprise at her willingness to please him.

“You’re offering yourself to me?”

“Yes. You’re obviously much stronger than I ever could be, so I’m not even going to try and refuse you. You’re here to drink my blood, and I accept that.”

His head tilted as he suspiciously stared at her and she knew he was wondering why she was making it so easy for him. Remaining quiet, she breathed deeply as she prepared herself for what was to come next.

“It’s been a long time since I had such a willing participant, especially a beautiful woman like yourself.” Placing his palm against her face, he slowly slid it across the surface of her cheek. As he leaned his head in toward her neck, she felt her body tense up and her heart began to beat rapidly. His breath ghosted coldly against her neck as his lips moved in closer.

“Mmm, I’m going to enjoy this,” he breathed in an overly eager voice.

As she felt his lips press against her neck, she sprung into action. Reaching her arm out for the table next to the door, she grabbed the first thing her hands came into contact with. Gripping the letter opened tightly in her fist, she rose her arm upward and aimed it for the back of Dex’s neck. The tip of it came dangerously close to piercing his skin, but before it could plunge though his flesh, he grabbed hold of her wrist and gave it a sharp squeeze.

Lynn cried out as a bolt of agonizing pain ripped through her nerve endings, and the object in her hand fell to the floor with a clatter. His cat-like reflexes stunned her, and within a blink of an eye, he had her pinned up against the wall. His fingertips dug painfully into her shoulders as he gave a
tsk-tsk
of disapproval.

“Trying to stab me in the neck with a letter opener? My, what a

naughty little thing you are!” He gave a dark chuckle and then added, “I just love it when they put up a fight.”

His hands gripped both of her wrists tightly, keeping them flush against the wall.

“Let me go.” She tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but his fingers only tightened.

Lynn felt her chest grow tight with anxiety and her mouth instantly grew dry.

“I can smell your fear.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” she lied.

“No, of course not.” A sly smile crossed his lips.

Keeping her pinned up against the wall with one hand, he used the other to stroke her face. As his hand made contact with her lips, she flinched, fighting the urge to retch. His skin felt cold and clammy.