Chapter 32 Tash #2
Mark snapped, "She's the lever. Without her, the dragons hole up, and we never find them. You want to waste another winter stalking the woods, go ahead. I'm ending it myself."
Kira ignored him. "Put her in the corner. I'll deal with this after I report in."
William saluted, drunk on his own power. "Whatever you say, boss."
He dumped me, literally, on the far side of the room, then stalked after Kira and Mark, their argument barely muffled by the cheap cabin walls.
I sucked in air, trying to plan. My hands were numb, but maybe the blood would provide enough lubrication to get my hands free? I twisted and wriggled against the zip ties as they argued.
William wanted to set up a perimeter, to use my car as a decoy on the main road. Mark mumbled about ‘trap points' and ‘single point access.' Through it all, Kira kept repeating quotes about some ‘purpose' and that using me as a lure went against that.
I stared at the walls, every single curse word I'd ever learned stacking up in my brain.
This was bad.
Maybe the worst.
Chance had no reason not to trust the text.
Fuck.
The argument in the kitchen got louder, then Kira stormed back in, gaze like a laser.
She didn't speak to me, but her eyes weren't cold, not exactly. She did a quick once-over, checking the zip ties, the bruises, my hands, and wrists.
The men retreated outside, boots pounding on the porch.
I waited, counting my heartbeats, praying for some kind of break.
Kira paused at the door, looked back, and for just a second, her expression changed. Not sympathy. No, it was calculation. A vibe I knew well.
Whose side was she on?
The second she vanished, I set to work testing the ties. I wasn't going to just sit here and wait to be turned into bait.
Through the window, blue dark pressed in. No neighbors. No lights. Just the hum of the wind and the slow tick of time, cold and merciless.
I wasn't going down easy. But I'd have to pick my moment. Wait for the right crack in their defenses.
My wrists ached.
The men were arguing on the porch in hushed whispers, but I was right by the door. William and Mark traded whispers, low and mean, but I caught it anyway,
"She's smarter than you think. I'd call for more backup."
"She's a human sleeping bag, for Christ's sake. Chill."
I closed my eyes, cataloguing every sound, every step, every hissed slur.
The world had gone from "do I want this?" to "do or die" in about five minutes flat.
When the cabin finally went quiet, it wasn't a good silence.
Paint flaked off the floor. My boots squeaked if I shifted, so I stopped moving. Sat still and watched the shadows twitch and move across the opposite wall.
Time blurred. At some point I must've zoned out, slept a little.
Kira padded in, quiet as a mouse.
The men were still on the porch, as far as I knew. She came straight for me, crouched, and fixed me with this wild, don't-you-dare-blink look.
She plucked at the dragon flower pin that was still on my sweater. She didn't yank it, but rolled it between her fingers, then twisted and removed it with one slick move.
Kira held it up, just long enough for me to see the back, the post, sharp and solid, plus the visible mechanism where the catch could click open.
She winked and whispered, "Watch closely."
In one hand, she still held the pin. Her other hand hovered over my right wrist, just above the zip tie's locking bar. With a single move, she stuck the back end of the pin under the lock, wedged, then twisted. The bar started to shift. With a pop, it was open.
She left the pin in my palm, pressing it hard enough to leave a mark.
"Only takes a second if you get the angle right," Kira muttered. "Wait a few more minutes to move. Wait until we're arguing again. Tell Livia I'm here. She'll know what that means. My name is Kira."
Then, lower, urgently, she said, "Not all hunters are like those two. Some of us remember the rules."
I clamped down a nod. My throat was closing up, but I forced myself to breathe.
She swept upright and sauntered to the front porch. "Why aren't you assholes running the perimeter?"
"We just got back," William said angrily. "Do you want us to go again already?"
I stared at the pin in my palm. Gold and blood-bright, like a secret handshake.
I didn't waste a second. I waited until Kira was fully in the other room and then moved. I'd rather get eaten by a bear in the woods than help them take a shot at my girls by being bait if they caught me again.
No phone, obviously. Mine was probably crushed by a passing car by now.
But I still had my boots, and now, free hands.
I scanned the room. They'd probably hear the door. There was a window at the back, with cheap plastic horizontal blinds. I braced my hands on the window frame and shimmied it up. The first few inches fought me, but then it slid.
No time for subtlety. I yanked out the screen and tossed it into the brush.
Senses on red alert. Every heartbeat was a threat.
I climbed out.
The outside air slapped me. Cold, wet, the smell of pine and garbage. They'd been dumping the trash out back, and animals had gotten into the bags.
Scuttling away carefully, I made it my way toward a dip. At its edge, I looked back.
The cabin glowed behind me, no one the wiser. I could just hear them arguing. If she sent them on a perimeter check, they'd find me. Surely, she wasn't that stupid to release me then accidentally send the men to find me.
I tore away from the cabin, just working on going down the mountain. My wrists hurt and bled, but adrenaline and hope was enough to make me fly.
Branches whipped my face, stinging my cheeks and nose. I didn't care. If I could get somewhere with a phone, I could warn them.
I crashed through the brush, slipping on moss, nearly upending myself on a downed log, but I kept moving.
Breath burned in my chest.
Kira's words haunted me. "Tell Livia I'm here."
If I survived, step one would be to call Chance. He'd tell her. Odds were, if anyone could weaponize that message, Livia fucking Meyer would.
The next hill almost took me out. I scrambled up on all fours, boots scrabbling for purchase, palms full of mud and pine needles. Somewhere, a branch snapped, maybe me, maybe someone else.
I didn't care. I was gone.
Midway down the next slope, I let myself glance back. Still nothing behind me but wind and the drag of old scents.
I swallowed bile, leaned against a tree to catch my breath.
I'd make it.
For the girls, for the twins, for every shifter who'd ever gotten killed by people like William.
I just had to move.
The world blurred, all black and green, and the snap of cold running water at the bottom of the gully.
I aimed for the stream. Any cover. Any way to kill my tracks.
I sloshed right through the water, toes curling with cold. It burned, but at least I'd broken my trail.
The woods closed around me. The dark swallowed my outline.
Somewhere up ahead, maybe a mile, maybe three, the world would open up. Roads, houses, maybe a stray light.
I'd get there, even if I had to crawl.
One step. Then another.
I prayed, not for a miracle, but for a single shot to get the word out.
Tell the girls to hide. Tell Chance I loved him. And wasn't this a fine time to realize it.