Safe (Deadwood Ravens Book 1)

Mistaken for something I never knew existed and abducted, I’m tossed into the shifter world where I’m forced to trust strangers to survive.

I’ve had to work hard for everything I have. I wasn’t given a silver spoon, and I don’t have a picture-perfect family. Heck, it’s been years since I last spoke to anyone in my family. Which is why when a late night delivery order takes a turn for the worst, I know it will be forever before anyone notices I’m missing. I know I’ll have to save myself. There’s only one thing tripping me up. My captors aren’t entirely human—but as it turns out, neither am I.

Soon I learn I’m a Mystic and the people who captured me are vampire bats. Their leader plans to force me to heal sick and wounded shifters while lining his pockets with the money. Just when all feels lost, an opportunity for escape presents itself. Now I’m on the run, but my horrible luck continues. I find myself stranded in an unfamiliar town, accepting help from unfamiliar faces—one of whom I feel a certain chemistry toward. For the first time in days, I feel safe, but as night falls, that sense of safety becomes fleeting because I know the bats will come for me.

This place was creepy as shit. A shiver slid through me as I stared at the old plantation house becoming reclaimed by nature. 

Did I have the address right?

I grabbed my cell from the cup holder and opened my delivery app. The numbers matched. This was the right place unfortunately. The fine hairs along the back of my neck stood on end as the sensation of someone watching me slid across my skin. My gaze skimmed the creepy house. No lights were on, but I knew that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone watching me from one of the darkened windows. 

“Whelp, one thing is for certain,” I said, my gaze drifting from one dark window of the house to the next. “I won’t be agreeing to take any more orders to people once it gets dark ever again.”

Honestly, I should have stopped when the guy with the chipped front tooth gave me a fifty-cent tip. That should have been my clue that the night would continue to go downhill from there.

Intuition was everything. Clearly, I needed to listen to mine more often.

My car sputtered, and I released the brake, giving her some gas before she died. I continued down the gravel driveway, growing closer to the house that would most likely haunt my nightmares for the coming weeks. 

What was it about this place that had my heart pounding so hard and fast?

While it looked like something from a scary movie, something else bothered me about it, too. I couldn’t put my finger on what, though. 

The weak headlights of my car bounced over the porch and a light came on inside the house near the front door.

“So, the place does have electricity,” I muttered. “Okay, that makes it slightly less creepy.”

Not really.

The place gave me the heebie-jeebies. 

My gut screamed at me to get the heck out of here, but my mind reminded me how low my bank account was. Besides, I was already here with their food. I might as well head to the door and complete the job.

I shifted into park and grabbed the burger and fries from in the passenger seat. Leaving my car running, I popped open the driver’s door and slid from behind the wheel. Gravel crunched beneath my sneakers as I walked toward the porch steps. A slight chill in the air caused another set of goose bumps to prickle across my skin. I could almost see my breath. 

Had the temperature dropped during the drive here? Or was it something to do with this house?

My feet faltered as I stared at the place. I was letting my imagination get the best of me. This was just a house. The chill was the early spring air; that’s all it was. There was nothing strange or ominous about this place. At least that was what I tried telling myself. It didn’t lessen the unease twisting through me. 

My sneakers barely graced the first step of the porch when a light flipped on above the door. The porch became illuminated by a dull glow that allowed me to see vines and brambles running along the chipped white exterior more closely. Bugs ran away from the light, opting to hide beneath the vines and leaves. 

Gross.

The front door swung open, and my breath caught. A guy close to my age with pale skin and blond spiky hair stood in the doorway. As his eyes locked on me, a thought occurred to me that sent chills down my spine—this guy had the eyes of a predator. They were so light blue, they almost looked silver.

“Hey, there,” I said, lifting the white paper bag with his burger and fries higher into the air. “Did you order dinner?” I flashed him a nervous smile.

A slow, crooked grin spread across his face. “Someone did.” Something shifted through his eyes. While I couldn’t be sure, it seemed as though he was amused by something. When he continued to stare at me for a long, drawn out moment, the unease I’d been feeling intensified. “Let me get Pike. He’s the one who placed the order.”

“Oh, okay,” I said with a slight nod. 

What the heck kind of name was Pike?

It couldn’t be his real name. It had to be a nickname. No one named their kid Pike.

The guy who’d answered the door took a step back, his eyes still glued to me, and gave his head a slight shake while his grin grew. When he turned, leaving the door open, and walked through the dimly lit entrance to somewhere else inside the house, I released the breath I hadn’t been aware I was holding. 

Shit, this whole situation was creepy.

I stared through the front door, waiting for Pike to appear. The light inside the house was as dim as the one on the porch. Either the bulbs they used were old as dirt, or they were supposed to be dim. Sounds from inside made their way to my ears. I shifted on my feet, wishing this guy would hurry. My nails dug into the palm of my free hand. I wanted to get the hell out of here. Something didn’t feel right about this place, about these guys. 

I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something was off in a big way.

While I’d somehow learned to pick up on certain people’s strange vibes over the past year, I’d never picked up on anything quite like this before. 

These guys were dark.

I couldn’t explain how I knew this, or what being dark even meant. All I knew was that there was a dark vibe attached to them that twisted my gut. It had me wanting to run for the hills.

I exhaled a slow breath, forcing away my crazed thoughts. There was no way I would let my mind screw me out of completing this order and getting whatever tip Pike gave me. This place was in the middle of nowhere and gas wasn’t cheap. 

Something inside me screamed I should leave the food on the porch and hightail it back to my car, though. My gaze dipped to my sneakers while I debated how much longer I should wait out here.

Footsteps captured my attention. I glanced up, looking in that direction. At first I didn’t see anyone, but then a tall, muscular guy with hair shaved so close to his scalp I couldn’t tell the color came into view.

