Perfect Misfits by Lawna Mackie Page A

useless.
    Could this be the way Fedor planned on keeping them under control? If it is, how does he manage to wield such power?
    “I hate to ask you this, Tempest, but what else can you tell me about this Fedor? You said he told you leaving here wouldn’t be possible. Do you know why?”
    Her shoulders slumped.
    His heart was heavy, as he imagined the pain she would feel drudging up memories of the decrepit old slime ball.
    “I don’t know. He would just remind me that I would never leave here and that he would be the best thing I’d ever have.” She paused, staring at the ground. “I preferred death to that.”
    He pushed a bit harder. “I hate to ask you this, but when he touched you, do you remember anything that stood out at all?”
    Sucking in a deep breath she nodded. “I remember his thoughts…he wanted to marry me…to own me…and to…”
    Ryder reached for her hand, which she quickly pulled out of his reach. “This is me, not Fedor,” he reminded. Again, he reached for her hand, and this time, met only minimal resistance.
    “I’m wondering about anything else you might have seen—anything that struck you as odd?”
    She smiled. “I like your touch, but sometimes, I’m still scared.” Slowly, she pulled away from him and moved to Rogue’s side, then slumped down beside him.
    “There’s a woman and a horrid looking creature. I don’t understand. One minute he seems to be with the beauty, but then I see him with the creature. She does things to him.”
    “I think I know who you are referring to,” he ground out with clenched fists.
    “You do?” Her eyes went wide. “How is that possible?”
    “I decided to follow Fedor the night I left you in the cave.
    “What else? Anything you remember.”
    “Oh. He likes to drink. He’s really mean to the sneers. I don’t think they’re bad, they’re just trying to survive…like Rogue and I. I often wonder what they were before they came here.
    “Sorry. I’m wandering. He stares at a cabinet where the alcohol is kept. I see it often in his thoughts. It’s how I know he likes his alcohol. The drinks are kept in an ice cabinet, and there are beautiful ice crystals illuminating everything. I’ve never seen anything like them. They really are wonderful. He picks these icicles up and stares at them frequently—one in particular. I don’t know why.”
    Ryder remembered the way Fedor insisted the women show him the “stone”. Somehow, the two had to be linked.
    How am I going to get them out of this mess? Can I leave the fucked-up mountain, or am I stuck, too? And what do the pixies have to do with all of this?
    He knew what he had to do.
    “Tempest, I know what I’m about to say won’t go over well.” He bent down, kneeling on the ground in front of her. “I have to see if I can leave here and get some answers.”
    She held her breath and swallowed, and then shook her head slowly. “You won’t come back,” she said softly.
    “I will come back.”
    “What if you can’t?”
    He held her tiny face between his giant paws. “Nothing will keep me from coming back.”
    Her misty green eyes held him captive. She moved closer and pressed her lips to his. Instantly, the fire inside him built. With one arm, he scooped her against his body, letting her consume his senses. The kiss turned to a raging inferno.
    Her tongue traced the outline of his lips, and he pulled her harder into him, kissing her with a ferocity that almost scared him. Her yelp startled him, and he pushed back to see a small trail of blood leaving her lower lip.
    He shoved himself away from her.
    Shit! What was I thinking?
    He was still in gargoyle form. His fanged canine teeth had hurt her. He quickly turned away from her shocked stare.
    “I’m sorry, Tempest. I forgot I was in this form.”
    He heard her footfalls coming closer, and then felt her fingertips trace over a portion of his wings. The beast inside him roared at her seductive touch as she traced the webbed area of