The sun was strong as they moved toward the building, but the air was all wrong. It was dry and felt like it was evaporating all the moisture from her skin. She could feel the sun burning her scalp, even though her thick hair. Michelle was suddenly aware she wasn’t anywhere near the ocean. They weren’t in Hawaii or on any of the outer islands. This place felt like a desert.
Omar steadied her and kept her from falling on her face when she stumbled once again. His arm and body where he had clamped her arm tight against his side felt hard as stone as he guided her through the doors and into the building. Inside it was freezing, like the air-conditioning continuously blasted frigid air. She noticed that the dark haired woman was following right behind them.
They went across an enormous, elegant marble lobby to a long counter where a beautiful blond woman stood. She was the only person visible in the large space except for a few people sitting in chairs who seemed to be reading magazines or staring into space, waiting for an appointment.
The woman at the counter smiled at them and said, “Mr. and Mrs. Satinov?”
Michelle glanced up at Omar. He was using the charming smile. He had probably locked eyes with the receptionist. She was gazing at him with admiration—maybe adoration, already.
“That’s right,” Omar said.
“Your suite is all set up. The luggage arrived last night and has been unpacked for your stay.”
“Excellent,” Omar said as she handed him keys and a brochure.
“Where’s my purse,” Michelle said loudly. “I must have left it in the car.” She turned quickly and started back across the lobby toward the doors. She had to get away, get her cell phone out of her purse. It had been sitting right beside her in the car.
Quick as a cat, Omar was after her and caught her arm, “Don’t bother about it, darling. The driver will bring it up to our room.” As he led her back to the counter his voice lowered and he whispered in her ear, “If you cause a scene here, there will be serious repercussions.”
Michelle tried to unobtrusively take a brochure from a metal fixture on the counter to see just where they were and what kind of place this was, but Omar said, “You can use mine, darling.” He took the brochure from her hand and replaced it in its holder.
“Take the elevator to the top floor,” the blond receptionist said, smiling brilliantly. “Best wishes for a happy outcome.”
Now what did that mean, Michelle wondered, as they went and stood waiting in front of the elevator. Happy outcome?
“You’ve kidnapped me,” Michelle said softly to Omar. “You are going to be in so much trouble. You’ll never get out of prison.”
“No one will ever know,” Omar said.
Michelle was really frightened. The only way no one would know was if she disappeared and couldn’t tell anyone—if she was dead. It sounded like Omar had no intention of ever taking her home. If she didn’t do what he told her, he really could harm her family or friends as punishment. She seriously thought of screaming anyway.
There was a loud ding and the doors opened.
She noticed Omar looking up, studying the upper four corners of the elevator as they got in. The doors slid closed. Then he nodded at Leilanie. Michelle had finally remembered the dark haired woman’s name. Leilanie, one of Omar’s witches.
She watched Omar reach up and put a dark silk handkerchief over the camera lens located inside the top left corner of the elevator. Leilanie was reaching in her purse and quickly handed something to Omar.
Michelle was startled when Leilanie practically dived behind her and grabbed both of her shoulders, turning her rapidly, so her back faced Omar. Leilanie was unexpectedly strong for such a short woman. Michelle didn’t have time to react because Omar whipped something at her neck that stung like a hornet bite.
As she abruptly started to lose muscle control, and felt herself falling, losing consciousness and blacking out, Michelle heard Omar say, “She won’t remember a thing.”
Omar carried Michelle down a brightly lit corridor. He looked down at her face, with the very white skin and thick black hair. Her coloring reminded him of the character in the movie Snow White that he’d seen as a child in China. Michelle’s closed eye lids hid the lustrous, almost yellow eyes, that so attracted him in the beginning, when he’d first seen her in Las Vegas. Really, they were a very light greenish color, with yellow specks. He’d once given her a bouquet of yellow roses, to match her eyes. Too bad she was so stubborn. They would have had a wonderful life together.
His plans for Michelle went back several years, to the first time he’d seen her walking through a hotel lobby in Las Vegas. One of Omar’s unusual gifts was the ability to see auras around people with high energy. Michelle possessed an aura like none he’d ever seen before and he’d stopped dead, watching the beautiful tall woman move confidently into a conference room at the side of the lobby.
The aura, or luminous halo, surrounding Michelle’s body was comprised of bright reds, oranges, pinks and a lot of sparkling white that drifted in undulations around her. He’d known immediately that she had great power, but she didn’t seem aware of that fact. She also didn’t seem to note that people stopped and
