Take Me (40 page)

“You’ve created a whole lot of chaos, darlin’. Couldn’t have done much better if I’d been the one doing it.”

Felicity rubbed the heel of her palm against her chest where a heavy pain throbbed. “I didn’t want to hurt him. I wasn’t trying to create problems.”

I just needed to get out of there
.

It’d been too fast. Maybe if he’d slept with her the night before and they hadn’t ended the night with him yelling at her then things would be different. Maybe if Helena hadn’t threatened her. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Maybe many things might have changed the outcome of last night. In one of those little scenarios maybe she would have had enough confidence to go down that aisle and get mated. But she hadn’t been able to do it.

“Yeah, well you did a great job of it.” He scribbled one last thing down in his book, the ink scratching on the paper. He snapped it shut.

“Where did you bring me?”

He stood and held his arms out to indicate the dark space. “This,
Mizz
. Shaw is my humble abode. Don’t worry your pretty little skin now we’re underground. That sun won’t touch you today, my dear.”

“Today’s the election.”

“Don’t I know it? Do I need to ask who you’re voting for?” He laughed at his own joke and proceeded into the next room. It had three large TVs on the wall, two opened laptops sitting on a table and several other
weres
. She hadn’t even felt their presence. How could
weres
be so quiet? They lounged on the couches, of which there were many. The big room had three couches plus four sofas and enough floor space to sit a small classroom of children.

And judging by all the news reports VNN, V News Network, CNN, and other channels the race was already on. The sound stayed muted but black-and-white subtitles scrolled across the bottom of the screen.

A picture flashed on screen of Dominic and then her breath caught as a picture of her running from the hall came across the screen. Oh god. They were already talking about it. The reporter speculated about whether this would affect the election for Dominic. Felicity realized for the first time just how dire her decision was. She might have cost the whole election for him.

“I have to go.”

No one turned to her. No one spoke.

Louder, she said, “I have to go! You have to take me back. I need to speak with them and set things straight.”

Zeke touched a few buttons on the remote and the sound came on. “I don’t think so,
Mizz
. Shaw.”

“What do you mean? Just show me how to get out of here and I’ll leave.” She’d followed him deep into the woods after stopping at some non-descript part of the highway. Sure it’d been odd but she’d been desperate. In her world desperate outweighed odd by a lot. They’d walked on for quite some time but she hadn’t paid much attention. She’d been too numb from all that had happened. Her mind still reeling from shock at her own decision. When they’d stopped suddenly and he pulled open a wooden door in the ground she’d blinked and followed him down the ladder. All she knew now was the alpha Zeke had an underground layer.

He tsked. “Don’t think so,
shuga
. That man of yours is about going ape shit, I ‘spect. He’s going to try to find you.” He gave her a slow smile, but this time it gave her a chill down her spine. “He won’t though. No one finds me unless I want them to.”

“Why would you want to keep me here? I’m nothing to you.”

His men chuckled and gave her approving smiles as if to say
thanks for the laugh, lady.
She glared back at them.

“Listen, I’ve known Dom for a long, long time. That man...” his voice trailed off as something on his laptop caught his eye. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he muttered. His fingers flew across the keyboard like rapid fire. Then he tossed his head back and laughed, the sound maniacal.

Felicity took a step back. “I want out of here.” She made her voice firm hoping that would do the trick.

The alpha didn’t even spare her a glance. “Good luck. You’re welcome to try to get the hatch open. Even if you somehow managed to do that, which I doubt, then you won’t find your way back to the road.”

One of the
weres
nodded his head in affirmation of the alpha’s words.

“At least let me call him.”

I have to fix this. I never meant to hurt his campaign.

Zeke turned to face her. Gone was the smile, the humor in his eyes. In its place was stoicism, a man who would not budge if a god struck him. “You don’t get it, do you? You’re mine now. Dom’s going to be running around like a chicken with his head cut off and while he’s doing that, I’m going to make sure the news is running ads about your little résumé lie, your little runaway
bruid
fiasco, and while that happens my points are gonna go up. So, darlin’, you ain’t goin’ nowhere. Have a seat.”

