21 Shades of Night, page 17
Brendan shut the door behind him. He headed for the kitchen, but I jogged up the stairs to my room and nudged the door shut with my muzzle. I caught the faint scent of peppermint I’d been tracking before, and my heart dropped in my chest. Could I really have both of the men in my life?
I forced all of my frustration into the shift. Pain arced through every part of my body as it restructured into my human form, pushing a gasp from my lips, but when I was done I felt better than before. More of my wounds were healing. I tested my shoulder in human form, and I could actually move it. The smart choice would be to put it back in the sling and let it continue healing instead of trying to use it again, though, so that’s what I’d do.
I dressed in a fresh change of clothes and slid the sling on, then headed downstairs, taking the steps two at a time. My stomach growled constantly as if it had a mind of its own, and I swayed on my feet when I reached the bottom of the staircase.
Slow down. The food’s still there.
Brendan sat at the kitchen table facing the doorway. He grabbed his crutch and stood when he saw me. “Hey, babe.” It seemed silly for him to do that in his current condition, but he had manners and I truly liked that about him.
“Hi.” I smiled. “Smells absolutely delicious.”
He nodded to my stomach. “Seems like your belly agrees. Have you had anything to eat since your shift? I didn’t see much food in the cupboards.” He shrugged a shoulder. “I don’t want to be nosy, just making sure you’re taken care of.”
I opened my mouth and closed it a few times, then shook my head. “It’s fine. I’m eating now. Thank you for bringing something. Although I’m surprised you managed to find burgers and fries this early in the morning.”
He grinned, and it brightened his blue eyes. “I have my ways. Or more specifically, my father knows a werewolf who runs a restaurant not too far from here. I swung by on the way here, and I know you mentioned burgers. I wasn’t sure what breakfast food you like, so I went with a safe bet.” His smile became a little sheepish.
I placed a hand over his. “Thank you. That’s very generous.”
He covered my hand with his own before pulling away and unwrapping one of his burgers. “We really need to talk.”
Wincing, I leaned back, ready to hear what he had to say about the conversation with Derek last night, but he didn’t say anything more. I wasn’t sure how to take that. Did he not want to have sex with me? I grabbed a few fries from where he laid them out on the bag in the middle of the table.
Silence stretched between us as we ate. I reached for my second burger, but stopped. We couldn’t just sit here and simmer. I needed to get some things off my chest.
“I’m sorry I didn’t turn to you. After what happened, I wasn’t really thinking. But I...I do want to mate with you. Like you said, it will be the best way to protect me and my family while trying to find the missing nocturnes and seeking justice against William.” I leaned back in the chair, realizing just how sterile that sounded. No declarations of love. No heartfelt emotions. Just mating for safety and to have an advantage over my father. My stomach revolted at the idea of eating the second burger. The situation I’d been running from all my life now appeared to be exactly what I’d get.
Yes, I cared for him, but I couldn’t help the shiver of fear chasing down my spine. Not fear of him, but fear that my future was spinning out of my control.
Brendan’s lips stretched into a thin pink line, and pain flickered in his eyes before he stomped it down. “It’s fine. I understand why you did what you did. But I’d feel more comfortable mating at a werewolf safe house. We can’t stay here.” He wiped his hands on a napkin and cleaned up the table, leaving the burger in front of me. “Eat up,” he said as he dumped the garbage in the trash. “You need the protein after shifting.”
Pangs of nausea swept through my belly, but I did as he said. “We can’t just leave. I told you my thoughts on going to a safe house.” I swiveled in my chair to look at him.
He grimaced and opened his mouth to reply, but then shook his head. He leaned against the kitchen counter and tapped his fingers on it. Agitation wafted off him, and I could definitely relate. We’d both been put on the spot last night.
“Do you want to... I mean, shall we...” I took a deep breath. “Will we be mating today?”
He nodded slowly. Heat darkened his eyes. “That’s the plan, it seems.” He closed the distance between us in a few hobbling steps and carefully knelt before me. “This isn’t easy for me. I want to be with you. I care about you, Carmela. If that means Derek is involved, then I guess c’est la vie. But my father knows something is up. We should go to the safe house.”
