Page 85 of Bound By Blood

Zack looked sideways at Sherrad. So, what do we do now?”

“See if we can override Nadiya’s compulsion.” Summoning his preternatural power, Drake stared into the man’s eyes. “You will forget whatever Nadiya Korzha has told you,” he said firmly. “Whatever threats she has made are no longer in force. Do you understand?”

The man lifted the shotgun and leveled it at Sherrad’s chest. “Go away or I will kill you.”

“Uh, I don’t think it’s working,” Zack muttered.

The man eared back the hammer on the shotgun. Unless the gun was loaded with silver and penetrated Drake’s heart, the blast would be painful and messy, but not fatal.

Sherrad was little more than a blur as he reached forward and wrested the gun from the man’s hand, then choked him into unconsciousness.

“Maybe you’ll have better luck with the woman,” Zack said dryly.

“Maybe you will shut up,” Drake growled.

“Maybe I’d have better luck.”

“Be my guest.”

“Excuse me, madam,” Zack said. “May I have a word with you?”

She looked momentarily confused, then nodded.

“My name is Zack and I’ve come to tell you that you don’t have to be afraid of Nadiya anymore. I’m releasing you from her spell. Do you understand?”

“What spell?”

“Nadiya is a sorceress and she put a spell on you. But it isn’t effective any longer. So why don’t you put the gun down and take care of your husband?”

She glanced at the man sprawled face down on the floor, then looked up at Zack.

“He needs help. If you invite me in, I’ll help you carry him to bed.”

The woman stared at her husband, and at the gun in her hands as if she had never seen either one before and then, with a sob, she lowered the weapon and dropped to her knees beside her husband.

When she looked up at Zack again, her eyes were clear. “Please, come in and help us.”

Zack looked over his shoulder at Sherrad and smiled smugly.

“Don’t say a word,” Drake warned.

There was a shimmer of power as Zack stepped inside. It always amazed him that something as innocuous as a threshold had the power to keep him outside. He didn’t know why it was so, but it was.

When he started past the woman, she grabbed his pant leg. “My husband …”

“I’ll be right back, I promise. Why don’t you get him a drink of water?”

He didn’t wait for a reply. Opening his vampiric senses once again, he followed the blood link through a door that led down into a basement. Kaitlyn’s scent was strong here, and then he saw her, sitting on a filthy mattress.

“Kaitlyn!” Sherrad hurried past Zack and enfolded his daughter in his arms. “Are you all right?”

“I am now.”

Zack rocked back on his heels. It was all he could do to keep from pushing Sherrad aside, but Kaitlyn was the man’s only child, after all. He contented himself with looking at her. Aside from the fact that her dress was wrinkled and her hair was tangled, she seemed none the worse for wear.

Sherrad brushed a lock of hair from Kaitlyn’s cheek. “We must get you out of here before Nadiya returns.”

“I am afraid it is too late for that.”

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