Page 19 of The First Year Continued
“I do.”
Another pause hung between us. I could feel her getting tired beside me. Her scent matched the same feeling.
“What do you want?” she whispered. Her eyes were closing and she wiggled deeper into my embrace.
“A mate. A beautiful mate with long silver-streaked black hair. A strong female. Build a house for her. Treat her like a queen.”
She leaned over and kissed me. “Sorry.”
I closed the distance and pressed my lips to hers. “Don’t be. I want that. I want you.”
“I’m scared. I’m scared of hurting you or the others. What I did to Odin…”
“He’s okay. We’re all okay and we are going to figure this out together. Tonight, let’s just rest, okay? You’re safe with me.”
“I know. Thank you, Sol.”
“One second. I have to use the bathroom.” I got up and went to the restroom. Of all the times I need to pee. While washing my hands, my wolf’s hackles rose. Something was wrong.
I opened the door, thinking Roxy was scared or was having a nightmare. She’d been on the cusp of sleep as I slipped out of the bed.
But instead, I found her bed empty. The sheets torn from the bed ripped away and strewn across the floor. Comforter missing. The door to her room was open.
Roxy was gone.
Chapter Twelve
Roxy
One moment, I was hanging out with Sol for an evening of snacks and checkers, and the next, I was wrapped up in my blanket and hanging over someone’s shoulder. My head spun, dizziness from my position making it hard to think. An arm clamped over my hips held me in place, layers of fabric muffling my outraged cries. Must have done a great job, too, if we were traversing the halls of the school and nobody came out to see what was going on. Where was all the security that generally made life hard?
A dull thud told me we’d exited the building, and then my captor began to run. Carrying me. A bony shoulder poked my abdomen, right at the spot where they’d bitten me a few days before. I had no doubt that this was the perpetrator. Although there might be others, this one had a familiar scent. With no memory of the whole thing happening, somewhere deep in my brain, that scent had lodged. It was nasty, but it was there to be remembered. He carried me then dropped me and dragged me by my feet, somehow still all wrapped up then picked me up again. I wanted to say “sorry if I’m too heavy for your weakling arms,” but breathing in my wrapping was about all I could manage.
I tried to struggle again, but they’d managed to bind my arms to my sides, and then it was climbing. The school wall?
I was grateful for the comforter when I landed on the ground from a height. It probably kept me from breaking bones. Then he grabbed my hair and towed me along behind him. I lost track of time and only hoped I wasn’t going to be bald. My wolf was fighting to come out, but it wasn’t working.
Lethargy overtook my limbs. And my mind. I’d heard of the vampire gaze, but if this one had gazed at me, I didn’t remember it.
And the guys didn’t even know I was gone. I was all alone and at the mercy of this creature. Nobody could save me this time. I might as well just accept my doom.
But under whatever spell held me in thrall, in apathy, a trickle of energy remained. I struggled to hold on to it.
By now, Sol would have come out of the bathroom and gone to get the others. They would be looking for me. I just had to hold on. Fight to get my wolf out if I could. Fight with my own nails and teeth if that was all I had.
I couldn’t let this spell hold me back from defending myself.
From defending my mates. Odin and the other two who I had not even mated with yet—if I didn’t stay alert, how could I protect them from this evil thing that held me in place.
Then the drag on my hair ceased and I lay on the ground, panting and holding on to my sense of self with every bit of mind power I had left.
The creature leaned close, searching my face, and I swung a fist, clopping it in the nose. It snarled and clamped its bony hands with long, dirty claws on my cheeks, holding tight. Making me look into dark eyes swimming with stars.
Peace lies within. The stars hold everything you ever craved, yearned for. Rest, dream, come to me.
I breathed slower, heart rate descending, adrenalin seeping out of my limbs.Yes. Rest. Peace. Dreams Stars. Wait! How the fuck are you in my head?
Chapter Thirteen
