Free Unchained (Men in Chains Book 3) by Caris Roane Page B

knives. She tried to access his power, but it was too much. She screamed, then blacked out. Again.
    *   *   *
    Marius settled Shayna on his bed, this time in his secret New Zealand home, a place even more secure than the one in Chile.
    She looked horribly pale against the black linen, her blond hair fanning out. He still couldn’t believe that she’d made herself disappear like that, a trick very few vampires could do. And it wasn’t a layered disguise. She’d actually made herself invisible, even to Daniel, but how?
    He trembled as he looked down at her. The battle adrenaline was easing back but had left him with the shakes. Not a good thing since it wasn’t a normal reaction of his after a battle, which meant his other problem had started to surface. He wasn’t in trouble yet, but he soon would be. He’d already been through one round of blood-starvation recovery, which involved a violent madness. And now it looked like the second one was on him.
    And he needed to be tied up in order to keep Shayna safe.
    A few years back, in anticipation of his world going from bad to totally wrecked, he’d searched for the best hiding places he could find. Though he’d used other Ancestrals to create the layered shields, for this one, his most secure location, he’d had Gabriel create the heavy layer of disguise around the entire system.
    No one could find him here, not even Daniel.
    For the moment, they were safe.
    He worked to get his boots and socks off. For what he had to go through, his wrists and ankles would have to be bound. If he thrashed and the boots connected with Shayna, he could kill her.
    The process of blood-starvation recovery was never simple and was similar to an addict’s withdrawal process except in reverse. Instead of the body reacting to the absence of drugs, a vampire had a difficult time adding blood back into his diet once deprived.
    His system was now in the process of beginning the second violent episode that would include sweating, shaking, and dementia. He probably wouldn’t even be aware of most of what he would go through.
    But Shayna would.
    When he’d escaped from Daniel just a few days ago, he’d gone through his first round, then Rumy had sent him to bring Shayna into their world. He had hoped by now to be back in one of Rumy’s apartments where several of his staff could tend to Marius, strap him down, and even donate blood during the process.
    He had one option and contacted Rumy telepathically. Hey, Rumy. Your security team did a great job as usual.
    They did. I’ve been listening to their reports. Seems a couple of them saw Shayna disappear right in front of Daniel. What’s up with that?
    He paced the bedroom, an arm pressed against his stomach. She’s got so much latent ability, I’m constantly astonished. Daniel would have killed her if he could have caught her.
    Instead, you stuck him.
    At that, Marius smiled. Yeah, I did. But listen, I’ve got a problem.
    I can hear it in your voice; you’re close to a second round, aren’t you?
    Yes, and I’d really hoped I’d be back at The Erotic Passage.
    You know we would have taken care of you.
    I know. Except for his brothers and Gabriel, he had no better friend than Rumy.
    So where are you?
    I’m holed up in the one place no one knows about. He stopped to stare down at Shayna. I’m going to need help, but I’m reluctant to bring anyone here. This has been my primary hiding place all these years.
    Rumy was silent for a moment, then said, You want me ready as backup in case Shayna can’t or won’t donate?
    Yes. Even to his own ears he sounded relieved. He didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize the secrecy of his home, so his current plan involved Shayna opening a vein. But if she wasn’t up for that, yeah, he needed an option.
    I’ll have someone on call in case things don’t work out over there, okay?
    Thanks. He was grateful to be understood so quickly.
    Just give me a shout if you need me.
    Will do.
    He cut the