“Yo Lara, is he healing yet?” Seb whisper-yelled and broke Lara out of her thoughts. She opened her eyes and saw he was looking at her from his seat on the bench, his legs crossed out in front of him and his arms casually crossed behind his head. How long has he been watching me? Archer stirred and rolled his head to the side, his eyes flickered for a moment, but they remained closed.
Lara raked her gaze over Archer’s bandaged torso again, as if she hadn’t already memorised his wounds. She reached out to the worst wound and lifted the dressing but instead of seeing the large gash that had been bleeding profusely, she now saw only a deep graze with dried blood surrounding it. Reaching lower to the next bandage, she lifted it to see another graze and no longer an open wound.
“Feel free to keep looking” Archer’s deep voice filled the air. Lara immediately sat back, he was smirking now, and his eyes had a playfulness about them. I guess he’s feeling better.
“Looks like he’s healed just fine” Lara yelled out to Seb as she rolled her eyes, trying to stifle the grin that was spreading across her face.
Archer sat up slowly. Even though he was beginning to heal, it was obvious he was still weak and in pain. He grunted as he swung his legs over the side of the bench and leaned back against the wall, sitting up with a sigh.
“Seb, Is your animal still asleep? Do you think you could shift if you needed to? Lara could hear the strain in his voice against the pain.
Seb let out a howl and responded “Yep, he’s awake and he’s pissed about being tranq’ed. Wait a minute…” Seb stood and walked over to the bars “Are you still planning to break out of here? Can you feel your animal yet?”
Archer nodded “He’s not fully awake yet but it won’t be long, and I don’t know about you guys, but I don’t plan on sticking around to see what happens to us” Archer said, crossing his arms over his chest and wincing at the unexpected pain it caused.
“Archer, you’re still hurt.” She moved closer to him on the bench “You haven’t healed completely, and you’ve barely stopped bleeding. You can’t take on every one of those guards in the state you’re in!” She couldn’t help the concerned tone in her voice.
Archer met her gaze and smiled before reaching over and resting his hand on her leg, he squeezed for a moment but left his hand on her knee “Don’t you worry about me, I’ll be fine. The most important thing right now is to get out of this place. I don’t know how or when, but when I get the chance to break out of here, I’m getting us out. I promise you Lara, I will get you out of this place.”
The determination in Archer’s eyes made Lara stop trying to convince him otherwise. Even though he was weakened and still injured, his resolve was infectious, and his confidence was making Lara believe he really could break out of here once he was fully healed.
Chapter 14
Lara was in awe. A few hours ago, Archer was on death’s door and bleeding out. Now, he was moving around the cell, albeit slowly but it was still a huge improvement. She couldn’t wrap her head around how much he had recovered in such a short time, let alone the way his open wounds were now merely small cuts and grazes.
Even though Archer was healing at a fast pace, she could tell he was still weak. The way he coughed and grunted with each small movement told her he was hiding how much pain he was really in. She had watched as he struggled to stand, then limped his way to the bars of the cell before looking down the hallway, then turning, walking back to the bench, favouring one side and clutching his stomach as he sat back down beside her.
“So…you were right about me being a shifter” Lara said to Archer, attempting to distract him from his pain.
“You’re a Bee shifter. I knew it!” He replied with a wide smile that reached his eyes.
Lara rolled her eyes feigning annoyance but deep down, she was loving the way he lightened the mood. The way he could joke, and muck around but still be serious when he needed to be, despite what he must be feeling right now. It was a breath of fresh air next to her serious nature, he balanced her out and for some reason it made her feel…complete.
No. She couldn’t think of him that way but then again, what other red-blooded woman wouldn’t think of him that way? Then she realised…Of course! How did I not see this before? Women must be throwing themselves at him every day, that’s why he’s so good at being charming. Lara felt a wall go up inside of her, a wall to protect her heart from getting hurt. She could feel herself bonding to him and she needed to shut that down. He didn’t feel the same connection to her as she did for him, it was all just an act. He was just really good with the ladies.
A loud beep echoed down the hall from the door at end of the corridor, breaking her from the miserable thoughts. She knew the sound of the fingerprint scanner by now, it was quickly becoming a source of anxiety every time she heard it. The sound of the door abruptly opening followed, she could hear two sets of footsteps coming towards them and she stood, walking to the bars to see who was coming. The first man was a guard she had never seen before and the second was Dr Seville. A surge of anger shot through her as she gripped the bars, she wanted to hurt him for what he did to Archer and Lara could feel her panther hissing away inside her mind in agreeance.
She heard a shuffle behind her and looked up to see Archer coming to join her at the bars. Dr Seville was saying something to the guard, and she thought she heard the word ‘wolf’ as they moved closer. They came to a stop directly in front of Archer’s cell and looked dumbfounded when they spotted Lara inside with Archer. The confusion in Dr Seville’s eyes quickly evaporated and was replaced with rage.
“Who put you in his cell?” He said angrily through clenched teeth.
When Archer and Lara didn’t respond, Dr Seville waved his hand in the air and said, “It doesn’t matter anyway” he turned to the guard “Put her back in her cell!” he said as he pointed angrily at Lara.