Like a heavy weight pressing on her shoulders it finally dawned on her what she’d done. Dom probably thought she left him for Zeke. He’d be an idiot if he thought that but the possibility was there. She loved him, crazy loved him with all her heart. A tear slipped down her face and her breath hitched. She shouldn’t have left. She should have run down that aisle
to
him not away from him. He would have kissed her, pulled her close, and made her feel like everything would be fine.

But she’d done none of those things. She’d run the other way in a storm of panic and anxiety that had gripped her with its cold fingers. Now she had to fix this shit-storm she’d caused. She had to repair the damage before it was too late.

With all the dignity she could muster, she walked back to the ladder that she’d climbed down not that long ago. Then she climbed up the stairs in her red gown that Dom probably would have liked and proceeded to jam her shoulder into the hatch with the intention of not stopping until she got out of here.

Chapter 26

Sweat dripped down his forehead, curved around a wrinkle at the corner of his eye, and then dipped onto his eyeballs. With a hiss, he blinked at the salty burn over his retina.

He’d long lost his shirt. What had been a crisp white linen shirt pressed into perfect creases from an iron had turned into something a dog would love to roll in. He’d searched every inch of the forest, but he was losing time. The sun was coming. He could feel the heat of it like a lamp on his skin though. He didn’t have much time before it ascended the sky.

The earth kept turning when he wanted to roar at it to stop. Just stop for a few hours. He needed time. Time that he couldn’t get back.

Where was she?

He kept moving, flying with all the speed his supernatural body had and startling squirrels and the like in his wake. He would find her.

What if you can’t? What if she’s gone for good?

With a vicious growl he slammed his fist into a tree. It cracked down the middle like a lightning strike, and then split apart as it crashed down to earth. Breathing like a rabid animal, he circled the forest, his eyes searching.

Searching for what though?

Anything!
A piece of her clothing, a strand of her beautiful blonde hair, a tickle of her scent clinging to a branch she’d touched.

Zeke is too good
, doubt said.
If he doesn’t want to be found, he won’t be.

He couldn’t stay idle. There wasn’t enough time. Soon the sun would come up and he’d have to make quick work back home. And then what? Grayson’s men would continue their search using
were
guards but still.

If he didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be.

“FUCK!” His shout echoed through the forest. The sound a hollow version of himself.

The car at the highway could all be a trick. He could have had one of his pack come pick him up to throw them off his trail. He could have taken her across the highway to the other side. It might be more dangerous, but the man was mad and capable of anything. Dom wouldn’t put much past him.

He fisted his hair, tugging until the strands pulled and snapped as he gritted his teeth, gnashing. How could she do this to him? Dom barked another curse then continued his search through the forest. He would find her, and when he did she would pay and the price would be high.

Sweat ran down his chest, smearing the dirt and grime on his body into an oil painting of color. The phone in his pocket beeped. He didn’t stop running as he pulled it out. The message was a text from Grayson.

All it said was:
Sunrise
.

The sweat didn’t come from the strain in his muscles or the pounding work of his lungs and heart. No, it came from the scalding heat. From that orange glow that began to rise so far in the distance.

He couldn’t do it.

He couldn’t find her.

Failure coated his tongue with a sour taste.

He turned back, running away from it—the sun, Felicity, his election.

Blazing heat scored his back like burning flames as he left the forest a shirtless, dirty bum. The open light seared him until tendrils of black smoke drifted up around him. He gritted his teeth and braced his legs apart, muscles bunched hard and shaking as the pain consumed him.

Yes, this was better, better than the pain of dealing with what she’d done.

The sound of a car pulling up didn’t even make him open his eyes. Not even when he heard Grayson’s voice, deep and raspy; his breath smelling of cigarettes.

