A knife pressed into my skin just under my chin. “Don’t worry. You are going to do exactly what you planned all along. Save me.” He licked my neck, and I cringed, attempting to pull away, hissing when the knife stabbed me. It was only a prick, but it was enough that I didn’t struggle as much.
“Wes, you don’t want to do this.” Whatever this was, I still wasn’t certain.
“But I do. You see, I’m going to have one last hurrah with you and then…I have some friends who want a taste.”
I struggled, not caring about the weapon he wielded and screamed again. “Help!” I didn’t know why I did it. It wasn’t like anyone was around to help me. This place was practically deserted after the sun went down, and the only ones who remained were the rats who dealt in the shadows. I was a lawyer for legal aid, no one important. Why was he doing this? “Please, Wes,” I cried, tears running down my face. I couldn’t believe that this was the man I’d given my virginity to, the man I thought I would marry one day, but after a year together, I knew he would be nothing more than a passing fancy. I stayed with him because I didn’t want to disappoint our parents. Eventually, I found the nerve and broke up, insisting we could still be friends. I was a damn fool.
“Cry for me, Verity,” he snickered, sticking his tongue in my ear. I shied away, yelping when the knife stabbed me again.
He thrust me against a building again, rubbing his hard on against my back. “No, please.” I was more than terrified and needed to keep a clear head, but it was difficult. All I could think about was the knife and the fact he held me captive. I couldn’t escape. Until now, I tried to keep the panic at bay, but I couldn’t any longer. It was consuming me.
Clawing at Wes’s arm, I did everything I could to move the knife. If he killed me, his DNA would be under my nails. I didn’t want to die, though. He pulled me tight against him and dragged me backward, the tip of the knife digging in. I no longer fought him, but I did drag my feet.
And then I heard something. A loud yowling like a cat in heat. The sound surrounded us, hitting us from all sides. What the fuck was that? And I wasn’t the only one freaked out. Wes was too.
I saw the light reflecting off two eyes before I saw the massive beast. A snow leopard? Here in the city? I stopped, unsure if I should be more afraid of the beast or the man behind me. The leopard stalked toward us, his gigantic paws—I think it was a “he” since it was huge—soundlessly bringing it closer to us.
It howled again. Weren’t leopards and large cats supposed to roar? Didn’t they all sound like a lion? What the hell was I thinking? My life was in danger, and I was thinking about this cat’s lack of a roar? I had to be mental…or dreaming…or I’d completely lost it…maybe I was already dead?
I could feel the warm wetness soak through my dress in the back as he screamed bloody murder. Eww. Well, Wes wasn’t going to be any help, and struggling was getting me nowhere. Not fighting any longer, I watched the cat move closer. His furry coat looked thick and soft, his tail swishing back and forth appeared as long as him, and his paws were the size of my head. One swipe and he could probably decapitate me. Okay, not the image I should be thinking about right now. Remaining calm, I said, “Wes, let me go.”
“No!” He waved the knife in front of him as if that would deter a humongous beast like the one slowly stalking toward us.
“Wes, please!”
Instead of letting me go, he held me tighter, and the leopard narrowed his eyes. Could leopards glare? It seemed to be glaring at us. Again, not the important thing right now, Verity! I reminded myself.
Suddenly, Wes pushed me toward the beast and ran away. He probably figured the monster would eat me first and allow him to escape, but that was not what happened. The leopard leaped into the air, over me, and landed squarely on Wes’s back. I heard my former friend yell, and then all went silent.
“No!” I gasped. Without waiting to see what happened next, I ran. As soon as I reached my car, I got in and took off. Thank God for push-button ignitions. I never looked over my shoulder, never saw what really happened to Wes, never saw what that beast did next. For all I knew, it could have come for me. I drove like a bat out of hell and never even peered up into my rearview mirror, too afraid of what I would see, desperate to get away.
I knew I needed to call the cops, but right now, I didn’t know where my phone was and was too afraid to stop and look. In a bit, when I was sure nothing would find me, I would call them and pray it wasn’t too late for Wes. How could it not be?
364
Snow
I probably would have killed the scum if I hadn’t caught a whiff of something familiar on him. Something I’d been hunting for a long time.
As a prospect, I’d been given the task of hunting down a specific person. Estevan was the head of a gang that liked to deal in drugs and weapons. The drugs always had a sweet smell to them, and when I finally tracked him down and killed him, Estevan was higher than a kite