“Hello,” he said, his voice smooth like velvet as he gave me a once-over. “Thank you for driving all the way out here. I wasn’t sure the app delivered this far.”

I licked my lips. Pike was insanely good looking. Not only did he have the type of body that would make any woman drool and a velvety voice, he also had the same color eyes as the guy who had answered the door. While they made him look sexy and mysterious like the other guy, they also sent ice shooting through my veins because of their predator quality.

“You were right on the cusp,” I said, trying to rein myself in. “Well, here you go. Dinner is served.” I held the white paper bag out to him.

“So, it is,” he insisted as his eyes darkened, nearly turning solid black. A jolt of alarm shot through my core at the sight. “How much do I owe you?”

My fingers trembled as I reached for the ticket stapled to the front of the bag. There was no way his eyes had changed like that. 

It wasn’t possible. 

Clearly, the dim lighting on the porch was causing shadows to form on his face. Either that or my imagination was running wild again, because what I’d thought I saw couldn’t be possible. People’s eyes didn’t go from being so light blue they almost looked silver to being almost black.

I locked eyes with him again and noticed they were the same sliver blue as before. It had to have been a trick of my mind or the light. Relief should flow through me, but it didn’t. This guy was looking at me like I was the winning lottery ticket he’d been waiting for his whole life.

“Looks like it’s going to be ten ninety-one.” I flashed him a nervous grin.

He didn’t reach for his wallet. Instead, he continued to stare. When I cleared my throat, readying myself to repeat how much he owed, he finally spoke up.

“Let me get some money. Do you want to step inside out of the cold?” he asked. 

Why hadn’t he grabbed his wallet when the other guy went to get him? Was he trying to pull a stunt? Were both of them?

The sensation of needing to get out of here intensified.

I shook my head. “I’m good out here, thanks.”

“I insist. Come inside.” A coy smirk spread across his face as though there was a joke only he was privy to dancing through his head. 

My stomach somersaulted. What was with this guy? There was no way in hell I would be stepping into his creepy ass house. 

“And I said I’m fine right here. Can you get your money, please?” My tone was snippy, but I was proud. This guy creeped me out and yet, my voice didn’t waiver.

Kudos to me.

Something shifted through Pike’s eyes. His upper lip curled, and another jolt of alarm shot through my core.

Something was off about him. It only took me a second longer to figure out what it was—he was dangerous. That was what the darkness I had felt was, a warning that these guys were dangerous. 

Pike took a step toward me, and every cell in my body told me to run. 

Was ten dollars and ninety-one cents really worth whatever was going on here?

“Come inside,” Pike insisted. There was a hypnotic tone to his voice and the color of his eyes darkened, returning to the solid black I thought I’d seen earlier. “Now.”

Nope, totally not worth it, was what I had been thinking when my legs started propelling me forward against my will.

My breath caught in my throat. What was going on? This wasn’t right. I should be walking away from him and this house, not inside it.

“This isn’t… I can’t… What the hell did you do to me?” The words rushed from my mouth in rapid succession as a cloud of confusion settled over me. The entryway of the house shifted slightly as a twinge of dizziness floated through my head. “Why am I inside? How?”

“I asked you to come inside,” Pike said, his lips brushing against my ear as he stepped around me to close the door. My stomach flip-flopped and not in a good way.

 He kicked the door shut, and I flinched at the sound of it slamming. I dropped the bag of food and spun to reach for the old metal knob of the door. Pike’s hand locked around the knob before I could touch it, which couldn’t be right. There was no way he could move that fast. It wasn’t possible. 

“You’re not going anywhere.” He flashed me a crooked grin. “Not unless I say so.”

“Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but this—” I pointed to him and then circled my finger around, motioning to the house and then back to myself. “—isn’t happening.”

“Oh, you have no clue what’s happening. I picked up on that right away.”

I arched a brow. Had he just called me dumb?

“Follow me,” he ordered, locking his eyes on me again. Once more I swore they darkened before returning to their original color and the heady sensation that swept through me seconds before rippled through me again. 

The next thing I knew, I was trailing behind Creeper like a freaking puppy as he made his way through the gigantic old house. When we came to the living room, I spotted the guy who had come to the door first and four others—a girl and three guys 

The five of them stared at me, sending goose bumps prickling across my skin and my heart pounding.

“Easton was right. A Mystic showed up at our door,” Pike said, his grin growing.

A what?

“Must be our lucky day,” one guy insisted. He had gelled hair spiked in the front and a lip piercing.

“I don’t know what that is,” I said, my words wavering as I spoke. I blamed it on my thundering heart. “A Mystic? I’m not one, whatever it is. I’m a delivery driver for the app you ordered from.”

Pike made himself comfortable on the couch next to the guy with the lip piercing. He propped his feet up on the coffee table, his eyes never wavering from me.

“And that’s where you’re wrong. You’re much more than a delivery driver,” he contradicted. “You’re a Mystic, and you’re going to make me a shit ton of money.”

My heart kick-started inside my chest and the edges of my vision darkened. 

What the hell had I walked into? What was wrong with these people? Was this some kind of freaky cult?

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I should’ve gone home to soak in my tub and sip on a mini bottle of my favorite cheap wine that tasted more like sugar than wine. There was a four pack in my fridge. I shouldn’t be here with these weirdoes who clearly were abducting me because they thought I was something I wasn’t—a Mystic.

This was a mistake. They had to have me confused with someone else. I wasn’t a Mystic. Heck, I didn’t even know what a Mystic was. From the way Pike stared at me, I knew I was about to find out, though. Dollar signs danced in his eyes and so did an inhuman hunger

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