“Come on, man. Let’s get you home.”

He was helped into a car, shut in, and he didn’t feel a thing as he  gazed out at the forest.

* * * * * * *

Why was it when terrible things happened time seemed to pass so much slower? Time was a bitch. It wanted you to feel every single second of agony, to see all the details of what a mistake you made. Yet, during the most exciting time of your life time seemed to try to fly by so fast you couldn’t stop and simply enjoy the moment. Felicity hated it and if time was human, she’d kill it.

Time was all she had. None of it allowed her to open the hatch, which after four hours of trying to open it, one of the
weres
finally came in and told her they’d latched it from the outside too. A big metal bar was across the door so it wouldn’t budge. Nice. Of course, they’d had four hours to tell her this but they hadn’t. They’d let her cry and hurt as she tried to get the blasted door open to get free. To get back to Dom and explain. It still wasn’t too late.

For some reason a terrible thought struck her that if she allowed the sun to come up without explaining herself to Dom then something awful would happen.

But she hadn’t gotten it open and they wouldn’t let her go. So she’d spent all day sitting on a sofa watching the news. Dom’s points dropped and dropped as more pictures of her popped up. When pictures of her mother on the beach with her boyfriend came on screen she’d nearly cried. They were digging into her past and searching for every piece of dirt on her, and finding it.

They called her a liar, a whore, a gold-digger, and anything else that came to the reporter’s little minds.

It wasn’t true, at least not
mostly
true since she had lied some, but it hurt all the same. As the hours passed like fine grains of sand moving through tar, she could only sit by and watch Dom’s numbers come in, lower and lower.

She never even got out to vote.

Judgment came at ten o’clock that night. VNN reported Zeke the winner. The men cheered, or roared, more like. And it was all her fault. She’d done this. Her fit of anxiety had cost him a whole election.

Will he ever forgive me?

She sucked in a hiccupped breath. How could he ever forgive her? She’d ruined his dreams over her stupid fears and panic. Oh god. Clutching her knees to her chest, Felicity buried her face in her knees to hide the tears.

She needed to apologize but how? No amount of explaining, apologies, or gifts could give him that election back. Nor could any of it take back the pain and frustration she’d caused him.

Something brushed her ankle. Sniffling, she pulled away to see Zeke had dropped a cellphone next to her. He stood over her, grinning.

“Go ahead, give him a call. I have a victory celebration to get to. You’re looking at the new president of the vampire and
weres
.” He flicked up an imaginary collar then strode away.

Felicity stared at the phone for far too long before gathering enough courage to pick it up. As she began pushing the buttons to dial him, she quickly hit
text
instead of dial. She couldn’t handle talking to him. What if he didn’t answer the phone?

What if he did?

She couldn’t deal with it right now. Texts were safer.

Her fingers hovered over the little buttons. What did she say? How to begin? “I’m sorry” seemed so very inadequate for the damage she’d caused.

So, she started with something else.

I know you hate me but I love you.

Send.

She held her breath and stared at the screen as it darkened. Would he write her back, ignore her, or pretend he didn’t get the text?

Her answer came exactly four minutes later. Four minutes which felt more like an hour. The phone beeped. Like ripping a Band-Aid fast to get the pain over with she quickly hit the button.

Where are you?

She stared at the words for several long minutes. What did he mean? Did this mean he wasn’t angry? The thought lifted her spirits but she knew the likelihood of this was near zero.

With Zeke. I tried to leave but he wouldn’t let me. I’m sorry...

Her heart pounded, making her chest rise and fall in great heaves. Wet tears streaked her face. God, this
hurt
. Her heart burned with a fierce, aching pain like acid had been poured on it.

How inadequate her words looked. It didn’t begin to summarize how freakishly, incredibly, monumentally sorry she was for screwing up, running away, and hurting him. For so many things...

I’m upset with you
.

Uh-oh. Felicity shook her head. Well of course he was. Hell, she’d be if their situations were reversed.