My heart leapt into my throat. “What do you mean? How much does he know?” Did he know I was here? My stomach churned in rebellion, and I pressed my hand against it.
“Not a lot, but he’s suspicious. I told him you’re safe but that your cousin is missing. He has a few wolves searching for her; hopefully they’ll find where she was taken.” He caressed my cheek, and I leaned into his touch. It was the only thing holding me together right now. “He told me to bring you to one of our family’s safe houses. If he doesn’t hear from me by this evening, he’ll come find me.”
“After Derek wakes up, we’ll mate and head to the safe house.” My heart broke, but it was inevitable. At least someone was out looking for Chandra, although it should’ve been me. “Until then, I guess we should rest.”
Chapter 47
Chandra
IT WAS HARD keeping track of the time down here; I could only judge by how sore my shoulders were becoming. I’d tried standing a second time earlier, only to have one of my captors dose me with the paralytic again. But Gareth never returned. I didn’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed by that.
My head bobbed as I struggled to gain more control of my movements. My metabolism was beginning to burn through the drug more quickly, but I’d learned my lesson: I’d bide my time before trying to fight back again.
I looked over at the vampire and other nocturnes as they sat on the floor of this horrible place. A couple of them whimpered occasionally, but no one spoke. Some leaned back against the wall, almost lifelessly, while others rocked themselves or stared, frozen in horror and fear.
Only two others were strung up as I was, and they seemed somewhat familiar. I felt like I should know them; maybe they were werewolves as well. I tried to suck in a deep breath to scent the air, but I choked. My body refused to do much more than breathe shallowly, especially now that the vampire had nearly drained me of blood.
What had my life come to? I didn’t even have enough energy to get angry. I had only been fed once since I’d been here. They just kept sedating us all. I hated this. If we were puppets for their experimentation, they needed to get it over with already. Being imprisoned was worse to me than the idea of being tortured. I’d been trained to withstand torture, but this...this sucked.
My wrists and shoulders ached from bearing my full weight for so long. I would give anything to be in my bed. Anything to see the night sky. To breathe fresh air again.
Snap out of it. Survive, and get revenge.
One of the human guards made his rounds again; this time I watched him as he passed through the room. Maybe if I could get angry again, I could get out of here. Not that there was much likelihood of that happening, but I could dream.
Slowing his pace before me, he stared me down. He was definitely Cazador. “You watching me, bitch? Thinking about escaping?” He gripped me by the throat and hefted me into the air, so I was eye-to-eye with him. As horrible as it was to have his dirty hand around my throat, at least it took pressure off my aching shoulders and wrists. The fact that that was even a consideration was sad.
As much as I wanted to make a saucy comeback, I couldn’t even speak, let alone kick him in the balls. I reached within me, trying to call upon my wolf, but I was too weak to draw my beast to the surface to help with the attack. I doubted I’d be able to shapeshift out of the sturdy iron shackles pinning my wrists to the wall, either—not with the strength of my wolf gone due to the drugs and blood loss.
Chains rattled nearby, and Elliot glared at the guard with a venomous black shadow behind his eyes. “Leave her alone.”
The guard pressed closer to me, not bothered by the vampire’s threat. “What’s it to you? What would you do, huh? Nothing. There’s nothing you can do to me.” He grinned, showing brown stains on his yellowed teeth. His foul breath brushed my face, reminding me of my father’s. He’d enjoyed fear and pain, too; Uncle William was a walk in the park by comparison.
Rage cascaded through me in a torrent, and the wolf within me rose up and up until I could move. I thrust my knee into the guard’s groin, making him release my throat, and then dropped to my tiptoes, but my knees buckled. I screamed as the strain against my sore shoulders returned. Desperately I tried to push back to my feet, but my energy was spent.
“Are you okay?” Elliot asked.
I turned and stared at him; his eyes were still slightly glowing. I nodded, then noticed his gaze dart to my side.