The guard stepped forward and Lara noticed his emotionless face, like he was immune to the way they were being treated in here. He placed his finger on the scanner and before she even knew what was happening, Archer moved impossibly fast. He stretched one arm out through the bars to the guard who was now within reaching distance, his finger still on the scanner. As the cell door started opening, Archer gripped the back of the man’s head and slammed it forward, hard, against the bars between them. The sound of the man’s scull cracking against the metal bars echoed down the hall.
Lara stood frozen in place, she had never been privy to that kind of violence before and she didn’t know how to react. She watched Archer take a step outside of the cell, his limp had completely disappeared now and even though she could only see the back of his head, she knew his eyes were pinned on Dr Seville. He looked every part the predator that was inside of him.
“Wait… we can talk about this!” Dr Seville pleaded with his arms up in the air, his voice trembling. Archer was walking… No, he was stalking towards the doctor who was now stumbling backwards to avoid the impending confrontation.
Lara stepped into the hallway and noticed Seb still confined to his cell, standing against the bars. She turned to glance a look in Archer’s direction, he was moving so gracefully, so fluently. She could feel his immense power radiating off him and see the muscles in his strong back clenching with tightly held control.
She quickly bent down and with all her strength, dragged the man towards Seb’s cell. She had to awkwardly lift the man’s shoulders as she held his thumb up to the fingerprint scanner as the lock to Seb’s door beeped and opened. She dropped the man to the floor and froze when she heard popping and cracking sounds followed by a loud howl. Suddenly, the body of a giant wolf stepped out from Seb’s cell. Lara had never seen a wolf in real life, the only thing she could think of that came close, were those cliché horror movies that looked more like a man dressed in a furry dog costume with sharp teeth glued on. This however, looked nothing like those movies. He was covered in caramel coloured fur, a similar colour to his human hair, with tinges of white on
his paws and muzzle. He was tall, impossibly tall. His shoulders came to her head and he looked down at her with yellow eyes as bright as the sun. A tremor of fear rushed through her to be this close to such a fierce creature. She took a step back, out of his way and pressed herself against the wall to the side of his cell.
Lara was frozen in place, she couldn’t move a muscle. It felt like her brain was shutting down at the unlikely images surrounding her. There was a wolf. A giant wolf. His ears were pinned back in fury, growling, his yellow eyes trained on Dr Seville who was now cornered by Archer against the bars of the last cell in the hallway. From the angle of where she was standing, she could see the doctor reach slowly to his belt, it looked like a small black box was clipped on and the light reflected off the side of it as she saw what looked like a large red button. She looked up to see Archer and Seb staring into his eyes, oblivious of what he was doing and when she looked back to the doctor, he was beginning to lift the side of his mouth up into a smile.
Lara opened her mouth to shout a warning but before she could, movement caught her eye from the cell directly behind Dr Seville. She watched as he took one last step backwards, planting his back against the cell and his finger firmly on the red button. Just as the deafening sound of an alarm rung through the hall, an arm reached out from the bars and what looked to be a feminine hand gripped the doctor’s neck so hard that his face turned purple instantly.
She watched on as Archer punched Dr Seville so hard that he was instantly knocked out, the mysterious arm loosened its grip and dropped the doctor to the floor with a thud. Before he could hit the ground, Archer caught him and easily lifted his finger to the scanner box against the wall, opening the cell door.
As a woman emerged from the cell, she lifted her hand to her eyes as if to shield them from the harsh light of the hallway. When she dropped her hand, Lara was finally able to see the woman who had bravely taken the doctor by surprise. She had long platinum blonde hair down to her waist, it was so light it almost looked white, her eyes were a light blue colour, she had a pointed chin and a dainty nose. She was barefoot, wearing a pair of grey slacks and white t-shirt that was covered in dirt. How long has she been in here? Lara thought to herself as she looked around at the others. Seb was still in wolf form but seemed frozen in place, staring intently at the woman who had emerged. She turned to Archer who was now facing her and when she met his gaze, his eyes glowed a golden-yellow colour. He closed his eyes, shaking his head and when he opened them again, they had returned to the deep dark brown colour that Lara was coming to know.
He started to walk towards her, but he was limping again and on the next step, his right leg gave way. He managed to grab a hold of the bars of the cell beside him for support, but Lara rushed over to his side and tucked her head under his shoulder so that he could rest his weight against her.
Lara didn’t know why she instinctively moved to help Archer, but she didn’t regret it since he immediately wrapped his arm around her shoulder tightly, as if it was second nature. If she was being honest, it’s kind of felt like second nature to her, too, but then he did something that left her frozen where she stood, sending a tingling sensation and warmth through her entire body. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. It was such a sweet, gentle kiss that she closed her eyes to savour the feel of his lips against her skin. It felt too special not to mean something. For a moment, it felt like the whole world faded into the background and it was just the two of them as he rested his chin on her head. There was no blaring alarm in the background, no jail cells, no unconscious bodies lying on the floor, no one else but them.
