The bed is moving.

No, this isn't my bed.

A couch? The couch is moving?

No. That's wrong.

I'm on a boat. It must be a boat.

I feel the leather seat against my cheek.

Wait... I'm in a car.

I feel like there's an important thought somewhere in the back of my mind, but I can't reach it. Something important is happening. Or maybe it already happened.

I'm just so tired. Is it morning?

My limbs feel heavy and my eyelids don't want to open.

I hear Vic's muffled voice talking to another man, but I can't make out what they're saying.

Wait... Vic? Why is he here?

My eyes snap open to an up-close view of a black leather car seat.

Fuck. I'm in the back of Vic's car.

It comes back to me in pieces—Rose, calling Vic, waiting at the cafe. The rest is blurry, shapeless. Somehow I've ended up in the back of Victor's car.

I try to move my arm. I feel like I'm moving through molasses, but I manage to do it.

"Whoa, she just moved!" the other man says. "Is she waking up?"

I close my eyes and do my best to pretend I'm still asleep. I don't think he can see my face from where he is, but I don't want to risk it.

"Relax," Vic says. It sounds like his voice is coming from the driver's seat. "What I gave her should keep her out for at least a few more hours. She just moves in her sleep sometimes. It's fine."

"Oh."

So Vic drugged me? He must have.

Joke's on him—I've developed a tolerance to most sleeping pills, though they've never been very good at keeping me asleep to begin with. Maybe my body's wildly inconsistent sleep patterns are finally working in my favor.

So I've been drugged. And now Vic is taking me somewhere. I'm not sure where, but I doubt it's good.

"Why would the King want some random girl, anyway?" the man asks.

"That's well above your pay grade. Trust me, it's better for you to not know. I wouldn't let you live if you did."

Looks like Victor isn't going around telling people I'm an Empath, so I guess that's good news... If there's such a thing as good news while you're in your ex's back seat being kidnapped.

"It seems like a lot of trouble over a human," he says with a sigh. "I just think it's strange."

"You're not here to think, James," Vic spits. "I'm the brains here, you're the brawn. Let me worry about the details."

The man, whose name I guess is James, replies with an irritated huff. Someone turns the radio on and after a moment, they start chatting about that.

I slowly slide my hand toward my back pocket and inch my phone out, then shift slightly so the phone slips between my body and the seat. I pause for a minute, waiting to see if I've alerted Vic or his friend, but they're chatting about the music on the radio, so I seem to be fine.

I pull the phone up just far enough to see the screen, keeping it shielded by my body. I make sure it's muted and set it to 'Do Not Disturb' mode—the last thing I need is to be caught because of an unexpected text notification.

Okay, what now?

I can text Kieran for help, but what do I say? I'm not sure where I am or how I got here. It's not like I can just sit up and peek out the window to figure it out. We're also on the move, so even if I knew we'd be gone by the time anyone could get to me.

I open a message with Kieran and turn on location sharing, then type a quick SOS and hit send.

Please please please check your phone Kieran.

The car slows and I can feel us turning off the main road. Wherever we're going, we must be almost there. I don't want to get caught with the phone, so I stuff it between the seat cushions and continue to feign unconsciousness.

After a few minutes, the car eases to a stop. My heart starts beating faster and I try not to panic. It's not like I could fight them if I wanted to; they're both stronger than me and I have no idea what I'm getting into. So instead, I decide to continue to continue to play asleep.

I hear the door near my feet open and feel the cool air.

"What are you doing?" Vic asks.

"Aren't we taking her inside?" James replies.

"You aren't doing anything. Move."

Hands grab my thighs and tug me out while my body remains limp. I'm cradled in his arms and pulled into his chest. I recognize the scent of Victor's cologne and I do my best not to shudder at his touch. My skin is crawling just knowing he's holding me, but I do my best to remain still. I hear a door open and am hit with the smell of iron and sawdust.

After a short walk, he sets me down on a concrete floor. I can't help but hiss at the feeling of the cold concrete on my skin.

"Sam?" Victor asks in a soft voice. "Are you waking up?"

I don't respond, hoping I can salvage this. I doubt anything good can come from admitting that I'm awake.

"Is she awake?" another low voice asks.

"She might be coming to." I feel his hands feeling around my butt and reaching into my pockets. "Her phone isn't in her pockets."

"It's probably in her purse," James says. "We left it in the car."

"As long as she doesn't have it on her. Hand me that roll."

I hear a loud ripping sound and he grabs my wrists, pinning them together.

Shit. That can't be good.

Something wraps around my wrists and I can't help but open my eyes. Victor stares back at me, his head tilted.

"Sam," he says softly. "It's alright, I've got you."

Yeah, Vic, that's kind of the problem.

My eyes fall to my wrists, which are bound in duct tape. I instinctively jerk backward, and my head hits a wall behind me with a thunk.

"Careful," he scolds.