“Watch out,” he hissed. Fury gave his voice a gravelly tone, almost as if he were a werewolf too.
The guard’s fist snapped my head back into the wall. A second blow struck my stomach. He hit my torso again, and a loud crack reverberated through the room. Pain shot through me. It felt like he’d broken my rib—I knew how that felt from experience—but he didn’t stop.
“Leave me alone, asshole,” I whispered.
He paused to grab my chin and yanked my face toward him. “What did you say, bitch? Who gave you the right to talk here?” He slapped me, and the coppery tang of blood filled my mouth.
I spit my blood at him, hitting him on the chin.
His eyes widened and he reeled back. He seemed terrified that I might have infected him with lycanthropy. If only the jerk knew how it was done: either you were born into it, or you were scratched or bitten. There were the occasional special cases, but they were few and far between. I doubted he’d get it through having a little bit of my blood and spit on him.
He swiped at his chin carefully with the sleeve of his shirt, trying to get my blood away from his mouth. Maybe if I was lucky he’d run off and leave me alone. Instead, when he was satisfied his face was clean, he pulled his arm back and slammed his fist into my side. The impact took my breath away and caused another loud cracking sound.
I gasped, trying to catch my breath, but it seemed like I couldn’t get the air into my lungs. A large rumbling growl came from behind the guard, startling us both.
Gareth towered over my attacker. I couldn’t see his face, but his eyes blazed with hatred. This was the first time I’d seen him since our fight. He stared at me and then returned his gaze to the guard. “Don’t mess with the prisoners; they’re not here to be your punching bags. Report to Jim and tell him what you’ve done. If you don’t, I’ll make sure you pay for it.” He took a threatening step toward the guard.
The guard didn’t move, but the smell of urine seeped into my nostrils, and I spotted a growing wet spot on the man’s pants.
“You pathetic piece of human trash. Go.” Gareth grabbed the guard by the upper arm and shoved him toward the entrance of the dank holding chamber. When he was gone, Gareth slowly turned to face me. “You just can’t stay out of trouble, can you?” He gripped my chin in his big hands and tilted my head from one side to the other as he inspected my face. “Fuck. Tom doesn’t want weak and damaged nocturnes.” He ran his other hand over the front of my body—not as if he were groping me, but as though he was checking for more wounds. His hand connected with the area where the guard had punched me, and something inside me moved.
I bit my tongue, unwilling to show my pain. Gareth scared me; I wouldn’t show any more weakness to him than I had to. It sounded like the injuries the guard had inflicted made me unfit to live in these people’s eyes. Great. I raised my chin, hoping he didn’t take the gesture as arrogance that needed knocked down a notch.
But he didn’t pay attention to me, just to my body. He jerked my shirt up, showing off my lean, muscular torso. He placed his hands under my breasts, then slid his palms down again as if trying to find something. Midway down, he stopped as more pain shot through me.
Grimacing, I tried to move away before I realized what I was doing.
“Great. Broken ribs. What the hell was he thinking?” He shifted his gaze up my torso, briefly checking out my breasts before meeting my gaze. “Things don’t look good for you. As I said, the people I work for don’t want damaged goods. You’re damaged now.” His gaze descended again. “What do you think I should do with you?”
I just stared at him. Maybe if I pretended I couldn’t talk, he’d leave me alone. Maybe if I wasn’t slightly turned on by his touch, I’d feel better. Either way I was screwed.
He grabbed my chin again, forcing me to meet his gaze. “I know you can talk; I heard what you said. Give me a good reason to not kill you, or so help me, you’ll be one less thing for me to worry about.” He leaned in until we were almost nose-to-nose. Menace lurked in his eyes. His hand brushed the underside of my breast, but this time it wasn’t on purpose.
“If you help me, I’ll satisfy whatever needs you have.” I pushed my hips toward his. I hated to offer myself up for him, but I’d do what I needed to survive.
Gareth grabbed my waist, thrusting me back against the wall. His pupils narrowed. “You shouldn’t make claims like that. How do you know you’d be up to the task?” He trailed his thumb along my jaw line, and pain followed his touch from where the guard had beaten me.