Damnit Lara! Her subconscious screamed out at her, breaking her out of her thoughts. There he went, charming his way into her heart again, chipping away at the wall she was building to prevent this very thing from happening. I wonder how many girls he has charmed just like this she thought. It was a cruel reminder that they could never be together if they made it out of here alive. A professional fighter-playboy could never fit into her mundane life and after what she had just witnessed, it was obvious they came from opposite worlds. She had seen more violence in this prison than she had in her entire life. Archer had been so casual about knocking out the two men that he made it look like something he did every day, hell, maybe he did do it every day. She knew he fought at the club most nights, but she didn’t think it was quite so violent, but then again, she’d never stepped foot inside a club like that before.
Lara mentally scolded herself for getting caught up in his charm again. He was acting like prince charming, saying all the right things and promising to sweep her away to safety and but Lara wasn’t born yesterday. She knew better than to believe in fairy tales.
Going against her instincts, Lara reluctantly peeled herself away from Archer’s arm and placed her hand on his elbow to continue to help support his weight. After all, she wasn’t a cold-hearted person, she knew he was still weak and needed help, she just wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurting herself in the process.
Chapter 15
Archer felt comfortable with his arm draped around Lara’s shoulder and he couldn’t deny that deep down he was relishing in the touch. He didn’t mean to lean in and kiss her forehead, but his body seemed to be acting of its own accord and for some reason, it just felt like such a natural thing to do. He wished he could say the same for Lara but when she tensed and pulled away, moving to support him only by his elbow he wondered if maybe he’d been misreading her all along.
He couldn’t understand his own connection to her or why he felt such a strong pull towards her, but he thought she felt the same way. Hell, even his lion paid attention to her and he never paid attention to anyone. She had to be special.
A sudden wave of nausea hit Archer, making him double over where he stood. He didn’t know whether it was the rejection he felt from Lara or the pain that still throbbed through his body, but regardless, it was a harsh reminder that he wasn’t the strong and powerful lion shifter he had been forty-eight hours before. He stood stoically, he would never admit how much he was suffering right now. The need to escape this place took priority over his own discomfort and regardless of what Lara thought of him now, he would honour his promise to get her out of here alive.
Archer’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted as the door to the hallway exploded and what looked like a dozen guards stormed in with guns raised. By the look of the long thin barrels of each gun, he knew they were tranquilisers.
“Put your hands up where we can see ‘em!” One of the men yelled out. Archer heard Lara gasp beside him, Seb had his ears pinned back, fangs bared, growling, and Jen stood frozen with wide eye as she lifted her shaking hands. I need to do something Archer thought, this may be our one and only chance to escape.
He started putting his hands up in surrender, but he had no intention of doing so. He would take advantage of the situation and seize the opportunity to escape. He felt an unspoken responsibility for Lara, Seb and Jen, an obligation to get them out of here and he would sacrifice anything to make that happen. He couldn’t understand where this newfound instinct was coming from, nor did he have time to dwell on it, he only knew that he needed to accept it and act on it. His lion may be uncontrollable at the best of times, but the animal’s instinct inside of him was rarely wrong.
He felt strength building inside of him and he was determined to see this through, he needed to prove to himself that he wasn’t entirely broken, that he could and would make it out of here. He refused to believe he was destined to be a failure, destined to be weak and broken for the rest of his life, just like his father.
Archer could feel his shifter abilities returning to him and he already knew that he could be impossibly fast. Before he could change his mind, he swooped down and grabbed the tranquiliser gun from Dr Seville’s belt before lifting his unconscious body off the ground and placing the gun to his head.
“Let us go or the doctor dies” Archer said confidently to the men that were currently surrounding them. He
hoped they couldn’t hear the doubt in his voice since he had no idea how this was about to play out.
The guards were looking at each other now, their guns still trained on Archer and the others, but their attention conflicted. They were just the muscle in this organisation, not the brains, and Archer had plenty of experience dealing with these types of guys. Put enough pressure on them and they would fold.
“I mean it! I’ll put a tranq in his head and we all know there’s no coming back from that. Without him this whole place would be shut down and you’ll be taken away for your part in all this!” He was yelling now, hoping like hell this works. He took a deep breath and spoke more calmly “Let us go and we won’t say anything. We won’t speak a word of this place ever again, if you just let us pass.”
He could tell the men were doubting their position now as they looked to each other to determine what to do next. “So, what will it be?” He yelled, pushing the barrel of the gun harder into Dr Seville’s temple. Seb, Jen and Lara stood near him, never moving a muscle as he hoped this little charade would work.
The men looked at each other for a few more moments before a few of them lowered their guns to the ground and stepped aside. One by one the others followed until there was an empty path to the door at the end of the corridor. It worked. Archer was slightly suspicious about how easily the men decided the move out of the way though and for a moment he wondered if the whole thing was a trap. As Archer gaze landed on the door at the end of the corridor, it became apparent that the opportunity to escape was right in front of him and regardless of whether a trap had been planted or not, he had to see this through. Archer walked towards the door, he could feel the others following closely behind him. When he got to the door, one of the guards stepped forward, he nodded at Archer but kept his eyes lowered and placed his finger on the scanner as the door opened after the beep.
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