ANGELA VALDES had known her escape from prison was too good to be true, but the suddenness and violence with withDios. Was Ramos dying? Was he already dead?The gag in her mouth kept her from screaming, but her soul cried out in anguish. The blind warrior, a Shadowman from the heavens with a magical wolf spirit, had tried so desperately to save her. He’d been too drugged and injured to fight, and ended up face down in the mud, blood gushing from a knife wound in his back.What had become of Stefanie, Dr. Annette, Erin, and Megan? Her friends had been kidnapped with her, but taken somewhere different. Were they alive? Had the vampires sacrificed them as they’d threatened?How could she bear it? It was all her fault. She hadn’t stopped Ramos from being drugged, hadn’t cried out to Dr. Annette that he might not be delirious when he’d pulled Angela from the treatment room, warning of danger. It was true that he’d been in and out of consciousness since magically appearing the day before.
The men dragged her across the courtyard and into a two- story manor with a tiled roof as opposed to the thatched roofs she’d always seen in jungle buildings. Icy cold air hit her as the double doors opened onto a lavish interior. The exact details of it all were lost in a blur as the men quickly hauled her up the stairs, not even giving her a chance to make her muscles work. Stabbing pain shot up her legs every time her feet thudded against a wooden step.She gritted her teeth, determined not to cry out again. A short distance down a corridor, they brought her through double doors into a large, dimly lit bedroom.“Up, puta,” said one of the men as he kicked at a woman lying on a pallet on the floor.The woman rolled to her feet, brandishing a knife in her hand. She lashed out at the man who kicked her, but sadly did not come close enough to his crotch to harm him. Her quick agility revealed a youthfulness that couldn’t be seen in her harsh features and scarred visage. At some time po
DEEP WITHIN the inner circles of the spirit realm sat the Guardian Council’s glittering Judgment Hall, where aged and true warriors, chosen for their wisdom and zeal, presided over all of Logos’s forces. Twelve in number and robed in white, the Leader’s spirit forms were blinding in their intensity and intimidating in their countenances.York had peeked into the hallowed hall once, but he’d never sought entry.Whether it was because he felt unworthy or because he harbored anger over certain judgments was up for wager. The bottom line was, he didn’t trust himself in their presence, and Sven wisely didn’t, either. Sven’s extraordinary leadership and diplomacy always led him to face the Guardian Council over dire issues, of which there had been many of late—a situation that left York always waiting, an intolerable state of being.“It is a wonder you have not paced a rut down to Heldon’s icy realms by now,” Sirius said, frowning at him as he passed.York wanted to do something rash to ruf
“THERE, YOU make a beautiful bride. El jefe should be pleased and will show Ysalane good favor.”“You will pay for your part in Herrera’s evil,” Angela said through clenched teeth. “There is a God and you will pay.” She kept her gaze directed at Ysalane rather than at the mirror she stood before. She wanted to shred the white satin and lace gown from her body on principle alone. But since she didn’t know when or where she’d find any clothing, she bore the humiliating finery, hating every second that she was once again forced to do, say, and be what she despised in order to survive.The pictures of the twisted sex, blood, and death she’d seen made her feel violated, ugly, and so sick that she would rather die than be subjected to such a hell. Yet hope still beat inside her, urging her to hold on, to believe that freedom would once again be hers and that Ramos might be the large prisoner of which the old man spoke.She had to find a way to the dungeon before tonight. She had to find a w
Chapter FiveDESPITE THE cool, pressurized interior of the private jet, perspiration beaded Stefanie’s clammy skin, trickling between her breasts and making her back itch. Her heart raced and every muscle of her body twitched with fear so badly that her insides shook from the strain of trying to stay absolutely still. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, didn’t want to argue anymore about the stupidity of walking back into the lion’s den.Her sister Annette had pleaded until she was blue in the face and now she fumed as she flipped through the pages of the same magazine for about the hundredth time. Though the noise was as irritating as the meant-to-be-soothing music piping into the cabin, the action was endearing. Stefanie knew with each turn of the page that her sister desperately wanted to heal her. Being a heart surgeon had trained Annette to solve dire problems with her hands, and she had to keep them in motion even though she couldn’t do anything to help Stefanie’s pain.Stefanie
“...IN FINAL blessing, we ask humbly that their lives bear witness to the reality of love,” Father Dom said, ending the ceremony in Spanish rather than the Latin he’d been speaking. He then pronounced them husband and wife.Angela couldn’t believe it. The ceremony was over.She gasped for air as a wave of dizziness swept over her. Father Dom reached out and steadied her. “Wisdom and light will come with patience, child,” he said, then turned away from her.That was it? All the patience, wisdom, and light in the universe weren’t going to save her.“Congratulations, Señora Herrera. Your home is as beautiful as you and as magnificent as your new husband,” said a woman, dressed in black and crusted with diamonds. She had blood red lips and pale, plastic-looking skin. Her dark eyes oozed with resentment as if she envied Angela’s position as Herrera’s bride. Angela backed away from the woman, returning only a nod of acknowledgment. If the woman wasn’t a vampire, then she obviously aspired t
bulging from the force of men trying to open it. The iron bar she’d pushed through the handles earlier was holding them off, but at any moment it or the steel handles would break loose.“This way.” Ramos directed her down the hall, turning into the last room on the left. The door hung from its hinges.Entering, she immediately saw the broken window, felt the damp warmth of outside air, and caught the perfume of frangipani blossoms scenting the air. Jagged glass still hung from the frame.“Stay back a moment,” she told Ramos, and lifted a blanket from the bed to wrap around her hand. Then using the hammer, she knocked out the remaining glass. After she finished, she laid the frayed wool over the glass shards and set a nearby chair under the window. Though not full-sized, the window seemed large enough for Ramos to squeeze through. She climbed up then wedged herself on the sill until she could scramble out into the night. The bottom of the window was level with the grass outside. From t
CARLOS LAUGHED. “Why bring her amigos? Kill the hombres, especially the hairy one, and tie her up in the supply truck with the priest. Once we off him, there’ll be no record of the marriage and—”“Sí,” Emilio interrupted eagerly. “I will marry the puta and share her and the money with you.”“No, I will marry the puta and share her and the money with you,” Carlos insisted.Emilio glared at Carlos. “It was my idea to—”Ramos moved so quickly, Angela wasn’t exactly sure what happened. He turned and made a sweeping back kick, hitting the guards’ gun arms with such force that Angela heard bones crack before anyone could react. They screamed in pain while their weapons flew high into the air and clanked onto the tiled roof thirty feet above. Ramos landed smoothly on his feet, poised to strike again, still holding Rafael. The feat wasn’t human.The guards looked dumbfounded as they scrambled to draw hidden weapons from their pants, but the ghostly wolf sprang at them, growling with menace. E