“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty.”

The haunting voice, like the sound of a snake’s hiss, brought Tessa to wakefulness. She opened her eyes, blinking against the blurriness, then gasped as her vision finally came into focus.

A face she readily recognized stood above her. It was her kidnapper, Sebastian Crow. His skin was deathly pale, and his long hair was a glossy black that hung over his broad shoulders. His face might have been handsome, but his fiery eyes, the way they devoured her, turned his features into an ugly mask of evil.  

Standing next to him was a woman Tessa had never seen before. Her skin was as pale as Sebastian’s and her eyes, along with her lips, were the same blood-red. Her raven hair flowed past her small breasts like strands of silk that stretched all the way down to her tiny waist.

Tears slid from the corners of Tessa’s eyes. “P-Please.” Her voice was dry, weak. “Let me go.”

Sebastian gave her a sad face, then placed a finger to his lips. “Shh…” 

When the raven-haired woman smiled, the tips of two sharp fangs peeked from beneath her top lip. Tessa struggled to move as the woman bent close but found it difficult. She was helplessly strapped to a bed by several restraints. Tessa wanted to cry out, but she couldn’t bring herself to utter a single sound.  

“Exquisite,” the woman murmured, inhaling deeply. “Her pure Breedline blood is intoxicating.”

Tessa closed her eyes and silently prayed. Please… Please God, help me.

Sebastian eased onto the bed Tessa was bound to and smiled at Eve. “I never break a promise.”

Tessa’s eyes shot open the moment she felt the mattress underneath her dip, then the wetness of a tongue as it slithered over her neck. 

“Please don’t do this,” Tessa pleaded, tugging at the leather cuffs that were secured around her ankles and wrists.    

“Drink my darling, Eve,” was the last words Tessa heard, then something sharp pierced deep into the side of her throat. She immediately stiffened and tried to scream, but something was stuffed into her mouth. She whimpered behind the gag as her entire body heaved with sobs of fear.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity of hell, the raven-haired woman Sebastian had called Eve, released her vein. She raised her head, then retracted her fangs, and gave Tessa a satisfied smile. Using the back of her hand, she wiped the remnants of Tessa’s blood from her red-coated lips and stepped away.

Despite Tessa’s increased terror and her helplessness, the room was moving in slow motion. She tried to lift her head, but it was useless. It felt so heavy, like something was weighing it down. It was then she realized she’d been drugged.

A sudden anger boiled up and replaced her fear, burning a hole in her very soul. But when Sebastian came into view, her heart sank. He stood over her with a smug look on his cruel face. As she met his hypnotic gaze, thoughts of being tortured or dying slowly consumed her mind, allowing the fear to creep back in. Then, as his face drew near, everything around her began to fade as though the darkness had swallowed her whole.

***

As soon as Tim parked the SUV in front of Tessa’s apartment building, Jace felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something wasn’t right. He could feel it in the pit of his gut. Then, he immediately noticed Tessa’s car was still parked in the same spot.

“Is her car here?” Tim asked.

Jace nodded, then pointed toward the car that was parked two spaces down. “That’s her Honda. It doesn’t look like it’s been moved.” He scanned the parking lot. “But I don’t see the beamer anywhere.”

“Let’s go see if she’s here.”

Before Tim got the words out, Jace was practically out the door and headed to the front entrance. He impatiently rang her buzzer, but unfortunately, after several attempts, no one answered.

Tim came up next to him. “Anything?”

Jace shook his head. “Dammit… Sebastian took her, I just know it.”

“Hold up.” Tim held up a hand. “Before you start thinking the worst, it’s possible she left with a friend. Try calling her again.”

As Jace went to retrieve his phone from his back pocket, it started to ring.

“Maybe that’s her returning your call,” Tim suggested.

Instilling himself with hope, Jace looked at the caller ID. But when he saw it was his brother calling, his wishful thinking took a nosedive. He wearily sighed, then looked up from his phone. “It’s just Jem.”

Tim shot Jace a sympathetic look. “Well, maybe Mia found the person who owns that BMW.”

Jace dipped his head, then swiped to answer. The look on his face told Tim, whatever was being said on the other end, wasn’t good news. Jace’s inhales grew sharper and his exhales shorter as he remained silent with the phone close to his ear. Then finally, Jace spoke, “Let me know as soon as you find out. It’s been over two hours. God only knows what the hell he’s doing to her.”

When Jace ended the call, he looked at Tim with dread stamped all over his face. “It’s registered to Sebastian.” He swallowed hard as if he was holding back tears. “Mia’s working on getting an address.”

“We still don’t know for sure if he took her,” Tim said, trying his best to remain positive. “Let’s head back to the parking lot and see if we can locate any security cameras. If so, we’ll try to get ahold of the property manager. If we’re lucky, there will be video footage of something useful to go by. Hell, we’ll ask around. Someone here may know something or may have seen Tessa leave with a friend. It’s possible she’s just over at one of her neighbors. And if we don’t find anything, there still could be a reasonable explanation why Tessa is not answering her phone. For all we know, she could have left it behind.”

It didn’t take long for them to find out absolutely nothing useful. No security cameras, no witnesses, nada. As Jace stood in the parking lot, he rubbed a hand over his face, feeling utterly helpless. “I can’t just stand around and do nothing,” he said, facing Tim with despair set in his gaze. “It’s killing me not knowing if she’s alright.”

“Try calling her again.”

Jace threw his hands up. “What for? You and I both know she’s not going to pick up.”

“You can’t give up hope, Jace.”

“Fine.” He dug out his phone and made the call. After a few rings, he heard a noise coming from somewhere close by. It sounded like a muffled ringtone. He instantly looked at Tim. “Do you hear that?”

Tim nodded, then followed the sound that led to a parked car. He knelt beside it and listened carefully, but before he could pinpoint its location, it stopped. He looked over his shoulder at Jace. “Call her phone again.”

The moment Jace hit send, the sound started up again.

“Aha,” Tim called out, then latched onto something that was stashed behind the car’s front tire. “Found it.”

“What is it?”

When Tim got to his feet, he held up a woman’s purse, the sound of a phone still ringing inside. “Recognize this?”

“Oh, God…” Jace croaked. “That’s Tessa’s.” His knees started to buckle, but Tim caught him by the arm and held him steady.

“I swear,” Tim began, “we’re going to find her.”

“If Sebastian even as much as touches a hair on her head,” Jace said with a look of a man with the intent to kill. “I’m going to rip him into tiny pieces.” And that was the last thing he said on the trip back to the Covenant.

To be continued. . .

Thanks for taking the time to read my chapter. I'm rewriting my first book, Sweet Chaos, and I'd appreciate your feedback. If you are interested in previous chapters, go to my profile and look up Revised Sweet Chaos/A Novel of the Breedline series. Have a blessed day and I hope you enjoy!