I can’t help wondering what Xander and his minions are up to now. Why on earth would he want to make more hybrids like me? Does he hope to make himself stronger and impervious to many threats the way I am, or are his aims different? Darker?
“There it is,” Jack says, pointing at a small plane still high in the air. He climbs out of the car, and Luke and I follow suit. We will figure everything out. Jack told me his friend’s territory is in the Upper Peninsula. It’s far enough away that we won’t have to be constantly on guard against attack. We’ll be able to devote all our time to figuring out what Xander’s end goal is.
The plane touches down and taxis to a stop. When the door opens, Jack walks to greet the man who exits. He is huge—probably at least six foot six—and even if I didn’t know he was a werewolf, his physical presence would be intimidating. His dark hair is long and wild, but his smile is jovial when his eyes land on Jack.
“Chet,” Jack says, embracing the man when his feet hit the tarmac. “It’s been a long time, my friend.”
“Indeed it has,” Chet replies. He glances over Jack’s shoulder, his eyes narrowing when he sees Luke. “Interesting company you’re keeping these days.”
“Don’t I know it,” Jack grumbles. “That’s Luke,” he says dismissively as he crosses to my side. “And this is Ava.”
Chet moves cautiously as he approaches me, and I sense hesitation when he extends his hand. I take it and hold it firmly. My dad instilled in me the importance of a solid handshake. “It’s nice to meet you,” I say, and I mean it. “Thank you for helping us.”
The corners of Chet’s mouth quirk upward as he releases my hand. “When Jack first told me what you were, I couldn’t believe it. Even now, with you here in front of me, I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around it.”
“You’re not the only one,” I say. I mean it to come out lighthearted, like a joke, but the words hang heavily in the air between us.
He turns his attention to Luke. “Never thought I’d live to see the day when werewolves and vampires were working together side by side.”
“I know it’s strange,” Jack says, cutting off whatever Luke was thinking of saying. “But we can trust him.”
Chet releases a heavy sigh. “The fact that you actually believe that is all I need to be sure I’m doing the right thing.”
Warning bells go off in my head, but before any of us can react, half a dozen wolves from Chet’s pack leap from the plane, never setting a paw on the stairs. “Grab the hybrid!”
“Run!” Jack yells.
I don’t think—I react. I could shift—I’m moderately faster in that form—but I don’t think that’s my best option right now. While we are in neutral territory, that doesn’t mean Chet doesn’t have contact with nearby packs. If I run blind into the woods, how long before I cross into someone else’s territory? There’s no guarantee there aren’t weres already waiting for me.
I run back to the SUV we arrived in. If I’m honest, I don’t know how its top speed compares to that of most wolves, but at least inside I’ll have an added layer of protection.
It’s not until I’m behind the wheel that I realize Jack and Luke aren’t following me. The two of them are doing their best to keep the attackers from getting to me. The keys are in the ignition and I start the engine, but a flicker of indecision keeps me from putting the car in gear. I don’t want to leave them.
I don’t have a choice. I slam the car into drive and press on the accelerator. The tires squeal as I make a tight circle to face the exit. I clutch the steering wheel to keep myself firmly in the driver’s seat. In the back of my mind, I hear Jack’s voice warning me to put on my seatbelt, but I can’t yet—I need to put more distance between me and the attackers.
I slam on the gas pedal and a few howls rise up behind me—irritation at their prey eluding them. A glance in the rearview mirror is all I need to see that Jack and Luke are taking the momentary distraction to their advantage. The two of them take off at a run toward a line of trees a mile away from their position.
I sigh with relief as I turn my attention back to the road in front of me. They got away. Although I’m not entirely sure how, I’m confident I can meet up with them and together the three of us can formulate a new plan.
Why would Chet double-cross us? From the way Jack spoke with him, I got the feeling he trusted the man with his life. The two were even in the same pack for a few decades. What could possibly make him turn against his friend?
I turn out onto the main road. It’s just a two-lane highway, but reaching it makes me feel better—safer—than I was while still on the airfield property.
