Page 71 of The Secrets of Roan Island

“I’m not yours.” I pull against his hold just as something sticky brushes my cheek. Spider webs.

Hammish stops, and I run into his back.

“You fight me, and the punishment for his insubordination will be worse. Do we understand each other, Professor?”

I close my eyes and breathe through my nose, trying to calm my thoughts. The idea of Noah in even more pain is abhorrent to me. It makes my stomach roll. “Why are you doing this?”

He drags a sharp claw down the side of my cheek. “Your research, Professor. You were getting too close.”

“To the truth about the women?” My gut clenches. “Why not just kill me?”

“If you don’t turn, you’ll be dead soon enough. No sense wasting a perfectly good test subject.” His leering gaze lingers a bit too long on my breasts. I tug my half-buttoned dress closer and hastily do up the rest of the buttons to the neck.

He smiles. “I don’t need you to turn, but a smart woman, a beautiful one like you, is the only kind of mate deserving of me. My mate, Elssa, was brilliant.”

“What happened to her?”

“She didn’t listen and got too close to the humans.” He spits the last word, then pulls me along again. “You’re all jealous of our power. You may be weak creatures, but you’re vicious and numerous. Like ants. When the first settlers learned what we are, their fear and prejudice led them to attack. Elssa died trying to reason with the unreasonable. She may have been brilliant, but she was naive and didn’t listen to me.”

He jerks me down another passage, then unlocks a door and drags me through it before locking it behind us. “You remind me of her. Though I’m hoping for more obedience.”

My stomach turns. “I don’t want to be with you.”

He barks out a laugh. “What you want has nothing to do with it, girl. I need a mate to open the portal. To get my family away from this death trap of a planet.” He spins me against the wall, hot breath heating my face. “You’d make a good mate.” His eyes go black. “Breaking you would be a delight.” He leans closer, but suddenly his nostrils flare, and a look of disgust crosses his face.

I’ve never been so grateful to smell like sweat and sex.

Hammish steps back. “Live or die. Doesn’t matter to me. I’ll get what I want either way.”

“If you just give Noah some time, I’m sure he can find a solution for turning people without all this bloodshed and force.” It’s a foolish move, bargaining with a madman, but I try all the same.

“Noah will never solve the problem.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re dealing with human scum, and the truly worthy are rare. Are you a jewel among them?”

I don’t say anything after that. He’s delusional, and there isn’t any reasoning with a man lost to his madness.

By the time Hammish stops again, I’m completely disoriented. My feet ache, and I’m wheezing from the dust and the exertion. We’ve been through secret passages within secretpassages. I don't know if I'm even in the Gate House anymore. Noah will never be able to find me here. Wherever here is. Even if he did, he can’t stand against Hammish. I saw that first hand. If I want to get out of this, I’m going to have to save myself.

Hammish comes to an abrupt halt at a narrow wooden door. He pulls out a copper key. It’s not the first door he’s unlocked, but this time, he shoves me ahead of him. It slams shut before I can turn around. I pound on the heavy wood, my heartbeat a frantic counterpoint.

From the other side, Hammish snarls, “Prepare yourself, pet. In a few hours, you’ll feel my bite.”

It’s then I scream.

34

Noah

Time is reduced to the thudding of my hearts. The sharp stabs of pain through my nerves. I feel as if I’ve been dipped in fire, and still all I can think of is Ruby. Her name, a prayer to combat the agony in every muscle of my body. I try to crawl after her, but my stomach revolts, and I vomit.

Then, abruptly, my father’s control snaps like the tension of a frayed rope, connected then gone. I gasp for breath, my mind working faster than my body. Hammish can control us from anywhere in the house, even from a great distance beyond—a way for the patriarchs of our clans to organize, command, and maneuver soldiers in battle—so he didn’t let me go because of a limitation. He did it because he feels he’s hidden her well enough that he doesn’t need to worry. It’s just another way to mock me and remind me of my helplessness.

I know he’s taken her to the one place in this house I’ve never been able to find no matter how much I’ve searched.

But I won’t give up. Not when he has Ruby.

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