"What are you doing?" My throat is dry and my voice comes out hoarse.

"I know, it's not ideal. I have to restrain you for now."

I look around to figure out where we are. It seems to be a large, dimly lit warehouse. The floor is clean gray concrete that matches the gray walls. There are bright orange pillars evenly spaced throughout, connecting metal beams on the ceiling. Wood pallets, bundled tubing, and large crates line the edges of the space, and the rest is divided by large metal shelves stacked full of boxes.

"Where are we?" I ask.

"A local shipping warehouse. It's not in operation this week, so we have the place to ourselves." He takes the roll of duct tape in his hands and stretches his arms out to unroll a few feet. I push backward and am met with the same wall, but as I turn I realize it's actually one of those orange pillars. "Sorry, darling. I can't let you go yet."

"What the hell are you doing?!" I ask.

He hands one end of the tape to a buff guy—James, I assume—who takes it and walks around the pillar.

"I'm making sure you don't go anywhere. It's temporary, I promise."

They wrap it around me until my back is firmly against the post, then another few rounds. He rips the tape off the roll and secures it in place, then runs the back of his hand along my upper arm. I flinch, but can't really move away from his touch.

"You're sick, you know that?" I spit.

"I know. But you made me this way, Sam." He rubs his brow and sighs.

"Okay. You have me, and clearly I'm not going anywhere. So where's Rose? You said you'd let her go. You promised."

He jerks his head to the side, gesturing to a mattress tucked in the corner, about twenty feet away. A woman sits atop it, huddled at the edge and wrapped in a blanket. A big guy with a ponytail is standing next to her, guarding her.

"She's fine, see. We'll wait about two hours, make sure no one has followed you, and then James will take her home. I'm a man of my word, Samantha."

"Then let her go now."

"She's my only leverage if the King shows up." He shakes his head. "I have to make sure you're safe, but once I'm confident we're in the clear, she'll go back to her normal life."

"Fine."

It's not like I really have any other choice. What am I going to do, take on a couple of demons in a fistfight?

A man in a hoodie walks up—a middle-aged guy with light brown hair and a scruffy beard.

"James said you needed me," he says.

"Yes, good," Victor says. He stands up and looks briefly at the man before turning back to me. "I need you to answer some questions for us, Sam."

"What questions?"

"Did anyone know you were meeting me?"

I huff in annoyance.

"No."

In hindsight, I wish they did. Clearly this was not a foolproof plan.

Vic looks over to the creepy blond guy, who licks his lips for a moment, then nods. Vic seems to take that as confirmation and looks back at me.

This guy must be the demon lie detector Kieran's friends were talking about. I guess I'll have to choose my words carefully.

"And you didn't tell anyone where you were going?" Vic crosses his arms and raises a brow.

"No."

Unless you count sharing my location in the car.

Vic looks back to his demon friend, who sticks out his tongue and basically licks the air like an invisible ice cream cone. This time I get a glimpse of his tongue; it's humanlike, but covered in dozens of fleshy spikes.

Yikes.

The guy narrows his eyes at me and looks back to Victor.

"Unclear," he says. "She seems to be hiding something. Ask again."

Shit.

"Sam," Victor says with a bit of a growl. "Did you tell anyone you were going to the cafe?"

It's an easier question to answer honestly since it's more specific this time.

"No. I didn't tell anyone."

After a moment, the guy gives Vic a nod.

"Not even your fuck buddy?" Victor asks.

I glare at him, but I don't answer and he doesn't seem to expect me to.

"Good," he says, seemingly satisfied. "This is almost over, Samantha, I promise. I don't like this any more than you do."

"Really?" I scoff and roll my eyes. "Because I seem to be the only one who got duct-taped to a post."

His brow furrows.

"Victor," another man calls. He walks in with two other men who seem to be dragging a third.

"What is it? What's going on?"

"We found this guy outside."

The man being dragged in is wearing a grey hoodie that seems to be bloodstained. When raises his head, I recognize his battered face—it's TJ.

"What the hell is this?!" Victor shouts. He snaps his head toward James with a murderous look in his eyes. "You said you took care of him."

"I- I-" James stutters. "I thought I did. He... he was unconscious when we left. He shouldn't have been able to follow us here."

Victor lunges toward him and growls in his face.

"And yet here he is." He steps back and slams his fist into the wall, dislodging a chunk of cement. "Fucking incompetent bastard."

"What do you want us to do with him?" one of the men holding TJ asks.

"Set him there," he says, pointing to a metal beam along the wall, just across from me. "He's an Incubus, so we'll need some of that steel cable and the heavy-duty cuffs."

Two men bring him over to the wall and set him down, while the third ties him up with steel cable. They're so crowded around him, I can hardly see. James brings over a pair of cuffs that look more like something from medieval times, connected by a thick iron bar. After a moment, they all pull away and TJ's eyes meet mine.

