“He’d hunt you down. He wouldn’t rest until he found and destroyed you.”

Gina didn’t seem concerned about it. But then, spoilt kids never thought much on their punishments. “Then maybe I’ll kill him while he’s staring down at your ashes, trapped in misery on realising what he’s done to you.”

“Salem would never hurt me.”

“As much as it annoys me, you’re right. But child, that isn’t Salem you’re looking at. No. My pheromones call to the predator within, bring our primal selves to the surface.” She smiled up at him, grazing his chin with one nail. “Predators are elemental at their core – they want to feed and fuck. That is what you see in front of you. His human characteristics, his personality…it’s all buried deep. He’s been stripped of everything other than his predatory instincts. And he will do exactly as I tell him to.”

Well, shit.

Gina skimmed the tips of her fingers down his chest, earning a sensual growl from him. “You can have me…as soon as you kill her.” She pointed at me, and his eyes latched onto me like a snake latches on prey. Then he took a single step forward, snarling.

This really wasn’t good. “Salem…” It wasn’t the best idea to back away from a predator, but I didn’t want to look challenging. I didn’t want to hurt him, and I didn’t want him to hurt me. Not just because he was a tough bastard who could easily end me, but because Salem would never forgive himself if he came out of the thrall to find that he’d killed me. He carried enough damn guilt.

His eyes narrowed the slightest bit – something I’d learned during training was one of Salem’s ‘tells’. So I expected the subsequent swing of his fist, and I instantly ducked, avoiding the psychic hit. A growl of irritation rumbled out of him.

“Salem, listen to me, you have to stop,” I implored. I considered screaming for help, but it would do no good. The walls were all vampire-soundproof.

His fingers twitched – another ‘tell’. Then his hand again clenched into a fist and swung. I jerked to the side, evading the psychic impact. Again, he growled. He began prowling toward me, seemingly pissed. With each step he took forward, I took a step back, keeping a fair distance between us. I didn’t want it to come to hand-to-hand combat, as things would then get truly messy. So I stayed away, forcing him to fall back on his gift. Again and again he aimed psychic blows at me; again and again I eluded him.

Dodging another punch, I shouted, “Salem, stop!”

“I told you, child: calling out to him is pointless. He’s under my control now. He’ll do absolutely anything for me.”

Really? Well then she might just come in handy. As another psychic punch came my way, I ducked, rolled to the side, and came up behind Gina – all in the space of a single second. Arm wrapped tight around her throat in a constricting hold, I hissed, “You’d better tell him to stop, bitch. As you’ve seen, I’m fast enough to move before his punches make contact. You’re not.”

She didn’t hesitate. “Salem, halt.”

Instantly, he did; his eyes once again focused on Gina.

“Now, release him from the thrall.”

“I can’t.” She futilely tried to free herself from my grip.

I just tightened my hold on her. “Do it!”

“That’s not how it works. The thrall won’t wear off until he’s fucked me.”

“I don’t believe you.” I didn’t want to believe it.

“Look, he’s hard – probably to the point of pain.” A single glance at his crotch told me she was right. “Until he fucks me, he’ll stay that way, which means the only way I can free him is if you step aside so he and I can have some fun.”

Well there wasn’t even the slightest chance that I was going to do that. “Salem, snap out of it!”

“He won’t. His will is tuned in to my voice.”

Her voice…That gave me an idea. “Tell him he can’t have me.”

“What?” Total confusion coated the word.

“Tell him he can’t have Ava. Say it.”

“You do understand that at this moment the only person he wants is me, don’t you?”

“Then you’ll have no problem repeating it. So do it.” If there was one thing I knew about Salem, it was that he was a stubborn bastard who didn’t like anyone telling him what he could or couldn’t have; it was almost like he had an elemental reflex to challenge authority. He’d sure as hell never liked anyone attempting to come between us. He was darkly possessive, Fletcher had said. Maybe prickling that possessive instinct would appeal to something inside him and get through to the predator, maybe it wouldn’t. But it was worth a damn shot. “Tell him.”

“You can’t have Ava.”

He growled, clenching his fists. That was promising, right?

“Say it again.”

“What’s the point? He doesn’t want you.”

“Say it again.”

A bored sigh. “You can’t have Ava.”

He growled again, louder this time.

“Tell him Ava doesn’t belong to him. Now, Gina!”

“Ava doesn’t belong to you.”

His growl sounded more like a boat motor this time. His irises began to glow as his hands again balled into fists. Still, though, he only had eyes for Gina. It occurred to me then that he could be simply impatient to fuck her as opposed to affected by her words.

“Tell him he has to let someone else have Ava.”

She snorted. “Gladly. You have to let someone else have Ava. Now help me, Salem! Pull her away from me!”

He stalked forward, eyes locked on Gina. The closer he came, the more I panicked. Sure, I could hold him off. Sure, I could fight him. But then I’d hurt him, and he’d hurt me. I didn’t doubt for one minute that he could take me in a duel, if it came down to that. A big reason I’d lose was that I’d never be able to bring myself to kill him – not even in self-defence. So when he finally reached us, I shoved Gina at him. Yes, he’d fuck her, and yes, it would wreck me. But it was better than either of us being dead.

His hand gently slipped around Gina’s throat, collaring her, as his eyes fixed on her like lasers. “Mine.”

Fucking ouch.