Clenching her fists, Dana spun around and left Rux.
She hoped, somewhere deep inside, that he would chase after her. When he didn’t, she had to stifle a scratchy feeling which had risen in her throat.
Dana went inside, narrowing her focus. There were fewer people around, but still, couples engaged in heavy petting and fondling. In another context, Dana may have been turned on.
But I’m angry with Rux. How dare he think he could behave this way.
Dana moved through the house, searching for quieter areas. She had a story in her mind if she came across Griffin, knowing that she would have to divert his sad attempts at flirting.
But she didn’t see a single sign of him as she climbed the stairs and slowly crept through the hallways. She was glad that she had worn comfortable flats rather than heels because the exotic hardwood floor looked like it had recently been shined.
She moved along slowly, creeping along, her heart hammering in her chest with a thrill she had never felt before.
When she thought about Rux, she imagined him moping by the water, staring out over the sea like a forlorn sailor. The man was romantic and most lovely, but damn, sometimes he felt like she was dating a poem.
She came upon a room with a tall, dark, rosewood door, looking out of place with the beach theme of the entire mansion. Dana looked around, making sure again that she hadn’t been followed. The sounds of the revelry had faded to almost a silence, which was strange, but Dana continued anyway.
She touched the doorknob and was surprised to find it unlocked. She pushed it open lightly and leaned up against the wall. If Griffin was in there, she would use her highest-pitch voice and flash him some of her ample cleavage.
Whoop! Thought this was a bathroom! Silly woman brain!
But as Dana leaned against the wall, she heard no movements, no voices inquiring about what was happening. She leaned into the room, her heart skipping a beat once she realized that she had come across the gold mine.
Dana had found Griffin’s office. It was decorated with iron, looking more like a medieval torture chamber than a workspace in paradise. She tiptoed inside, closing the door, so it didn’t make a single sound.
Dana knew that she was fortunate to be alone, so she began rifling through the files on his desk. She quickly spotted Dennis’s name and held the file up to her face.
She scanned it and realized it was a report. She had to squint her eyes to ignore the excitement and fear pumping through her veins.
It was a report written by Dennis talking about how Griffin's extravagant parties were destroying the ecosystem. The report had thick black strokes through it, crossing off the more scathing sections that detailed the damage to the marine life surrounding the island.
Next to a few paragraphs were notes written in red pen. She looked at the date, and her heart skipped a beat when she realized that it was past the time when he had supposedly died.
“Shit,” Dana whispered.
She had come across what she had been looking for, coming to the startling conclusion that Dennis was being held somewhere on the island. She placed the file down in its original spot and then backed out into the hallway.
Dana felt like the information she had retrieved was almost too easy, despite her excitement about it. She stepped lightly through the hallway, expecting the clashing sounds of strangers fucking and canoodling to enter her ears. But they never did.
What the hell is going on?
Dana felt her hands start to shake with fear. She hated it, wishing the Rux was there with her. Not to protect her but to reassure her. He was always very good at that.
Why did I decide to go and fall for some shifter who, with the worst timing, instantly decided that I was his fated mate?
Dana didn’t know, but she told herself to focus on the situation at hand. She had to get out of the mansion and somehow let Rux know what was going on.
Dana stood at the top of the stairs and gazed out the window that looked over the velvety sand of the island’s entrance. Dana clutched at her chest when she saw only the reflection of the sun on the water and a hauntingly empty entryway.
She wanted to run outside, but someone had grabbed her by the back of the neck. She struggled, trying to dig her nails into the person's hands, but they had some kind of leather gloves on. Dana was pulled awkwardly backward and thrown into a room, causing her to stumble and nearly land on her face.
The door slammed shut behind her. She jumped toward the knob and tried jiggling it until she realized the room’s lighting was cast in an unnatural blood red.
Dana felt her heart shaking inside her chest as she followed the light, then found a few pairs of women’s feet. Her eyes followed the feet to find, much to her confusion and horror, that the women were all wearing robes and had strange animal masks covering their faces.
Dana’s hands were shaking again, and she tried the door, failing miserably. She was breathing hard as she tried yanking on the door, but everything quickly went dark as the woman took her by the shoulders and wrapped a black bag around her head.
Dana had never been so afraid in her life.
She fell into endless oblivion as the women forced her onto her back, then began wrapping a rope around her wrists and ankles. Dana screamed and swore, but it wasn’t doing her any good.
“Shh,” a woman said.
“You will be claimed,” another woman whispered.
Dana could feel her panic punching her in the lungs, gut, and brain. It made her want to run away, to go back into the past and work on a car with her father. That was the thought that would save her. She knew it, somehow, deep in her soul.
She also thought about Rux. She was sad that perhaps she wouldn't see him again and terrified all at once. She wanted to live, survive, and thrive with him by her side, forever.