“Easy.” Drantos’s tone lowered, turning husky. “You’re fine. I don’t want to argue with you but it would be bad if you make a scene. We’re going to cuddle up together nicely without you fighting me. If you resist, I’ll keep you this way. Do you understand?”

She couldn’t even form words to respond but a tiny whimper did manage to squeak past her parted lips. The brilliance of blue in his eyes dulled as suddenly as it had sharpened. Dusti gasped in air and was actually able to move when she jerked back. Drantos released her completely but didn’t look away.

“How did you do that? Bat? Talk to me!”

Dusti leaned back, her hands clawing at the blanket, and inched farther away from Drantos. Her head turned when her sister didn’t respond, only to find the other couple still frozen in the same position as before. She was suspicious that Kraven had control over her sister the same exact way Drantos had just controlled her.

Her mind refused to acknowledge that though. It was too unreal to be true. She found reasons instead. Her and Bat were tired, they’d had a rough day, and had survived a plane crash. It left them stunned and easily susceptible to wild thoughts and ideas. She latched hard onto that excuse. It sounded reasonable. People who’d survived traumatic events could be convinced of things not real or true. Their minds were messed up. Drantos had just used the power of suggestion. She’d listened subconsciously because he was crazy.

That had to be how psychopaths talked nice, sane people into following them.

His strong hand gripped her inner thigh and gave her a hard enough tug to make her fall flat onto her back. He came down on top of her. His weight pinned her but Drantos was nice enough to keep most of it off her rib cage so she could still pant from terror. His blue eyes began to lighten, brighten, and glow. She squeezed her eyes closed, twisting her head to the side to avoid him doing that to her again.

“Look at me.”

She wanted to. There was something compelling about his husky voice that made her have to fight the command, but she managed to resist. She couldn’t budge him when she pushed on his arms. “Get off me. Stop it!”

“Dusti? Look at me now.” His voice deepened with almost inhuman gruffness.

Her eyes opened of their own accord and she turned her head enough to stare deeply into his brilliant, glowing blue gaze. Her breath caught inside her lungs and her hands stopped pushing to fall limply between them. Her entire body wilted.

“I didn’t want to do this. I can smell your fear.” He blinked. “You’re safe and I won’t harm you. Being able to use my eyes this way is one of the many gifts I inherited.”

She tried to struggle but her body refused to obey, staying totally still under his heavier one. He adjusted his hips, moved one leg to push hers apart, and settled into the cradle of her thighs. Her skirt must have gotten pushed up, and her eyes widened with terror when she felt the hard press of an aroused Drantos against the vee of her panties. The rough denim of his pants brushed against bare skin.

“Easy, sweetheart. I’m not going to do anything to you. Yeah, you turn me on. It’s that simple. But I won’t act on it. You need to calm down and stop looking at me as if I’m going to attack you. I just want your word you’ll stop fighting with me.”

She couldn’t speak. His eyes slowly returned to a dark blue color, the glow fading. She gasped in air the second her entire body turned ridged with alarm. Her hands lifted to fist in the material of his shirt.

“Don’t make me control you again.”

“What are you doing to me?” she whispered, afraid despite what he’d said. “Stop it.”

“Your mother should have explained what she was so I don’t have to. Maybe she thought there would be no reason to have to tell you about your bloodline, since you had a human father and must not have inherited any traits that would betray you to your enemies.”

Dusti could deal with his crazy talk. She relaxed a little to allow her mind to calm down. With it came a sense of comfort she latched onto. “I’m not an alien.”

But he might really be one…

No. That’s nuts. Now he’s making me lose my mind.

It was possible exhaustion and too much stress had taken their toll. That would explain it.

“I’m not either. There’re regular humans but there are also other races. He took a deep breath, pressing against her chest a little while he inhaled. “I’m other—and so was your mom.”

“Other?”

She wondered if Bat could hear them but doubted it, since they were a good five feet away from the other couple. Drantos also had lowered his voice to a soft, husky level that wouldn’t travel. The voices from the survivors were just a murmur but their words weren’t recognizable. Drantos didn’t answer.

“Let me go. Please?”

He turned his head, reached for something, and then pulled the other blanket over their bodies. He met her gaze again but an almost sad expression softened his features. “Not until you know the truth.”

Dusti hesitated. “Okay. Hit me with it. I’m dying to hear this. What was my mother?”

Sincerity softened his gaze further. “We’re VampLycans.”

“Sounds Russian or something.”

“We’re considered blooded wolves.”

“You don’t look red to me and you hide your tail really well in those tight jeans.”

He ignored her smartass comment. “A long time ago, Lycans and Vampires banned together and had formed an alliance. The Vampires usually hired humans to protect them during the day, but they’d been betrayed too often and suffered heavy losses. They were desperate enough to turn to their enemies, the Lycans. It worked for a while. The Vampires got their protection and the Lycans enjoyed the lifestyle the Vampires could provide.”

Dusti let that settle into her mind. She decided to humor him. “They had good parties, huh?”

Drantos’s features tensed. “This isn’t a joke. I’m attempting to inform you of your heritage.”

Irritation arose inside her at having to listen to his insane garbage. “Two words for you: Take. Meds. Vampires and Werewolves aren’t real. You’ve watched too many movies.”

A soft growl burst from his parted lips. “Vampires have abilities that Lycans don’t. They can control minds and make humans do as they wish, and can even erase some of their memories. Lycans found that really helpful since they were forced to live nomadic lives. It meant keeping their numbers low and never staying in one area to build homes. It was a dream of theirs to settle in one place. The Vampires gave them that luxury. They suddenly could live without fear of being hunted. If a human happened upon a Lycan in a compromising situation, the Vampires could make the humans forget.”