Chapter 2: The Crimson Line

CASSIE

Five hundred and forty-two dollars.

That is exactly how much is left in my savings account after paying the interest on my dead mother's medical debt this month. If I don’t pay the main debt by next Friday, the loan sharks will come for my skin. Literally.

"Find the bitch!" Marcus’s rough voice roars through the dark woods. "She couldn't have gone far!"

My lungs burn like fire as I run through the thick bushes on the edge of Atlanta. Branches scratch my face and rip my faded denim waitress apron. Sweat drips down my neck, cold and sharp. Just minutes ago, I was inside the diner, trapped by Marcus and his men. To escape, I smashed a heavy glass coffee pot over Marcus's face right there at the diner counter and ran out the door.

Now, three armed thugs are hunting me down like an animal.

I dive behind the thick trunk of a rotten oak tree, slamming my back against the bark. I press a shaking hand over my mouth to stop my loud, gasping breaths. My other hand reaches into my pocket, gripping the only weapons I have: a heavy taser and a small glass bottle of blinding herbal powder I made from my mother’s old recipe book. I am a practical person. I don't believe in miracles. I believe in survival.

Suddenly, the noises of the woods stop. The air turns freezing cold and feels so heavy it reminds me of the moments right before a bad tornado hits.

A shadow moves out from the darkness right beside me.

My heart jumps into my throat. Before my brain can even think, my survival instincts take over. I jump out from behind the tree, thrusting the taser forward while throwing the powder directly at the stranger's face.

The man moves with a smooth, terrifying speed that does not seem human.

He doesn’t even blink at the blinding powder. He steps away from my taser easily, catches my wrist in a grip like solid iron, and spins me around. I fight like my life depends on it, because it does—kicking backward, snapping my teeth, trying to hit his ribs with my elbow. But he stops me instantly, acting like my struggle is just a game.

In a heartbeat, I am completely pinned. My back is pushed hard against his solid, impossibly warm chest. He holds both of my wrists behind my back easily with just one of his huge hands.

"Let go of me!" I spit out angrily. I am shaking, but I refuse to let him hear the fear in my throat.

"Shh, little bird," a smooth, dangerous voice says right against my ear. His breath is warm, smelling of expensive leather and fresh rain. "You're making enough noise to wake the dead. And honestly, your fighting skills are terrible."

I twist my neck, trying to see him. In the moonlight, I see a sharp jawline, messy dark hair, and a pair of strange amber eyes that glow slightly in the dark. He is wearing a black leather jacket. He isn't looking at me with the gross, creepy look of the loan sharks. He looks highly amused.

"Who the hell are you?" I ask, my muscles pulling against his heavy strength. The heat of his body pressed against mine sends a strange, scary shiver straight down my spine.

"Someone who can make all your debts disappear," he smiles, his thumb lightly rubbing my wrist. The casual touch sends a jolt of heat through my veins. "I can save you, Cassie. But you have to ask nicely. Where are your manners?"

He is teasing me. In the middle of a dark forest, while men with guns are hunting me, this total psycho is playing with me like a child with a toy.

"I don't need help from a freak!" I snap, refusing to play his weird game. "Let me go!"

The stranger stops, a slow smile spreading across his sharp face. He lets out a soft laugh that sends chills down my arms. "As you wish, Princess. Don't say I didn't offer."

He lets go of me so fast that I trip forward into the dirt. I spin around, raising my taser, but he is already stepping back into the shadows with his hands in his pockets. Before I can turn and run, the jerk tilts his head toward the flashing flashlights in the distance and yells at the top of his lungs.

"Hey, boys! If you're looking for the serious little waitress, she's hiding right behind the big oak!"

My jaw drops. The total betrayal feels like a physical punch. He smiles at me, gives me a quick wink with his glowing eyes, and completely disappears into the dark.

“Over there! I heard a voice!” Marcus’s thugs scream, their heavy boots crashing through the bushes toward me.

