My hound’s growl turned into a soft whimper for a moment. I had to pull myself back together. There wasn’t a chance in hell that I would fall apart in front of Harvey.
I scanned my surroundings for anything I could possibly use as a weapon. Basements were always filled with junk. I noticed something behind a stack of storage totes that looked like a mallet. This would have been my lucky day had it not been for…well, you know.
Harvey prowled closer. I slid to the right, but Harvey snapped out an arm and blocked my way. I sucked in a breath. That was my first mistake. That breath had telegraphed what I was about to do. Just as I began to duck under his outstretched arm, Harvey grabbed me by my hair.
He yanked me back and shoved me onto the nearby cot. The springs jabbed my back as they groaned from my weight. I hissed and arched my back. My scalp throbbed. When this was over, I was going to shave my head. I was tired of having a weak spot that anyone could grab.
A dark form loomed over me. I tensed, waiting for Harvey to strike. He bent over me, and revulsion curdled my stomach. His breath was hot and moist on my skin as his face hovered over my throat. I gagged again, but all I had was bile.
I was stunned when Harvey reached past me. Stupidly curious, I waited to see what he was doing. The clink of metal on metal sent adrenaline pumping through my body. I flew upwards in a frantic attempt to escape, but Harvey put his palm against my chest and shoved me back down.
Every spring in the cot groaned when I crashed into it for a second time. Harvey pulled a set of handcuffs out from behind the cot. One cuff was attached to a pipe running along the wall. He yanked my arm back and slapped the other cuff around my wrist. I grimaced when pain lanced down my side from Harvey’s not-so-gentle hands.
If he thought he was going to get away with some creepy BDSM down here, then he was horribly wrong. I would give him an involuntary vasectomy before he could touch me. I waited for my hound to agree, but there was no sound in my head.
I dug and dug but couldn’t find my hound anywhere. My jaw dropped. Harvey stepped back and put his hands on his hips. He grinned with idiotic pride. I gaped. My chest heaved as panic set in.
“Wha-what did you do?” I yanked on the cuff, but it refused to give.
I noticed the sigils inscribed around the edge of the cuff. They writhed and flickered darkly, like they were living shadows bound into the shape of the sigils.
“You would be surprised how much money can buy,” Harvey said smugly.
I spit at him. It landed at his feet rather disappointingly. I wanted to hide my fear. Though I’d known that I was weaker than the other shifters for most of my adult life, I had been made even weaker. I was practically human with this cuff on my wrist.
“Has anyone ever told you that you smell like wolf piss?” I asked, because I could not stop the false bravado falling from my lips. “I could smell you from a mile out. Did the entire pack line up and take turns urinating on you? Or is this all you?”
Harvey rolled his eyes. He didn’t rise to my bait. Not that I knew what I would do if he struck. If he would come closer, then maybe I could do something. I could pick his pocket for the key to these cursed cuffs or knock his thick skull into the wall and knock him out.
Instead, Harvey backed away. His grin widened. He knew what he was doing. I would wait down here, wondering when my demise would come. The hours would stretch, and my panic would wear me thin. Though I knew what he was doing, I wasn’t sure if I could avoid it. I couldn’t stop my heart from pounding or will the ice in my veins to melt.
“Have fun in the dark, Ness.” Harvey flicked the light switch and the single, dim light blinked out.
I threw myself down onto the cot. Staring into the dark did nothing to ease my fear. Without my hound, I was truly alone for the first time in years. I kept digging, as if she was buried deep within myself. The cursed cuffs had stolen her from me.
Tears burned the back of my eyelids, but I refused to cry. I wouldn’t do it. If I told myself not to, it simply wouldn’t happen.
That was a nice thought, but the hot tears still rolled down my cheeks anyway. I turned to face the wall, if only to ease the strain in my shoulder from being cuffed to the pipe. Rattling it might have sent some annoying clatter up the pipe, but the pipe itself refused to budge. I considered rattling it for the hell of it, but I didn’t have any will left in me.
I drifted off into a cursed sleep. Over and over, I watched Ryder fall to his knees. Each time Ryder dropped, I woke with a gasp. Despite the chill of the basement, a layer of sweat beaded across my forehead and the back of my neck.
The smells of mildew and dust assaulted me every time I woke. I wrinkled my nose and peered at the windows above for a glimpse of morning light. The sky outside remained dark.
Had I slept through the day? Did anyone notice my absence today?
I groaned and tugged on the cuffs again. Of course, they didn’t budge, but the clanking sound satisfied me. How long until I drove Alvin’s wife crazy? She had to be up there, somewhere.
I counted the clanks before drifting back to sleep and falling back into the same cycle of cursed dreams.