Page 20 of Mating Season
Maybe this is my opportunity to make a choice. Tohavea choice.
I get into the harness making sure everything is locked and snapped firmly into place, then I use some knots I learned years ago in girl scouts to tie the other end of the rope securely around one of the steel poles on the rooftop. I test the strength, pulling as hard as I can and forcing all my weight into it, but the pole doesn’t budge. It is strong and firmly embedded in the concrete. And the knot is solid as well.
Okay… Rosalie, you can do this.
I think you should just stay and have hot mating sex with the growly bear shifter.
But I ignore that part of myself. That’s the me who used to leave her drink unattended and went partying with strangers during finals week of my senior year of college. It’s a miracle that me survived long enough to be in my current situation. That is not a smart or healthy me. Smart me, by contrast, has decided to rappel down the side of a building like I’m in an action movie. Totally sound choice!
It’s probably close to six by the time I’m ready. I mean nobody is ever totally ready for something like this, but as ready as I’ll ever be. I’ve done the math on the distance between the rooftop and the windowless floor I want to end up at and made sure I have the right amount of rope—not too much, and not too little.
But I miscalculated the rope length, and now I’m eye level with the floor of the floor I’m supposed to be on. I panic. I do not have the greatest upper body strength in the world. I can’t even do a full pull up, so even though I can reach the floor with my hands, I can’t exactly just hoist myself over the ledge. If I were in a movie, I’m sure I’d be able to. It happens all the time… Young heroine has never spent a single day of her life in the gym training to do pull-ups, but when she falls over the ledge of the dragon’s lair, she’s somehow able to hoist herself up to safety just in the nick of time.
I will my heartbeat to slow to something approaching normal and then I lean back, grip the rope, and plant my feet on the side of the building like one of the magazine articles said to do. The honking traffic below reminds me unnecessarily that I’m basically in a sky hammock with very little separating me from my own grizzly death.
But I pull on the rope, lean back, and put one foot in front of the other, and somehow I make it the twelve inches I need to go to get back inside the building. I’m breathing heavily when I flop onto a bare floor covered in sawdust.
I remove the harness, get up, cross the room, open the door, and walk out into a plush green carpeted hallway like it’s just a normal day. I avoid the elevator for fear of running into Cooper. I’m not sure how long that death defying stunt took, and he could be home any minute. Instead, I go to the end of the hallway, find the stairs, and jog the rest of the way down to the ground level.
Five minutes later, I’m standing on the street feeling like a certified badass. I hop into a taxi and reach my house just before dark. I’m about to put my key into the lock when a familiar scent assaults my nostrils and the blackness takes me.
13
ROSALIE
I’m awake and angry, but I refuse to open my eyes yet. I know Cooper is fast, but we must have just missed each other for him to be able to beat me to my apartment. This is so unfair. I made a legit heroic escape—like with background music and shit. And as soon as I get on my own home turf, before I can even get behind a locked door, he’s recaptured me again. Seriously?
I may as well be a tiny turtle trying to escape a cardboard box. This is so fucked up.
But then I hear a male voice that is definitely not Cooper’s, and the anger turns sharply to fear.
“Rodolfo, I thought I’d be able to sample her as soon as I rose for the night, but she just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps, doesn’t she?” He sighs. “So annoying and inconvenient.”
“We’ll need to drain the drugs from her system before you drink, Sir.”
“That won’t be necessary. I’m not planning a full feeding until tomorrow night. I just want to confuse the mating link so I don’t have to worry about the bear.”
Who…the hell… is that? I try to keep my breathing even and fight against the urge to open my eyes and satisfy my horrifyingcuriosity. It’s now that I start to pay closer attention to my environment—the cold stone floor I seem to be sprawled upon.
“It’s no use, poppet, I smelled the change in the scent of your blood. Fear. And your breathing changed… your heart rate changed. You humans contain very little mystery. You can’t fake it with me, my dear, though you’ll have plenty of opportunities to try.”
Humans.My heart sinks at this word because I know that means he’snota human. And I’m not going to play dumb. I know what he is. Even before I open my eyes to look at him, I know. This room feels cold.
But not cold because of the temperature of the air. No, it’s a deeper cold. It’s a cold mixed with terror that seeps deep into your veins and takes up permanent residence there. I feel a loud internal scream inside my own mind, and I know.
Vampire.
His voice. The coldness both in him and in this room, it all screams to inform me of the predator I’m locked in with.
“Rosalie, come now, pet, let’s not do this. You had your opportunity to choose the bear. And yet… here we are. What was it that gave you pause? Was it his good looks? His… what I’m led to believe is an absolutely intoxicating mating scent? You smell like citrus and honey by the way. Did he tell you? Absolutely irresistible. I cannot wait to really dig in and gorge myself on you.”
I remain quiet. I still haven’t opened my eyes. I can’t bring myself to face this new reality. So instead I just let him drone on as I shiver and try to stop my internal screaming.
“Or maybe it was his success? His talent? I hear he’s quite the architect. His athleticism? His wealth? That luxurious penthouse? I can see why all of these things would be repellant to you.”
A tear slips down my cheek, and suddenly I feel compelled to speak. “I just wanted to be free.”
He chuckles. “That human curse. You can’t take a good thing when it comes to you. No, you’re all just full of ideals like… freedom. Hopes. Dreams. So cute.”