I don't waste a second. I turn and run, my heart pounding against my ribs, tears of anger blurring my eyes. The jerk set me up. But as I sprint through the dark trees, a nightmare takes over. Every time I look past a tree trunk, I see him. The black leather jacket. The glowing amber eyes. He is standing there, leaning against trees ahead of me, keeping up with my fast run without even moving. He is playing with me, torturing me.

BANG.

“No, you pig. Corin is paying a huge sum for her” Marcus groan in anger.

A burning pain explodes in my shoulder. It feels like a red-hot iron rod is forced it’s way through my skin and melted my flesh and whatever bone it touches on it’s path. I scream as the heavy force of the bullet spins me around. I crash hard into the dirt and roll down a small hill. My back slams against the rusted side of an old, abandoned car.

The pain is completely blinding. Every single breath feels like sharp glass cutting inside my chest. I can feel my muscles tearing apart under my skin, and a terrible, throbbing heat radiates out from the wound, making my entire body shake with agony. I press my hand to my shoulder. It comes away soaked in thick blood. I am bleeding out. My vision begins to blur, and the edges of my sight turn into a heavy, suffocating black. I can hear the loan sharks' boots getting closer. I am going to die in the dirt, a slave to a dead woman's debt. Another shot is fired at my shoulder, and the shockwave of the sound makes my wound pulse with a fresh wave of sickening pain.

In my fading mind, a wave of pure rage and helplessness washes over me. I don't want to die. I want to live.

‘Fine’, a voice suddenly echoes—not from the woods, but directly inside the center of my own brain. It is loud, clear, and shakes with an ancient power and surprise. ‘I can hear you. If you want to live, little bird, you have to agree to my terms.’

My mind stutters from the terrible blood loss and the agonizing, throbbing heat in my shoulder. The voice belongs to the weird stranger. But how is he inside my head? Humans can't do this. I don't know how, but with the last bit of my fading strength, my soul screams back into the dark connection: Yes! Yes, anything! Just save me!

The air around the rusted car bends.

The stranger appears out of thin air, stepping into the silver moonlight right in front of me. His amber eyes burn with a fierce, winning madness. He kneels in the dirt beside my puddle of blood, completely ignoring the shouting thugs closing in. From his jacket, he pulls a piece of paper and a heavy pen. He forces the pen into my wet, shaking fingers.

"Sign, Cassie," he whispers. "And you won't die tonight,"

Blinded by the terrible, crushing pain and losing my sight, I drag the pen across the bottom of the paper. I leave a smear of my own red blood on the signature line.

The moment the ink dries, the paper burns to ashes.

What did I just agree to?

The stranger stands up. He turns his back to me, facing Marcus and the loan sharks who burst through the bushes with their guns raised.

"What the hell—" Marcus starts.

He never finishes. The stranger's body twists violently. With a horrible, loud sound of cracking bones and tearing leather, his human form disappears. In less than a second, a giant, pitch-black wolf the size of a truck stands in his place. Its sharp teeth are dripping, and its amber eyes burn with pure, crazy anger.

The beast lets out a massive roar that vibrates through my teeth. Then it jumps at the men, painting the woods in red.

My eyes close completely. Shouts of terror, the wet snaps of breaking bones, and the sound of tearing meat echo in my ears. But my dying brain completely rejects it. A giant wolf. A monster. I’m seeing things, I think heavily, as the darkness takes me. I’m already dead. I imagined it all.

As my limp body begins to slide off the side of the car, I don't hit the ground.

Two huge, burning-hot, human arms catch me. He lifts me up easily like a bride. Through the tiny crack of my remaining consciousness, I feel my head rest against his chest. He is back in his human form and covered in the fresh blood of my enemies, looks down at my face. The teasing smile is completely gone from his lips.

He stares at the space between my closed eyes. His chest rises and falls quickly, his heart beating hard against mine in a rhythm of pure, shocked disbelief.

"How the hell did you mind-link me, little one?" he whispers into the dark. His voice shakes with a rare, scary touch of awe. " I haven't been mind linked in a long time. It feels......nice"

The darkness swallows me whole. The last thing I remember is the heavy, warm grip of a monster holding me tight against the cold night.