I sat up, fists clenched in my lap. “Get your hands off her,” I whispered, fighting to sound calm and in control, neither of which I actual y felt.

Eric’s head swung in my direction, but he recovered from his surprise quickly.

“Hel o, tabby,” he said, visibly tightening his grip on my cousin’s hair.

“No, Faythe,” Abby moaned, but I ignored her. As long as my heart was beating, I couldn’t sit there and watch someone hurt her without trying to help.

I used the bars to pull myself up, shooting Eric my best pick-on-someone-your-own-size look. “Let her go. Now.”

“And if I don’t?” He grinned, jerking her head back.

Abby gasped, and another tear rolled down her bruised cheek.

I growled, showing Eric my human teeth. “I’l rip your throat out.”

“That’l be kind of hard from al the way over there.”

“So come closer and give me a fair shot.”

Faced with a personal chal enge, Eric couldn’t turn me down without looking like a coward. I’d already concluded—based on his looks—that his ego might get in the way of his common sense. I was right. Yes, I was judging a book by its cover, but Eric was a picture book at best, with no large words to distract from the pretty il ustrations. Besides, some stereotypes have their basis in truth, and my bet was that I was looking at one very dumb jock.

Elastic snapped as he pulled his hand from Abby’s shorts. Stil sneering at me, he tossed her across the cel by her hair. She hit the far wal of bars, but this time her raised arms absorbed the impact. By the time she sank onto her mattress, rubbing her new bruises, he had already swung her cage door shut.

Abby looked from him to me through wide eyes, shaking her head at me in silent warning. We both ignored her.

Eric clicked the lock closed, already leering at me with a slimy smile. “I was hoping you’d wake up soon,” he said, pocketing the key.

“You’re in luck.” I tried to control my gal oping pulse, knowing he could hear it.

At least, he could if he bothered to listen for it. “Why don’t you come see how far you can get with a real woman? Or do you only have eyes for little girls?” In spite of my bravado, my chest tightened as he ran his eyes over me, lingering in al the usual places. His appraisal showed a pathetic lack of imagination.

“Aren’t you the eager one?” he said, stil a good three feet from my cage.

“Don’t worry, your turn’s coming. Not with me, though. Miguel wants you al to himself.”

I pressed myself against the bars, trying to tempt him closer. I only needed one good shot…“You scared?”

“Not of you, tabby.” He licked his lips in appreciation of the view, and I swal owed to keep from gagging. “But I have a healthy respect for Miguel. Those jungle cats don’t like anyone else’s shit in their litter box.”

Litter box? I thought. No wonder the guy has to play snatch-and-grab to get some attention.

Flattered as I was by the description of me as someone’s toilet, I managed to keep my reply on topic. “Sounds to me like you’re a scaredy-cat.”

Eric’s eyes hardened as he came a step closer. “Talk to me tomorrow, and we’l see who’s scared.” He scowled down at me, clearly trying to intimidate me with his height and bulk. Apparently he’d had some success with that tactic in the past, because he seemed unable to understand why it didn’t work on me.

I met his eyes without blinking, letting him see how undaunted I was. I saw no reason to fear a man who preyed on children. Men like Eric chose victims who didn’t fight back; he’d want nothing to do with me when there weren’t bars between us.

Unfortunately, that meant he probably wouldn’t come close enough for me to snatch his key, either.

“Stay away from my cousin,” I demanded, hoping to piss him off by ordering him around, like an Alpha to his subordinate Pride member.

Stil wel out of reach, he gave me a taunting smile, and I was reminded of people who go to the zoo to tease the lions from behind a thick pane of safety glass.

“Sorry, but that little tabby’s mine,” Eric said. “Bought and paid for.”

Bought and paid for? A chil shivered through me at his phrasing, and I glanced at Abby for clarification. “What’s he talking about?” I asked, but she shook her head. She didn’t know.

“You’l figure it out,” Eric said. “I heard you’re a smart one. College girl, right?

You’re a long way from campus now. Long way from home, too.” He started to turn away, and I saw my chance for escape slipping through my fingers.

Desperate now, I clucked my tongue, shaking my head in mock sympathy.

“Just not Alpha material, are you, Eric?” I said, daring him to prove me wrong.

He pivoted slowly and wrapped his hands around the bars of my cage, on either side of my own. Staring down at me, he growled deep in his throat.

Unimpressed, I let contempt shine in my eyes. I’d heard better. Hel , I’d done better. “Come on in and prove you’re a real man. Or can’t you get it up for an adult?”

Eric snarled, his face aflame with rage. Before I could react, he thrust one hand into the cage and grabbed the back of my head, slamming the left side of my face into the bars. Pain exploded in my cheekbone, radiating in al directions. Soon I’d have a bruise to match Abby’s.

Wincing, I pushed against the bars with both hands, trying to pull my face away from the cool steel. It did no good; Eric was as strong as he looked.