There weren’t many cars on the road on our way to the airfield, so I’m surprised to see three dark SUVs in my rearview mirror and two through my windshield. I inhale deeply, the scent spilling in through the cracked window putting me on alert.
Vampires.
Was Chet working with them? Or did they follow us?
One of the cars in front of me swerves into my lane. It’s still half a mile up the road from me, but we’re both traveling very fast. They’re trying to block my escape.
I have a mind to play this game of chicken out, but I’m not entirely sure it’s for the best. I’ve seen images of people whose heads were taken off when they careened through a windshield. As far as I know, I wouldn’t live through that, and I’m not willing to test it.
At the last possible second, I jerk my wheel to the left and jam down on the accelerator. I intend to pull off the road only long enough to get around the oncoming car, but the terrain on the shoulder is looser than I anticipated, and the car goes skidding.
I brace for impact as I careen toward a thick tree trunk, but even my enhanced strength is no match for the force with which I hit it. The airbag deploys, but I’m going too fast. With no seatbelt to tether me to the seat, I shoot right through the windshield and collide with the tree.
I’m still conscious as I hit the ground, but blackness quickly creeps in on my periphery. I’m awake long enough to see all five cars pull to a stop on the shoulder. Several sets of feet hit the ground and come for me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Everything aches. My whole body feels like it’s on fire. Maybe I am on fire. I can’t tell. I can’t open my eyes.
What happened? There’s a blank space in my memory. I was at a bar. No—that was weeks ago. Or was it last night?
No, time has passed. I got stabbed, but Jack turned me into a werewolf. But I’m more than that. I’m a hybrid. That’s why people are after me.
My eyelids open a slit and I detect light. It’s not very bright, but at least I know there will be something to see when I’m finally able to open my eyes. I focus my energy on my ears, hoping I might hear something to clue me in as to where I am, but everything is muffled. Maybe there are voices, or maybe it’s just the sound of the wind whipping through the trees.
Some of the burning in my body subsides. Healing—that’s what the feeling is. How badly was I hurt?
Images flash in my mind. I went through the windshield. Vampires were after me, and I tried to get away.
A heavy weight sinks in the bottom of my stomach. I don’t think I did.
My chin is against my chest. I’m finally starting to get a sense of where my body is in space. I’m sitting up—in a chair. I try to move my arms and legs, but nothing happens.
“She’s awake,” says a male voice. His faint Southern drawl is familiar somehow, but I can’t place it.
I direct all my energy to opening my eyes. I’m staring down at my legs, which are bound with thick ropes. Upon further inspection, I realize in addition to the ones binding my thighs, there are ropes around my ankles. My arms hang down at my sides and are tied to the legs of the chair. I pull against them, but my effort is wasted. They don’t budge.
“Don’t bother,” says the same person who spoke a moment ago. “You may be strong, but I’m going to bet you can’t break through Kevlar rope.”
It takes two tries before I can pull my head up to center and focus on the speaker. As soon as I see his face, I know why he sounds so familiar. “Xander.”
He sweeps his hand and ducks his head in an odd kind of bow. “I told you next time you’d be mine.”
For the first time, I take in my surroundings. The room we’re in is large, but dark. It looks like a garage or warehouse that’s been repurposed into a makeshift home. Heavy curtains obscure the windows. Around the perimeter are large boxes covered with dark blankets. And we’re not alone. Other vampires peek at me curiously over the back of a couch that’s facing the same direction I am. Four of them sit together in the corner, one girl looking on as a second girl and two guys play a video game projected on a large flat-screen TV on the wall. The whole place smells musty.
“Why am I here? What do you want from me?”
Xander positions a metal folding chair about three yards from me and settles down on it. “You are a curiosity. I’ve been in plenty of scrapes with dogs in my time. They’ve bitten me, and I’ve bitten them, but neither of those things ever turned anyone into what you are.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know how I became a hybrid. So if you brought me here for the secret recipe, you’re out of luck.”
