“There you are,” a voice bellowed above Isabella in the dark. She started up from her bed, Ashton still slept soundly beside her. She blinked in the dark, her human vision blurry. Finally her vampire senses took over and she could see who it was.

“Domingo, what are you doing here?”

“Come with me,” he said, grabbing her arm and yanking her out of bed.

“Hey, let go of me,” she yelled.

“Your father promised you to me, and I mean to have you. You and second-in-command of the Cascade coven. Now, let’s go.”

“No!” she screamed. “Let me go!”

Ashton finally stirred in bed, looking around in bewilderment. “Ashton, help me!” she yelled as Domingo pulled her toward the open patio door.

He growled and shifted, his body contorting into a powerful, giant mountain lion before their eyes. Domingo hissed at him and pulled Isabella out the door. “No,” she yelled again.

Ashton crouched for a pounce, as his eyes locked on the intruder. The big cat jumped and scratched at the vampire just as Domingo leapt with Isabella onto the next patio. She screamed and Ashton followed. Domingo jumped to the rooftop, and ran with his burden toward the outdoor parking lot. Ashton followed onto the room, but when Domingo dropped, gracefully, with Isabella from the fifth floor roof and into the driver’s seat of a convertible car, Ashton hesitated.

It was just enough time for Domingo to turn the key in the ignition and drive out the driveway. Ashton pounced down behind them, but it was too late. Domingo sped onto the highway and left her shifting, naked lover in the dust.

She growled at Domingo and slapped him across the face. “How dare you,” she sneered. He caught her hand and crushed her wrist as he used his other hand to steer. They sped up the highway toward her father’s estate at blinding speed, maneuvering through turns with superhuman agility.

“I’ve taken you on your father’s authority. Do you want to defy the High Lord?” he said, showing his fangs.

She sat back in her seat. This was not how she wanted her day to go. Laying snuggled up to Ashton for the rest of the night had been her very appealing plan. Maybe another roll in the sheets before the morning light streamed over the coastal mountains and lit the rocky shore below her windows.

“He’s never taken an interest in what I do before,” she said, pouting and leaning back in her seat. He let go of her hand and she crossed her arms tightly over her chest. 

“Your father has plans for you Isabella. For us both. He told you already. You are his only heir by birth. He may have created me five hundred years ago when our people first landed on these shores, but you are his flesh and blood.”

“I’m also a halfling. I’m a throwaway. I don’t know why I even answered his email to come back here. I should have stayed in Spain.”

“Don’t be mistaken, lady, you are integral to your father’s plan.”

They hurried into her father’s driveway and Domingo parked the sport’s car. She slammed the door and stomped up the stairs, her nose firmly in the air. She passed Jensen with a low growl and began to make her way up the stairs to her rooms when her father stopped her.

“Come to the sitting room, Isabella,” he commanded. She huffed and stormed passed him into the sitting room where she poured herself a huge glass of whiskey.

“Why did you leave so abruptly before? You were not excused,” her father said. Domingo came into the room behind her and sat down in an air chair.

“You two were boring me.”

“Listen, Isabella,” he said, stepping close. He towered over her. She smelled the scent of cologne, the tang of blood and death. Recoiling, she gripped her glass, her heart beating faster. “You are mine to command. This behavior is unacceptable. I could break you with one grasp of my hand. Do you understand?” he said, leaning into her ear.

She shook her head and backed away, sidestepping him and moving into the freedom of the room. Downing her whiskey she looked at her father with a mixture of disdain and fear. How could she expect a man like him to love her, care about her? He was dead, and he hated what was alive in her, the human part, the part of her that didn’t cower to him like one of his minions.

“Great. Do it,” she said, slamming her glass down on the antique wood table. Drops of whiskey spattered the on the finish. Her father’s lip curled over his sharp teeth.

“You will marry Don Domingo Cortez, and you with take your place in this coven. You will produce heirs from your womb. If you defy me, I will suck the last drop of blood from your pitifully weak body and drop it into the sea for the sharks to devour.”

“It’s always nice to have these chats, Dad. I’m so glad I came home for summer vacation.”

He flew across the room and slapped her hard across the face. The brutal force stung. She heard her jaw crack, and she cupped her cheek where he had hit her.

“Jensen, Domingo, take her to the basement,” he commanded, turning his back to her. His long velvet, brocade robe fluttered around his legs. Isabella had never hated him more than she hated him in that moment. The butler and her would-be spouse grabbed her arms. Both full vampires and far stronger than her, they tugged her through the house and through a narrow doorway that led into the dark, downstairs.