Page 32 of Forced Mate Bride
“Aw, come on,” he said. “Seriously, it’s right over the ridge.”
“I don’t care,” Nikki said. “I want to go back. Now.”
She normally didn’t assert herself like this, and it honestly surprised her. She might not have if it weren’t for all the alarm bells screaming at her. This was wrong. All of this was very wrong. And she wasn’t going to let Vincent make her do something she didn’t want to.
Vincent looked genuinely confused and hurt. “Why?”
Her lips tightened. For a brief moment, she considered letting it drop. Then her eyes strayed down, following the path they had come from, the overgrown bramble. She listened to the nearly oppressive silence that weighed down on them from all sides. Her resolve stiffened, and her shoulders straightened.
“Something isn’t right.”
He barked out a laugh, looking genuinely confused. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
She didn’t smile. “Exactly that,” she said. “Something isn’t right. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t want to be up here a moment longer.”
Huffing, Vincent rolled his eyes. “Nikki, relax. You’re being paranoid.”
She twisted to glance over the ridge. “You said the waterfall is right over the ridge, right?”
“Yeah. We’re almost there.”
Her jaw tightened, and she looked back at Vincent. There must have been something in her eyes, because for the briefest of seconds, she caught a glimpse of surprise flicker across his features.
“Then why don’t I hear any water?” she asked.
Vincent frowned. “What?”
“I should be able to hear the waterfall by now, if there’s really one here,” she said. “So why can’t I hear it?”
“That’s what’s bothering you?” he asked, laughing. He shrugged. “You’ll be able to hear it when we’re over the ridge. That’s nothing. Seriously, Nikki, you need to relax a bit.”
For a half-second, she almost went along with it. There was every chance that Jasper’s paranoia had leaked into her own psyche. She hated being a nuisance. At the same time, it wasn’t just paranoia. If it had been, she might have pushed it away. But her legs ached from the hike, and the sun was beginning to dip low in the sky, a pale orange beginning to tint the blue. She needed to get home soon, and the hike was becoming more and more unpleasant.
“I’m going back,” she said, her voice hard. She pushed past him and started trudging back down. “You can keep going if you want.”
Before she realized what was happening, Vincent’s arm lashed out. His hand wrapped around her wrist and yanked her back. She cried out in shock and pain. Bewildered, she staredup into Vincent’s face. That friendly smile she had grown used to seeing on him was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a gloating sneer.
Dread enveloped her at his expression, and the air around her seemed to constrict, making it nearly impossible to breathe. She tried to wrench her hand out of his grip, only for him to tighten his hold.
“Let me go,” she said through gritted teeth, trying to yank away. He didn’t release her. “Vincent, this isn’t funny.”
“Didn’t say it was,” he said.
Her jaw tightened, though a lump began to form in her throat, and her stomach began to churn with dread and unease.
“Whatever is going on, I don’t want any part of it,” she said, tugging her arm again, though she knew already it wouldn’t do any good. But she wasn’t going to let him push her around without her saying anything. A year ago, she might have. Not anymore. “I’m going home.”
“The only place you’re going is with me,” he said. “There’s someone who wants to see you.”
Her eyes widened, the breath rushing out of her lungs. Everything seemed to come to a standstill at those words, a chill piercing through her. Realization struck; everything fell into place. And all of a sudden, the entire situation became much, much worse.
“You’re working for Lucas,” she muttered.
Instead of answering, he jerked her further up the ridge. She let out a scream as she tried to pry his hand off her wrist. She knew the shriek wouldn’t do any good; the area was too deserted. Not even a shifter would hear.
“Let me go,” she spat. When that didn’t work, she said, “Vincent, listen, we’re friends. You don’t have to do this. Please. I know you. This isn’t you.”
He still didn’t respond. Her heels dug into the ground, but all it did was dig two trenches in the soft earth. He kept lugging her forward. She reached out and wrapped her free hand around a tree trunk, nails digging into the bark. Her palm scraped against the rough surface as Vincent continued moving forward, his grip on her not lessening.
