Page 86 of Awakened and Betrayed
He swipes at me, but I don’t even feel the claws as they shred my side. I slam him in the head with my mace and follow up with an uppercut to his muzzle. I bring a spiked ball down on his paw as he swipes at me again and the bones shatter in first his hand, and then his forearm as I bring the other mace down hard there too. I twirl around and use the momentum of my spin to slam one mace into his face and the other lands in his throat. His skull gives way to my spiked vengeance, and the bear collapses to the ground. I raise my weapons for the final blow when I notice two people walking slowly towards me.
My haze of rage clears just long enough to see that it’s Sabin, and he has a knife to his neck.
I immediately release my hold on the maces, and they evaporate into nothing as my runes reabsorb their magic.
“Ah, ah, ah, Pet. If a new weapon so much as blinks into existence near you, I will slice his throat!”
Big, Burly Douche punctuates his statement by applying pressure to the blade, and Sabin’s eyes widen in fear. He tries to lean away as the blade knicks his throat, but with the shifter standing behind him using him as a shield, there’s nowhere for him to go to escape the knife and it moves even deeper into his skin.
“Stop!” I demand, and hold up my hands. “No more weapons. I’ll come with you wherever you want, just stop.
He gives a self-satisfied grunt and jerks his chin toward the road that leads into the warehouse. “Start walking, pet. Stay where I can see you and Harry Potter here won’t die an agonizing death right here in front of you.”
I start walking in the direction that he tells me, and about five minutes later I see a black van parked on the side of the road.
“Open the doors and take out the tape and the hood.”
I do as I’m told and then hand them to Sabin as instructed. I hold out my hands as Sabin wraps thick, silver duct tape around my wrists and then my forearms. My eyes stay locked on his as he tapes me up, and it breaks my heart to see how helpless he is right now.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him mentally, and I work hard to blink back the tears that fill my eyes.“I didn’t protect you. I’m so fucking sorry, Sabin!”
A sob wracks my chest, as Sabin pulls a hood over my head and my world goes black.
“I don’t know how close you guys are, but we’re being taken. We’re in a black van, but I can’t tell where we’ll be going from here.”
“Can you stall? We’re less than five minutes away!”Knox begs me.
“He has a knife to Sabin’s throat. I’m taped up in the back of the van. I can’t do anything without risking Sabin.”
Tears stream down my face, and I bite back the shuddering lament that wants to escape me.
“I fucked up. I tried to save Torrez, but I don’t think it worked and I got so wrapped up in wanting to punish the shifter that hurt him, I didn’t watch Sabin’s back. I just left him to fend for himself.”
“Vinna, don’t do that. It’s not your fault; we’re going to get you two out of this. Evrin and Aydin are in a car behind us, they’re going to go check on Torrez. We’ll look for the van and follow you guys to wherever he’s taking you. We’re here, you’re not alone, and as soon as we can, we’ll get you.”
Valen’s words pierce my desolation, and I try to calm my breathing and get control of my emotions. I don’t know where we’re going, but crying about how I fucked up can happen later. Right now, I need to keep it together and help the guys to get me out of this. I try to recall how far away the nearest airport is and I wonder if Big, Burly Douche will try to bring us to Adriel himself, or if he’ll hand us off to another group of lamia like Faron did.
A small spark of hope kindles inside of me at the thought that somehow Sorik might be part of the group responsible for bringing me in, maybe he’ll be able to help, and the guys will have better odds at a rescue. He tried to warn me that Adriel had something planned, but I thought it would somehow be another lamia attack of some sort.
With that thought, a flash of wolves chasing a bear on their pack run pops into my head. I growl in frustration at myself. How the fuck did I not make the connection? Just how long have these fuckers been watching me?
My body tilts forward as the van makes a turn and slows slightly. I’m not sure how long we’ve been driving, but it doesn’t seem long enough to have left Solace’s boundaries. The brakes squeak as the van comes to a stop and the van door is thrown open. Someone reaches for me, and I move to get away from their grabbing hands, but the shifter holding Sabin at knifepoint tsks me.
“Pet, same rules apply, be nice or else.”
Sabin gives a pained gasp, and I picture the knife pressing into him even deeper. All resistance leaks out of me, and I go limp with compliance. I’m pulled out of the van and thrown over someone’s shoulder. My hood flips up slightly freeing my mouth but gravity doesn't help it lift any further, and my surroundings are still a mystery. I’m carried into a quiet house or building, and scuffled footsteps echo around me as I’m lugged up a flight of stairs. I’m taken off of whoever’s shoulder I’m on and unceremoniously dropped to the ground. I grunt in pain as my shoulder and hip connect with the floor.
I smell floor cleaner of some sort, and it makes me think I’m definitely in a house. I don’t reach out to the guys; instead, I strain to listen to what’s going on around me, trying to piece together any clues as to where I am, and who is here. A door clicks closed, and muffled voices start up on the other side. I can’t make out anything that’s being said, and I tune it out.
“Sabin?” I ask mentally.
He doesn’t answer.
I push back against the panic that bubbles up inside of me and instead I call on a small throwing knife and slowly angle it in toward the tape on my wrists. I get the blade against the tape with serious effort, but I can’t get the necessary friction needed to damage the tape and free my hands. I abandon the plan to cut myself free and reach up to pull my hood off my head, so I can get a look at where I am. Sabin taped my wrists and forearms, but luckily I can still move them. I reach for the hood, and footsteps sound on the other side of the door. I yank my hands down, just as the door squeaks open and heavy footfall makes its way into the room.
“As promised.” The Big, Burly Douche exclaims.
“Yes I can see, thank you,” a man’s voice deadpans, and something about it sparks recognition in me, but I have no idea where I’ve heard it.