"Are you okay?" he asks me, his expression laced with concern. "Did he hurt you?"

"I'm fine. Are you okay?"

His face and body are bloodied and his lip is split.

"Don't worry about it." He smirks slightly. "This is mostly superficial."

"Trazajon," Victor says, kneeling in front of him. "You never did know when to quit."

"Victor."

"Why are you here?"

"To protect Sam."

"Ah, well fine job you did of that."

TJ clenches his jaw and growls slightly.

"Did you come alone?" Vic asks.

"Yes."

Victor looks up at the demon with the weird tongue from earlier.

"Truth," the demon says.

Victor nods and turns back to TJ.

"Did you tell Kieran where you were?"

"No," TJ says with a huff, hanging his head. "I didn't tell him anything."

Vic looks again at the other demon, who gives him a nod.

"Good. Foolish, but good. It's moronic of you to show up without backup, Trazajon. But I have no reason to kill you, and you're no threat to me alone. Hell, maybe one day I'll be king and I'll finally have a use for your blind loyalty."

He stands up and walks over to the group of demons who have gathered in the center of the room. They start to speak in hushed tones.

"What does he mean? Why would he think he could be king?" I ask.

"He thinks if he kills Kieran he could take his powers and become king. But don't worry, it's not that easy." He looks around with a troubled look. "Have you seen Rose? Is she here?"

"She's over there," I say, using my head to point in her direction. "That guy seems to be guarding her."

He nods, staring her way for a moment like he's trying to work out a plan.

"He's not an Incubus. Makes sense, couldn't have her protected by anyone Kieran's powers could control. Another demon probably, but who knows what kind." He lowers his voice to just above a whisper. "Anything you can tap into?"

"I..." It takes me a moment to realize what he's talking about. He wants me to use my Empath powers. I barely know how to use them on a good day. "I don't know. Knowing Victor, he must've considered that. So I doubt it."

"Yeah, I figured as much. Don't worry, we're gonna work this out, okay?"

I nod, but I'm not sure I believe him.

"Do you think... Kieran will come for me?"

"Really? You have to ask?" he asks with a raised brow. "There's not a chance in hell he won't come for you, Sam."

"Even you can't be that naive," Victor says, walking over. His jaw is tight and his fists are balled at his sides. "Kieran isn't going to come for you. He might come to make sure you can't be used against him, but don't mistake that for a rescue. He doesn't have real feelings for you."

"You're right," I say with a glare. "The real sign of true love is when someone kidnaps you and ties you to a fucking pole."

He kneels beside me and grabs my chin in his hand.

"Don't touch her!" TJ says through gritted teeth.

Victor smiles and gives him a dismissive glance before turning back to me.

"He doesn't care about you, Sam. Everything he's said to you has been a lie. Are you really that gullible?"

"Fuck off," TJ says with a low growl. "Don't listen to this dickhead, Sam. He's full of shit."

Vic turns toward him with an irritated smirk.

"Dickhead? Really? I think you've spent a bit too much time around your new king. His immaturity must be contagious."

TJ swallows hard and his nostrils flare.

"Watch your tongue, Victor. He's your king, remember?"

"You're awfully defensive of the man considering he killed your previous king. Are you really that much of a power-hungry sycophant?"

"And you're awfully desperate to tear him down," he spits. "Do you actually believe what you're saying or is this jealousy? Because this bullshit you're spewing just reeks of small-dick energy."

Vic appears standing over him in a flash, and gives him a swift kick to the ribs. TJ bends forward against his restraints, coughing and groaning.

"Watch them," Vic says to another demon, pointing to TJ and me. He walks back to the group with a pissed-off scowl.

"Are you okay?" I ask TJ.

"I'm fine. I've taken a lot worse damage than that, trust me."

"What do we do now? How do we get out of here?"

"Careful..." His voice gets softer. "With demon hearing, you never know what they'll pick up on."

The guy guarding us gives me a sideways look and crosses his arms.

Okay. He definitely heard us.

Instead of talking, I give him a look and shrug my shoulders.

What do I do?

TJ subtly shakes his head, like he's telling me to not do anything. I sigh in frustration.

Maybe I can use my Empath thing somehow.

I close my eyes and focus on the tape around my wrists. I need to make it disappear or break it or make it... I don't even know, turn into marshmallows or something.

Come on, Empath Sam—you can do this.

I pinch my eyes tighter, focusing on wanting to be freed, and I'm startled by a flash of light. My eyes pop open and the tape has gone up in tall flames. TJ's eyes are wide and his mouth falls open.

"What the hell?!" our guard screams.

Oh my god it worked... but in a way that has attracted way too much attention.

"Fuck!" Vic curses.

"What is this?? Did she do that?? I thought she was human?!"

"She is human! It's not her I'm worried about," Vic says, grabbing a dagger from the back of his belt. "Get into defensive positions—this is what we prepared for. The King is outside."

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