The Devil In Disguise (Bad Things #1)(10)

Her hand jerked back. “It was my last hope. I-I was desperate.” Her hand raked through her hair. “I didn’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to hurt anyone! That’s the problem—don’t you see?”

He saw that she was on the edge. “Open the cell.”

But Mina shook her head. “When you get free, I know you’ll want your pound of flesh, but I can’t give it to you.” She turned away from him. “Forget me.”

Impossible.

She was heading for the tunnel.

“Stop!” Luke roared and yes, that was fear inside of him. Unusual. Unwanted.

She looked back.

“You can’t escape the island. Marcos left with the boat right after we walked away from the dock. He’ll only come back when I call him.” And he wasn’t planning to make that call. “There’s nowhere for you to run. I’ll be out of here soon and you—”

“I’m one hell of a swimmer,” she told him, even giving him a weak smile. One that made his chest ache. “I’ll take my chances with the water.”

His body tensed. “Going for the deep blue sea instead of the devil, huh? Bad choice.” A choice that might just kill her.

She wasn’t looking at him any longer. She was heading through the tunnel.

“You won’t make it if you swim! The water’s too rough! It’s too far from shore!”

She wasn’t stopping.

“Mina!” Luke roared her name. “Mina!” But she didn’t look back. And soon, the sound of her footsteps had faded.

Fucking hell.

He grabbed the bars—bars that were made of silver so they’d burn werewolves, bars that had been reinforced so that even a vampire’s strength couldn’t break them. He grabbed those bars and he bellowed as he fought to pull them apart. Caught in my own trap. An inescapable hell.

Or at least…it should have been inescapable.

He pulled up more power and his roars echoed around him.





Chapter Four


Luke’s roars and bellows followed Mina as she ran through the tunnel. She ditched her shoes because those heels were just slowing her down. She needed to run and she needed to run fast.

He said there were guard dogs on the island. The last thing she wanted was for one of those beasts to tear into her. No, actually, the last thing she wanted was for Luke to get her. She didn’t even want to imagine what sort of punishment the Lord of the Dark would hand down to her. Probably the killing kind.

She staggered to a stop before the second metal door, the one that blocked her frantic exit from the tunnel. It was locked and the keypad blinked at her. It must have locked automatically when it had shut after her and Luke. Good thing she’d been paying attention to the code when he typed it in…

Her fingers flew over the keypad. A moment later, the lock disengaged and she was racing through the mansion. Her bare feet slipped on the marble floor, and she hurriedly steadied herself by grabbing for a big, nearby vase.

Only that vase staggered and toppled beneath her clumsy grip. It fell, shattering into a hundred pieces. Her eyes squeezed shut. Oh, please, don’t be as expensive as I think you are. Another reason for Luke to be pissed at her.

She hopped over those broken chunks. Mina rushed to the foyer and her hand curled around the banister. Maybe she should run upstairs and search through the rooms up there for the Eye. Maybe she should search the whole house.

“Mina!”

That roar was louder—loud enough to reach her as she stood in the foyer.

Maybe I should cut my losses for the moment and get the hell out of here while I still can. She’d come up with another plan once she was safe. Once she was far out of Luke’s range.

She yanked open the front door. It was still dark outside, but she could see the faintest edge of red in the sky. The sun would rise soon. Luke had said his back-up was coming at dawn, so she didn’t have much time left.

She knew just one destination on that island—the dock. She knew how to get there and she wasn’t about to leave the well-lit path. Thick vegetation was on the island, and she feared the guard dogs might be lurking in there.

Besides, there was always the chance that Luke had been trying to trick her. The boat could still be docked. She could hop on it and get away. Easy.

Hopefully. Maybe.

She—

A sudden growl reached her. Low and rough, and sounding way, way too close.

Mina immediately froze.

The growl came again.

This is not my night.

Her head turned, just a few inches, and she found herself staring into a pair of green eyes. Glowing green eyes. Those eyes stared at her from the dark vegetation.

“G-good boy?” Mina stuttered, lifting a hand in what she hoped was a let’s-be-friends-doggy type of way.

But then the beast came from the dark and she saw that she wasn’t dealing with a dog. Her breath heaved out.

It’s a wolf. A giant, white wolf with massive fangs, saliva dripping from those fangs—and powerful muscles that were bunched and ready to attack.

“You’re not a guard dog,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

Another rumble came…only this time, the sound was from behind her. Another wolf? Slowly, because she sure didn’t want to make any fast movements that might lead to an attack, her head turned to the left.