He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “See, at first I thought the same thing—that I needed to figure out how you came to be in order to replicate you. I acquired a werewolf to assist me and the two of us bit several people, but all of them died. I figured the process was too much for a human to handle, so I had my pet bite some vampires. Surely, I thought, their rapid healing would allow them to survive the change. But they were disappointments also.”
I attempt to rock side to side in the chair only to find it’s bolted to the ground. “Why does it matter? Why do you want to make more like me?”
He smirks. “Suffice it to say I’m tired of my every move being policed by dogs. If what I’ve heard is true, silver doesn’t bother you. While you were out, we tested your reaction to garlic and wolfsbane, and neither had an effect.”
“You want more hybrids so they can bully the werewolves for you?” I shake my head. “Hate to break it to you, but if they’re anything like me, they’ll side with the weres.”
He narrows his amber eyes. “I can be persuasive.”
I pull against my bindings. “Do you think Jack won’t come for me? If you don’t want him to kill you, you’d better let me go now!” But even as I say the words, doubt gathers in my mind. How will Jack find me? How long will the charm Cassandra made shield my location?
Xander holds up his hands innocently. “Believe it or not, I don’t intend to keep you here forever, and I don’t want to hurt you. I just need you to do something for me, and then you can be on your way. Run back to your werewolf or your vampire. Hell, run back to both of them—I won’t judge.”
My heart leaps at his mention of Jack and Luke. If I can run back to them, it must mean neither was captured or harmed when Xander caught me. I want nothing more than to get back to the enclave, to Jack, to my family. But am I willing to do Xander’s bidding to get there? “Why would I help you?”
He reaches down to his ankle and raises his pants leg to reveal a small sheath from which he pulls a silver knife. “Because not helping me is a far less attractive option.”
My stomach clenches, but I do my best to keep my face impassive. “You know silver isn’t a poison to me like it is to you.”
He raises his eyebrows. “Oh, it doesn’t have to be poison to hurt.”
Xander stands, his lips drawing back. His teeth glint in the low light. I hold my breath and gulp. He won’t kill me. He wants me to do something for him, so he won’t kill me.
The words repeat in my head as he closes the distance between us. I grit my teeth, doing my best to prepare for what is about to happen, but when he stabs the blade into my abdomen, a scream rips itself from my throat.
* * *
Blood stains the ropes binding me to the chair and saturates the threadbare rug surrounding me. I must’ve lost consciousness. How long was I out?
I snap my head up and survey the room. The vampires in the corner are still playing a video game, and the drapes over the windows make it impossible to tell if there’s been a change in the sun’s position or intensity.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been here, but hours must have passed since I was taken. Xander made it sound like Jack and Luke hadn’t been harmed or abducted, but if that’s the case, why haven’t they come for me yet? Where am I?
Xander stands with his back to me, his posture suggesting he’s typing a message on his phone. I try to move my arms but I can barely wiggle them. Is it possible he tightened the knots while I was out? Or did the blood that seeped into the fibers make the rope swell? Either way, it’s clear no amount of squirming will get me out of this. But maybe there’s another way to get free.
Xander turns, his lips curving when his eyes land on me. “Look who’s awake. You ready for round two, or have you reconsidered my offer?”
I’m not going to do what he wants, but I’m also not keen on another round of torture, so I try for distraction. “You haven’t even explained what you want me to do.”
His eyebrows arch. “Isn’t it obvious? I need you to make more hybrids.”
I snort. “I already told you—I don’t know how I got to be this way.”
“And I told you I don’t think it’s necessary to understand the mechanics. All my experiments have led me to one conclusion: You are the key.”
I glare at him. “I have no interest in helping you with your experiments. Haven’t enough innocent people died already?”
Instead of answering, Xander strolls over to one of the blanket-covered shapes along the wall and gives it a little kick. A metal grate rattles, followed by a low growling sound. “Did you know there are ways to keep a werewolf from shifting back to human form?” He smiles and shakes his head. “No, I don’t imagine you would, being so new at this and all. It works in the other direction, too—which is why you can’t shift now.”
