“You think he'll come for her?” the one I now knew was the new recruit asked, and I froze in case he glanced at me again.
“Oh… yeah. He sure as fuck will. With these creatures, they live and die for their mates. He’ll come, and be prepared. If you thought the one back at the house fighting us fucking naked like a beast was dangerous, the one coming for his woman will be one vicious motherfucker.”
My breath hitched and heart raced as I heard them talk about Cian. I had to get out of here. I had to stop this before the man I was starting to fall for very hard and very fast came for me and got hurt or, worse, killed.
For the next five or so minutes, the ride was silent, and I was thankful. I kept working at the rope on my ankles, loosening it up even more but having to go slow so I wasn't heard. Once my legs were free, I kept my hands clenched tightly together so it would still look like they were bound if they glanced back at me. I heard something large slam up against the side of the vehicle and froze. But thankfully the two men up front didn’t notice.
Still being as quiet as possible, I lifted my hands and pushed up the bottom of the bag covering my head. I was holding my breath as I saw two large bodies sitting in the front seats. I glanced around the vehicle, and as I suspected, I was in a van. I didn't see much of anything else back here but two black duffel bags across from me.
We went over a bump, and my head slammed against the floor. Closing my eyes and clenching my teeth in pain, I kept my mouth shut and stayed silent. I opened my eyes again, looked at the other end of the van, and held in my gasp as I saw Odhran’s big, prone body lying against the back doors.
He was still naked, blood covering his body, the cuts and scrapes on his form so numerous I felt tears fill my eyes. His hands were bound behind his back, his legs as well. But what kept him secured wasn’t the same rope they used on me. The cuffs were metal, thick and dark. I didn’t have any hope of getting him out of those.
Thankfully he was alive, his chest rising and falling slowly. I was grateful he was also unconscious, because the amount of pain he had to be in from the wounds would be monumental.
I didn’t know how I was going to stop this, but I had to do something, and I had to do it quickly, because the closer we got to wherever the drop-off point was, the harder it was going to be for us. I had to catch them when they were off guard, like they were now, their attention not on me because they didn’t see me as a threat.
A crash.
I had to make it so we couldn’t get to the destination. I knew Cian was no doubt coming after me right now. I couldn’t think about whether Odhran or I would get harmed in the process, didn’t think about pain or injury. I couldn’t, not if I wanted us to make it out alive.
While I kept my gaze locked on the two men in front, I took off the bag and let it drop to the van floor. Then I slowly—God, so slowly and silently—pushed myself up so I could look around for any kind of weapon and stopped as my gaze landed on the duffels. I held my breath as I reached for the strap of one.
But just before I had it, the driver barked, “What the fuck are you doing?”
I froze, my eyes snapping to the front.
“What?” Jack replied as he reached for the radio. “We have a little bit of time before we get there. You gonna say no to the radio? Come on, man.”
The driver snorted and shook his head but said nothing else, and that was the only approval Jack needed to click the radio on. The low sounds of classic rock filtered through the van, and I watched Jack get comfortable in his seat.
I exhaled slowly, thankful the extra noise was now filtering throughout the van to cancel out any sound I made. I tightened my fingers on the handle and pulled one of the duffels my way, my focus trained on the men. When I had the bag in front of me, I breathed out slowly, my head dizzy from holding my breath intermittently the entire time.
I grabbed the zipper and started slowly pulling it down. Once the bag was three-fourths of the way open, I pulled one of the sides open and looked at the contents. I could’ve laughed at what lay inside. Weapons. These men were either stupid as hell, arrogant, or really thought we weren’t a threat.