Oh no, Dusti thought, he’s going to do that hypnotist shit on my sister again.

Her mouth opened to distract Bat but Drantos dropped to his knees suddenly, getting her full attention. His dark gaze fixed on hers and she couldn’t look away. He spoke softly to her.

“You will stand up, not say a word, and walk into the woods with me. You won’t scream or fight. You will remain meek until I tell you to do otherwise.”

She tried to open her mouth to tell him to fuck himself, but she couldn’t. She remained silent. Shock and terror flooded her mind when he gripped her hand, pulling her to her feet. He let go as suddenly as he’d grabbed her to wrap the blanket around her shoulders, tying the ends to create a shawl. He took her hand once more and tugged, and her body allowed him to lead her into the woods. She couldn’t even turn her head to make sure Kraven followed with her sister.

Her body seemed to move on autopilot when it didn’t respond to her commands. She understood how a puppet had to feel when someone controlled it. Drantos’s warm, large hand kept a firm hold on her smaller one while they strolled slowly away from the camp. It was tough to even move her head to look down at her feet. She tripped once, her foot bumping into something painful, but Drantos just pulled her close enough to put his arm around her waist.

“How long do you think it will take the humans to realize we aren’t returning?” Kraven questioned from behind them.

“I told them we were going to take a look around to see if there’s a nearby cabin. I’d give it a few hours at least, maybe mid-afternoon before they grow worried. They are injured, in shock and disorientated. I just hope none of them wander into the woods to search for us. I told them not to. I’d hate for any of them to venture so far out they get lost. If they weren’t injured we could’ve wiped their memories of us, but it’s too risky to their already fragile health.”

“Yeah. I know. I feel like shit for leaving them alone, unprotected, but I cleared out all the predators as far away as I could.”

“I mixed leaves with the firewood we left to make the fire smoky enough to confuse the wildlife. They should mistake the scent for a forest fire and their instincts will make them rush away from the clearing.”

“Those search planes better find them today.”

Drantos sighed. “I’m sure they will. Decker will be all over the rescue teams, pressing them to search, along with sending his enforcers to search the ground. He’ll be frantic to find Bat.”

Is Bat hearing them? Aware of what they’re saying? Dusti hoped so. She sure was. She hated to think of the fear her sister had to be feeling at that moment if she was cognizant of their conversation, but at least now they’d be on the same “we’re in deep shit” page where Drantos and Kraven were concerned.

The sun rose higher, light filtering through the thick growth of trees surrounding them. Whatever hold Drantos had on her started to fade as time passed. She turned her head to glance behind them.

Kraven wasn’t holding her sister’s hand but instead had her flung over one shoulder with a blanket wrapped around her body. He met her gaze with a frown.

“Yours is coming out of it, bro.”

“I’m aware.” Drantos stopped walking. “She’s stronger than I thought she would be.”

Dusti glared up at him. “Stop using that mind-control shit on me, damn it.”

“I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t fight me at every turn.”

She turned her head to glare at Kraven. “Put Bat down.” She noticed he didn’t seem out of breath or sweaty, despite the fact that he’d carried her sister. “Is she all right?”

“She’s sleeping.”

“Stop doing that to her!”

“I’m not doing anything but carrying her.” He slid his hand down her sister’s leg to her feet, tugging the blanket over them. “I ditched her heels. She’d have broken an ankle in those damn things and I couldn’t find any flats her size in the wreckage. The ground will tear up her feet if I allow her to walk barefoot, and leave a blood trail for Filmore’s men to follow easier.”

Drantos tugged gently on Dusti’s arm. “We need to keep moving.”

“No. This is pure insanity. We should go back and wait with the wreckage for help to arrive.” She waved a hand at the area around them. “You want Bat and I far away from here and our grandfather? Fine. I agree. Take us back and I’ll have whoever finds us fly us to the airport. We can be out of the state before you know it.”

“Decker will just come after you.”

“I’ll move in with Bat for a while. She has excellent security in her building. We’ll be safe.”

“Really?” Drantos growled. “Tell me about her security.”

“There are a few armed guards in the lobby twenty-four seven. You need a code to enter the elevator to even reach her floor. Nobody can get to her apartment without her allowing it. One of the guards calls her when I visit and then escorts me to her door.”

Drantos nodded. “Human guards. Ones that Decker or any of his men can mind control. They just have to walk in, look at those guards, and order them to take them right to you and your sister. Her so-called security would stand there while you were taken and never remember what happened once it was over with. Do you understand? You’re not safe there. Humans can’t protect you.”

Dusti grudgingly believed him, since he’d shown her what he could do multiple times now. “We could go to a hotel or something.”

“You think we don’t know how to track credit cards? We might live apart from your world but we’re not idiots. Decker would track you and Bat by financials. Hotels cost money. They can find your friends if you believe you could hide with one of them. Humans can’t lie to a VampLycan. We can force them to tell us the truth. There’s nowhere you could hide. They’d find you.”

Dusti wasn’t willing to give up yet. “This isn’t the way either. All you’re going to do is get us lost out here and we’ll die from exposure or something.”

“We’re not going to get lost.” Drantos looked annoyingly calm. “You’re safer with us than you would be anywhere else.”

“Bullshit.” She tugged hard on her hand but couldn’t break free of his hold. “And let me go. I don’t want you touching me after that freaky thing you did last night. Did you slip me some kind of drug?”