Cathy laid her hand on Trent’s arm to comfort him.

It was all very plausible, but Emma had every sense alert, and the part of her that ferreted out lies was heightened to the point of screaming at her. Neither Trent nor Cathy cared in the least about Shaina’s death. She shifted position slightly, with every intention of getting up. Her head spun and her mind refused to react. Her heart began to pound as she realized she’d definitely been drugged. Either the wine or . . . She tore the cloth from the open scratch and dropped it onto the floor.

“He’s my son,” Cathy said, one hand fluttering to her throat. “But he was born with a streak of cruelty. He has plans for you. I only want to protect you.”

Emma’s gaze fixed on the long, sharpened nails as each pressed again and again against Cathy’s bare throat. The movement fascinated her, mesmerized her, so that she couldn’t look around, her arms feeling tired, hanging heavy at her sides. Had she poisoned Emma with those long nails? Was that possible?

“I don’t need protection,” she murmured. Her voice was nearly as fuzzy as her brain.

Josiah smirked at her, his teeth bared like a wild animal about to enjoy a meal. “Don’t be so certain of that.” He picked up her hand and let it drop.

Her arm felt like lead. She couldn’t control the movement. A part of her went into panic mode and she struggled to call out to Jake. Her throat closed. She hadn’t tasted a drug. The wine couldn’t have been drugged. Evan had poured the glass himself and Jake had given it to her. It had to be the scratch or the cloth Cathy had put on the scratch. Something introduced directly into her bloodstream.

She forced her head up in an effort to look for Jake. There was a wealth of people between them, blocking her view. The two men just across from the couch had moved forward fast, their speed nearly a blur, their eyes glowing. Fear skittered down her spine as she tried to find Drake or Joshua.

Trent had her on her feet, an arm around her waist, Cathy on the other side of her. It took four steps and they were in another room, hastily locking the door to drop her on the couch. It wasn’t either of them she feared the most; it was the man who followed them into the room while another stood just inside the door watching with hungry eyes.

Cathy put her hand on Emma’s body, down low near her ovaries. “She’s close to her first heat, Josiah. I don’t know if she’s ready yet, but we have to try.”

She looked at the man approaching them. Low, warning growls emanated from his chest. His head moved back and forth, but his heated gaze never left Emma.

Trent and Cathy hastily pushed Emma down onto the floor and stepped away from her, continuing to back up as the man approached and circled her limp body.

“Rory, you must get your scent all over her for this to work,” Trent advised. “She’s in heat and it will drive Jake into the madness. Once he smells you all over her, if he doesn’t kill her, he’ll throw her out or scare her so badly she’ll run from him. Loyalty is everything to him. Without his protection, nothing will stand in our way. We’ll be able to get her. She’ll disappear and no one will be the wiser.”

Emma opened her mouth to scream for Jake, but nothing came out. The one they called Rory snarled, his lips drawn back to reveal a mouthful of menacing teeth as he got closer to her.

The man guarding the door snarled too, suddenly moving forward in a challenging manner. “Why him? I’m bigger. Stronger. She should be mine.”

Trent held up his hand, moving around Emma’s body in a circular pattern as well. “I will dispense with both of your services. I’ll take her myself.”

“No!” Cathy leapt forward and caught at his arm. “We need a cub. They’re shifters. They can’t take a chance.”

Trent slapped her hard, driving her away from him. Cathy turned in the air, landing in a crouch. “Don’t you see? You’re every bit as affected as they are.” She spun to face the other man coming from where he’d been standing by the door. “Clayton, get back. We’re paying you to guard the room, not to screw her.”

To Emma’s horror, Rory leapt on top of her, blanketing her body with his, tearing at his clothes to rub his skin over her dress, his tongue licking at her face, his glands marking her in his scent. He rolled her over, uncaring of her limp body, doing the same along her back and buttocks.

Cathy caught up a camera. “We can sell the pictures to one of the rag magazines.”

Emma summoned every ounce of will she possessed, calling on the wild part of her that usually lay so dormant but now seemed closer to the surface. She slammed backward, catching Rory’s face with the back of her head and rolling fast to get out from under him when he reared up. She pulled her knees to her chest, although she felt as if she were moving in slow motion. There was a roaring in her ears, but she refused to give in to the fog in her brain.

JAKE turned his head to find a solid wall of people cutting off his line of sight to Emma just as Conner reported, “I’ve lost sight of her.”

Drake snapped, “Joshua, do you have her in sight?” He was already on the move, shoving people out of his way to get to the sofa.

Jake spoke into the small Bluetooth. “Evan, do you have Emma in your sight?”

The bartender shook his head. “Trent and Bannaconni are also gone. So are the two thugs they hired for the evening.”

Jake swore. “Drake, Joshua, call them in. Call them in now.” He was already pushing through the crowd. He was a big man, enormously strong and not afraid of hurting anyone. The sea of people parted, but there was no Emma on the couch. He swore, furious at her because she hadn’t listened.