My stomach clenches. “Wait—are you saying you have a werewolf trapped under that blanket?”
His lips stretch in a leer and he pulls the cloth off with a flourish. Underneath is a plastic kennel, the kind people keep large dogs in. But there’s something different about this one—a metallic gleam that takes me a minute to understand. A fine mesh covers every inch of the cage, and I can only imagine it’s made out of silver to keep the wolf from being able to break through it. Through the grate, I detect movement. It’s the glowing yellow eyes that I see first, but as the wolf moves closer, I catch a glimpse of her fur, her face. I recognize the soft gray color of her coat. It’s Marisol, one of the pack members that split off to follow Mel.
I bear my teeth and a growl rumbles in my throat. “Let her go,” I demand. How long has she been his prisoner? What happened to the other weres who split off with Mel? Rage bubbles in my veins and I struggle against the ropes despite the fact I know they won’t give. I know she chose to leave my pack, but my wolf still sees her as family, and I want to get to her, to protect her.
Xander crosses his arms over his chest. “And why exactly would I do that? I need her. Just like I need you.”
The ropes bite into my flesh as I pull against them. “I don’t care what you do to me—I’m not going to help you.”
He nods as if he expected this answer. “I figured that already. I tried hurting you, and you showed surprising tenacity. Now, I could torture you some more—for days, in fact—but that would be a waste of precious time, and I’m not convinced it would break you anyway. So we’re going to do this the easy way.”
Before I can ask what he means, he whistles, and the vampires in the corner immediately turn off their game and jog to his side. The menacing glint in their eyes tells me they expect whatever Xander has in mind to be more entertaining than what they were already doing.
One of the girls throws a blanke
t off a smaller nearby box. There is no kennel underneath—only a large storage bin. She reaches her arm into it and pulls out some kind of gun. I’m the first to admit I don’t know much about weapons, but this one doesn’t look like any rifle or shotgun I’m familiar with. It’s not until the girl hands the weapon and a small plastic box to Xander that I realize why: It’s a tranquilizer gun.
“Now, weres metabolize things pretty quickly, so my friends and I will have to move fast,” he explains as if teaching some kind of lesson. He opens the small box and removes a dart. As he loads it, his companions squirm with anticipation. “I could compel her, but I don’t want to risk you being able to use your alpha wolf-speak on her.”
Even in her wolf form, Marisol seems to understand what comes next won’t be good. She backs away from the front of the kennel, but all Xander does is smile.
A weight settles in my stomach. I try to tell myself that if Marisol had stayed with the pack, she wouldn’t be here now. If she hadn’t chosen to turn against us and side with Mel, we could have protected her. But no matter how I word the argument, I can’t convince myself she deserves what’s about to happen.
No matter her choices, I still see her as the girl who offered to show me around the enclave, who told me becoming a wolf was the best thing that ever happened to her. She may have chosen to join Mel, but that doesn’t make her any less a part of my pack.
Xander fires the dart, and Marisol yelps. “Leave her alone!” I yell as the two guys walk over to the kennel. One of them is wearing a pair of leather gloves to avoid making contact with the silver overlay. He pulls the mesh away and opens the grate.
“Stop! Don’t touch her!” I struggle against my bindings, but it’s no use. The vampires continue as if they can’t hear me.
Once the leather glove-wearing vampire tugs Marisol out of the kennel, he removes something from around her neck and she shifts into her human form. His friends step forward to help him pull her to a metal folding chair the blonde girl set up. The other girl stands nearby, holding a length of rope that I can tell even from here reeks of wolfsbane. Jack once referred to wolfsbane as inflicting pain he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. If Marisol is bound with those ropes, they won’t only keep her from breaking through them, they will likely sear her flesh and cause her excruciating pain. And I get the feeling that’s not all Xander has in store for her.
Fate Bound (Fate Bound Trilogy Book 1) Page 17