Her rescuer.
"Are you okay?" The man asked in a deep voice. He was sitting about five feet away from her. His legs were crossed like he was meditating, and his eyes were closed. He didn't even open them, but somehow, he could tell she was looking at him.
She peered at him for a long time, taking him in. He was tall and muscular. A body builder? No, he was too lean for that. A runner? Too thick for that. So, what was his deal? He worked out a lot. He probably ate really cleanly, too. Was he a monster like Brotella? He couldn't be.
Could he?
Only, they were in the middle of a beach, she realized, and she didn't see a car or a motorcycle or anything that could have been used to get them here. There was no boat, either. So how had they gotten onto the beach? He must have been a shifter of some kind. She was dry, so she didn’t think he’d
dragged the basket through the water. He wasn’t a fish. He must be something with wings.
"Cat got your tongue?" The man asked. This time, he opened his eyes, and he stared at her. Somehow, it felt like he could see right into her soul. She didn't care about cliche that was. He was looking at her like he knew things about her she didn't even know about herself.
How was he doing that?
"How did we get here?" She whispered. She had to force herself to say the words. She could speak to him, she told herself. She could do it. After all, he'd taken her away from Brotella. He'd rescued her. He had to be a good guy.
Didn't he?
She knew that a guy like this could hurt her just like Brotella did. Maybe worse. He was bigger, she thought. He was taller than Kellen was, and his muscles looked thicker. He was fierce. This was the kind of guy who was powerful and strong. He probably had money, too. Did he use that to his advantage? Did he use his cash as a way to control people? That was Kellen’s secret weapon. This guy might be just as bad as him. Wouldn’t that be ironic? Wouldn’t it just be rich if Zoa had escaped from one monster and run right to another?
Only, this man’s eyes weren't the same. This guy had kind eyes, and she was very aware of the fact that he hadn't moved. He hadn't tried to touch her or force her down. He hadn't hit her or slapped her.
"I flew us here," he finally said.
"How? I don't see a plane."
He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.
So that was it, huh? He was one of them. He was a creature, too. Only, maybe he wasn't one of the bad ones. That was stupid, she knew. They were all bad ones. There was no such thing as a "good" monster.
Not when it came to shifters.
"What do you want from me?" Zoa asked. The silence between them seemed to stretch on forever. She swallowed hard. She couldn't bear to think about what this guy was going to ask of her. Well, maybe he wouldn't ask her for anything. Maybe he would just take. Then what would she do?
She was at his mercy, she knew.
He could do anything, take anything. There was nothing she could do about any of it. If he wanted to lock her in a cage, he’d be able to do it. He could probably do it easily, she thought. Maybe he wanted something else, something sexual, and she wouldn’t be able to fight him on that, either.
So, what was it that he wanted?
To her surprise, though, the man didn't react to her question. He didn't stride over and grab her by the throat. He didn't choke her or shake her. He didn't smack her. Part of her wanted him to react. There was a part of her that wanted to see now, right up front, just how dark and angry this guy would be.
Was that so wrong?
She'd never been interested in guessing games. Nope. That wasn't Zoa. Before she'd been taken, she'd been analytical and intelligent. She'd worked her ass off in an accounting firm and her primary job was being able to assess risks and benefits of different things. Now she used that in her everyday life.
Only now, she was assessing him. What did this guy want? Why had he taken her? Oh, she knew her dream was right. He had saved her. He had rescued her from Kellen's place. She never would have escaped without him. Mr. Brotella was shrewd and uncaring, and Zoa wasn't an idiot.
Well, she was an idiot enough to have gotten herself kidnapped.
Still, she knew what he'd been planning. He had been installing new security measures because she'd been trying her best to escape. No matter how much he did, though, she would never stop trying to escape. She'd never stop fighting.
She couldn't.
Zoa just didn't have it in her. She had already lost her identity and her job and her house and her family. She'd already lost everything else that mattered. She didn't want to lose her soul, too. If she gave up trying to escape, it would be like saying that her previous life didn’t matter. It would be as though she were admitting defeat. Once she did that, she’d be no better than the other servants who actually worked for Brotella of their own free will. Yeah, they were being paid, but she’d seen the deadness in their eyes. They’d looked sad. Defeated. They’d looked broken.
"Well?" She asked the man. He was her rescuer, she knew. She should be more respectful. Still, she was scared. She was afraid. What if he wanted to hurt her, too? He could at least be up front about it so that she knew. “What do you want from me?”