Mark would be Mr. Muscles, the infamous hooptie driver, who also seems to be Elijah’s right-hand man. I don’t like him. He’s got a quality about him like Xavier has—the vibe of a twisted pervert. I grind my teeth at seeing them, looming over my booth while I’m all by myself, but I force a smile. “This is a pleasant surprise. I’m sorry Nicky’s not here. He’ll be sad that he missed you.”
Elijah waves me off. “Never mind Nick. We’ll see him soon enough. I came to see you.” He slides into the booth on my side, and then adds, “You don’t mind if we join you, do you?”
And how, exactly, am I supposed to say I do mind when he’s already sitting down and blocking me in, no less?
I quickly exit out of my job search and shut my laptop as I scoot all the way to the wall. I want to put as much space between us as possible. “How did you guys know I was here?” I ask as Mark sits down across from Elijah and me.
Elijah’s eyes flash with heat. He reaches out to touch my arm, and I flinch back before he can. He drops his hand, frowning, but quickly smiles again. “I have your blood inside me,” he says in a low voice, thick with desire. “I used it to track you magically.”
My eyes grow big. I let him think it’s because I’m impressed. But really it’s because I realize there’s no escaping him. My psychic intuition isn’t kicking in—apparently Elijah doesn’t mean me any physical harm—but every instinct I have is screaming at me to get out of here, to call Terrance or Nick and have them come save me. I have my phone in my jeans pocket. I could discreetly call someone, but for some reason I don’t. Something inside me is telling me I should let this play out and see what they want. It could lead to finding the missing underworlders. “Why would you want to find me?” I ask, eyes wide, playing the innocent, unsuspecting underworlder.
“Nora…” His voice turns husky, and he scoots a fraction closer. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since the second we met. I know you’re with Nick, but I was watching him last night, and, baby, he doesn’t care about you the way you think. He’s just using you for your power.”
I put on my best pout and shake my head, because that’s what the script calls for. “No…that can’t be…I’m sure you’re wrong. Nicky says he loves me.”
Elijah gives me a patient, sympathetic smile. “If that were true, would he have been flirting with all the other girls at the party last night? I know you saw him.”
Hmm. If Elijah saw me watching Nick, he must have been keeping a closer eye on me than I thought. I shake my head again—going for denial. “No…he’s just a really nice guy. He’s super sweet to everyone. Maybe he flirts a little, but—”
“He gave his number to three different girls while you were with Elijah,” Mark interrupts. “When they asked about you, he said what you don’t know won’t hurt you.”
I’m not sure if that’s true, but since we wanted them to think Nick’s only using me for my power, it wouldn’t surprise me. I make my eyes big again, though I doubt I can conjure up any convincing tears—I’m not a weepy person—so I go for anger instead. “He did what?”
Elijah finally reaches for my hand. “Baby, don’t get angry,” he murmurs. “You guys are just wrong for each other, that’s all. He doesn’t appreciate you. Not like I will.”
I’m surprised when his thoughts are an echo of his words. He really does believe Nick isn’t good enough for me, and that he could do better. He really does want me to be his girlfriend. And once we’re bonded, I’ll never be able to leave him. I’ll be devoted to him.
Wait, what? Bonded? I don’t know what that’s about, but it doesn’t sound good. I know he’s a sorcerer, but from the way he sucked my blood last night, I’d bet he has some vampire powers, too. I’m guessing he’s got traits from every underworlder he’s ever sacrificed. Could he perform a vampire sire bond on me? Or a werewolf mate bond?
“I don’t know…” I bite my lip, turn my chin to my lap, and look up at him through my lashes as I squeeze his hand. “You’re very handsome, and sweet, and powerful and all, but you’re about to be Nick’s fraternity brother, and I’m about to be his sponsor. Wouldn’t us getting together cause a lot of problems?”
“Not if we initiate Xavier instead of Nick,” Elijah says. “We could post his bail.”
That’s not good. “You’re not going to initiate Nick?”
Mark pipes up. “We’ve already voted on it. Nick’s out, and Xavier’s in. He’s going to get Parker to sponsor him. Xavier and a few of the other guys will talk to Parker after sunset.” When I frown at him, he shrugs. “The brotherhood is about loyalty more than anything. We don’t want a guy who cheats on his girl. If he can’t be loyal to the woman he claims to love, we can’t expect him to be loyal to the brotherhood.”
Oh, shit. Nick was our key to finding the sanctuary. And they’re going after Parker tonight. He’ll be kidnapped, Nick will never get the text with the sanctuary location, and we’ll never find Shandra before tomorrow night. How the hell did our perfect plan fall apart so fast?
Now I have to play along. I have to let Elijah convince me to be his girlfriend. It’s the only way. Or maybe not. Would he show his underworlder girlfriend to the sanctuary where he’s sacrificing underworlders? Doubtful. Instead, he’s probably going to use his dark magic on me to form some kind of bond where I’ll turn into his whacked-out love slave/blood whore. I am so screwed.
I can’t panic. I know that much. And I can’t just go along with his plans. That would be too obvious and wouldn’t get me to the sanctuary. Maybe if I refuse him. If I put up a fight and he has to kidnap me.
Shit. I so don’t want to get kidnapped and magic-roofied.
I should just get out of here.
Before I can make up my mind, my server comes with my check. “I’ll take care of that,” Elijah says, beaming me a smile that makes my skin crawl. He thinks he’s already won, that I’m already his. He must really plan to magically drug me.
“Oh, um, thank you, Elijah, but you don’t have to do that.”
“Nonsense. Let me buy my new girl dinner.”
While he hands the server his card, I gulp. I really need to get the hell out of here. “I don’t know, Elijah.”
“Baby, it’ll be fine. You’ll see. I promise you don’t want to be with that cheating jerk. I’ll take care of you. I’ll be truly devoted in a way Nick never was to you. And I’m powerful, baby. You have no idea how powerful I am.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Why don’t you come back to the house with me?” Elijah suggests when he sees how nervous I am. He takes my hand again and gives it a squeeze. “We can just talk and get to know each other a little. You can talk to the rest of the guys, too. I’m sure they’ll all tell you what they saw with Nick last night. I know you don’t want to hear it, but I hate the thought of you being with someone who isn’t faithful to you.”
I want to leave. I know better than to go with him, and to jump into something like this all by myself. I feel bad about Shandra and all, but getting myself kidnapped isn’t going to help her. It’s time to escape and regroup.
“Gee, Elijah, that’s really sweet and all, but I can’t just start being with you when I love Nicky. I need to see it with my own eyes or hear it directly from him before I believe it, you know? I don’t know you guys very well. I can’t just take your word for it. Not that I don’t believe you, but I owe it to Nicky to at least talk to him first.”
Elijah sighs as the server returns with his credit card. He looks at me again, long and hard, after he signs the slip. “He doesn’t deserve you, Nora.”
I shrug, not knowing what to say to that.
Elijah taps his fingers on the table as he devises a plan. I want to hear his thoughts, but not enough to touch him. I wouldn’t be able to explain my sudden need to hold his hand anyway.