“I’m fine. I’m home and that man is gone.”

“Good.” My throat closed up in relief and I could barely manage that one syllable.

Nate’s voice shook. “Sara, he tried to come inside and he couldn’t. Why?”

I shot Haism a glare. I’d suspected Gerhard had been ordered to deal with Nate once I thought he was safe. Getting what he wanted wasn’t enough for a man like Haism. He needed to control everything. Not this time.

“I’ll explain it when I get home,” I replied, proud of myself for keeping the tears at bay.

I hung up and practically threw the phone at Haism. I won’t cry. I would not let this man see me break down.

“My part of the deal is done,” said Haism, his eyes glittering with anticipation. “Now you will do your part.”

Nodding, I gave Tarak directions and he immediately turned the car and headed south of town. It usually took me twenty minutes by bike to get to where we were going. It took five in the car. We turned off on the narrow dirt road that led to the abandoned mine and branches whipped at the car as we passed. Soon we reached the spot where I usually hid my bike and I told him to stop. “We have to walk from here.”

Haism stared around suspiciously then fixed me with a hard look. “We are in the middle of nowhere. I pray for your sake you are not trying to deceive me.”

“You think I’d hide troll bile at my house, or maybe in my school locker?”

He did not respond to that. We stayed in the back of the car until Tarak got out and came around to my side. They were obviously not taking any chances with me making a run for it.

“Check her,” Haism said harshly and I gasped as Tarak pulled me from the car and started to pat me down. My mouth went dry when his hands felt the weapon concealed inside my coat. He yanked open my coat and pulled out the silver knife to show Haism.

Stars exploded before my eyes and pain shot through the left side of my face as a fist came out of nowhere.  My ears rang and I staggered backwards and would have fallen if Tarak had not caught me. Blood dribbled down my lips from my nose and I dabbed it away with my sleeve.

“Sharmoota!” Haism shouted, his spittle spraying my face. “You think you can trick me?” He reached for me again and I flinched, waiting for the next strike. Instead he pulled a plastic cable tie from his pocket. He wrenched my arms painfully and tied my hands behind my back. When that was done he bent down and pulled off my sneakers and threw them into the woods.

“There. Try to run away now,” he jeered. He took the knife from Tarak and flung it after the sneakers then barked an order at the black-haired man. Tarak nodded and took up a lookout position near the car.

Haism grabbed my arm and pushed me hard so I stumbled and almost fell again. Jerking me upright, he shoved me forward again. “Which way? And do not try anything. I will think nothing of breaking your neck and leaving you here for the animals to feed on.”

I nodded in the direction we needed to go. “That way.”

Walking over uneven terrain with your hands tied behind your back is difficult. Doing it with no shoes is excruciating. Within five minutes my socks were bloody from the rocks and sharp sticks jabbing me mercilessly. The left side of my face had gone numb and my eye had swollen and half closed up making it harder to see where I was going. Haism yanked me forward viciously every time I faltered and I pressed my lips together to keep from crying out. I would not give him the satisfaction.

“I am curious,” he said as he waited for me to step over a fallen tree. “These trolls are savage creatures, even vampires fear them. You must be quite valuable to the vampires for them to willingly risk themselves to capture the young trolls.”

“Is that a question or a statement?”

He scowled at me. “How is it that a human girl is able to befriend such beasts? How did you get your hands on the bile and live to speak of it?”

“You would never understand.” In truth, there were very few people who could comprehend my relationship with Remy. I certainly wasn’t about to explain it to the person who would terrorize children and who was about to hand me over to a vampire.

“Then perhaps you will tell me why that vampire wants you so badly. He is most determined to have you.”

Just the mention of Eli made me stumble and bile rise in my throat. “He tried to kill me and I got away. I guess he doesn’t like it when that happens.”

Haism barked a laugh. “All of that for a meal? I think not. He has worked too hard to possess you to end it that quick.”

My stomach churned. How could he talk about my death so casually? He had to know what Eli would do to me. Terror rose up, threatening to suffocate me and I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood. The sharp pain sliced through the dizzying fear so I could think a little clearer.

I knew from the beginning that Haism had no intention of letting me go after I gave him what he wanted. His sheik had a deal with Eli and Haism was going to deliver me as promised. His tone told me he actually enjoyed the idea of the horrors that awaited me. Even with a demon inside me, I was more human than the monster walking next to me.

The woods were somber and quiet except for the occasional bird call. Walking like a prisoner to my execution, it was hard to believe I’d spent so many happy hours in this place. There would be no Remy now to scold me or little Minka sneaking up to ambush me in a fit of giggles. The trolls could be watching me right now and none of them would come to my rescue. It didn’t matter that I had saved the little ones last night; to the elders I had only been righting the wrong I had done to them. I might have stopped a rampage, but I wasn’t even close to earning their forgiveness. I was truly alone now. No one was coming to save me this time.