“I know what I’m capable of.” Namely, I could outmuscle him and run. It wasn’t as if I were a vampire or zombie; his necromantic magic couldn’t affect me like them. If I couldn’t overpower him, I’d kill him and then run, because I couldn’t remain in these shackles. If he was like any other man, I might gain sway over him. He clearly possessed some authority here.
Gareth’s breath caressed my cheek as he leaned in closer. “You might live to regret that boast.” He pulled back so he could stare into my eyes. “But for now, you’re less of a threat than you were.” He jerked my shirt down, then grabbed the manacle that held my left wrist and opened it. I groaned as my arm collapsed down, leaving me to dangle by one pinned wrist. He wrapped his arm around my waist while he freed my other wrist.
“Thanks,” I whispered, holding his gaze. I’d never felt fear like this—he promised death with one wrong move. I glanced back at the manacles still fastened to the wall.
“You shouldn’t thank me yet. The night is still young. If you try to run, or if you help the others, you will die. Do you understand me?”
I nodded weakly. “Yes, I understand. I promise.”
“Good. But for security purposes...” He pulled a cloth from his back pocket and shoved it over my nose and mouth. The thought of fighting made my side hurt, so I didn’t. I surrendered to the drugs and went limp, like a sack of skin instead of flesh and bone and muscle. “Sorry, but I can’t chance that you’ll break that promise.” He settled me on the ground, propped against the wall, but I kept listing to the side, nearly toppling into Elliot.
I stared at Gareth, wishing I could shoot daggers with my eyes, but unfortunately, my power wasn’t mind control; I had to settle for lycanthropy.
“Damn.” He finally laid me on the ground.
I tried to whimper, but the sound wouldn’t come. The floors were disgusting. If I ever made it out of here I’d soak in a tub of hot water for a whole day, regardless of the high cost. I felt so, so dirty. Not that being chained to the walls was any better.
“I’ll be back later to check what new trouble you’re getting into.” Chuckling, he shook his head. I watched as he turned his back and walked out the door.
Elliot touched my ankle; I could only breathe in response. “We’ll all get out of this.” Even though his words were optimistic, every time he tried to be reassuring he sounded more and more pessimistic.
A few other people in the room whimpered. One of the werewolves looked ready to gnaw his arm off if it would provide relief.
“Does anyone have telepathy?” Elliot asked, “We need to get a message out.”
A young female, probably the fae girl with the jacket, spoke up from close by. “I do.” Her voice was shaky, as if she hadn’t talked in days. “I’ve tried calling out to my people for help, but I can’t get anything through. It’s as if someone’s psychically blocking me.” She sighed.
“Try one more time for us. The target is Carmela, a werewolf.”
My eyes widened. It seemed my suspicions were right: my cousin was involved in something dangerous and beyond my knowledge. Why hadn’t she told me? Her actions had caused me to be drawn into this.
“Sent.” A moment after the word left her mouth, a guard marched into the room and hauled her away. The fae’s shrieks echoed through the room and up the hallway. Her screams lingered in my head long after they stopped.
Chapter 48
Carmela
I SURGED UP into a sitting position on the bed. Sweat dripped down my chest, and my heart raced as I sucked air into my lungs. The words echoed over and over in my head: ‘Danger. Help us. Warehouse. Danger. Need you.’ Up until then, the dream had been relatively neutral, nothing involving danger or warehouses. The urgency in the words was what startled me the most.
Brendan pushed onto his elbows and rubbed his eyes. “What’s wrong? Bad dream?”
“It was more than that.” Derek stood in the doorway with only a pair of pajama pants on. I hadn’t heard him approach, and his smooth alabaster chest almost distracted me from the message. “Someone communicated with you.”
“How do you know?” Brendan rubbed his hand over my back, and while it was soothing, I knew it had another meaning too—he was showing his possession. They’d have to learn to live with sharing me, though, especially if I was going to be mating soon.
