She squeezed her eyes shut and tears splashed to the concrete floor. Sarafina couldn’t even think about that loss right now. It hurt too much.

Anyway, she’d lost him before Bai had ever grabbed her.

The wave of nausea faded and she rocked back on her heels, taking stock of her situation through her tangled hair.

She blinked, not believing the scene that met her eyes. “What?”

They were back in the building in Kentucky, in the room where they’d had the knock-down, drag-out fight with Stefan and the Atrika.

Bai hadn’t moved her to Eudae.

She wondered why for a fleeting moment before a surge of incredible joy made her entire body sing. If she wasn’t on Eudae, there was a slender thread of hope to hold on to. Her euphoria tamped out like a candle in a tornado as soon as she saw the shadow in the corner.

Using one of the tipped-over chairs to help herself up, she stood and grabbed an old towel from one of the tables to wipe her mouth clean. The fabric smelled of herbs.

“What are we doing here?” Her voice echoed eerily in the large, empty space and raised goose bumps along her arms. Dropping the towel, she hugged herself.

Silence.

She sighed. “Look, if you expect me to play broodmare, expect me to bear and raise all your brats, you’d better answer me when I ask you a question, buddy.”

He moved his gaze from where he’d been staring off into the distance at some unknowable thing and settled it on her. All her bravado evaporated. “Eudae is not like Earth for Atrikan females. You cannot expect . . . respect.”

“I’m not an Atrikan female.”

“You’re not a full blood, but you carry our spark in your DNA. You are descended from the Atrikan line, I can smell it on you. Why is it do you think I am so attracted to you?”

There was so much wrong with that last sentence she couldn’t even begin to fully digest it. She had Atrika in her DNA? Oh, wow, that was so not a compliment.

Bai took a step toward her and she took a step back involuntarily. “You have just the barest trace, as do several others in the Coven.” He tapped his nose. “It’s a special talent of mine.”

Another step. And another. For every one he took toward her, she moved back. She knew she might be backing herself into a corner, but she couldn’t stop herself. She didn’t want Bai within ten feet of her, even though Bai wanted to get much closer than that.

Much closer.

The backs of Sarafina’s thighs hit an overturned table and she almost went sprawling. The feet of the table scraped against the concrete floor—loud in the otherwise quiet space.