by Jen L. Grey
“Yeah.” It was sad. Everything had happened so fast, and I didn’t have a chance to save my parents’ number in my phone.
Aaron’s fingers typed in something, and he handed the phone back to me. As soon as I grabbed it, footsteps sounded outside the door.
Shit, he was right. Someone was here to take his place. I rushed up the ladder as the key was entered into the lock, and I had managed to lay in bed as the door swung open. I slid the cell phone under my pillow, hoping to God that they wouldn’t come to check on me.
Chapter Sixteen
“What the hell are you doing here?” Mac stalked into the cabin and got in Aaron’s face.
“The doctor said I needed to keep an eye on her.” He pointed at me.
I wanted to slap him. He knew I had my phone. Why was he bringing attention to me?
“But I told you that you’re going with me today.” Mac glared in my direction. “So why are you here … with her?”
Aaron shrugged. “I was on my way back. I didn’t think it was a big deal.”
“You’ve been flaky here lately, and I don’t like it.” Mac raised his arm and pushed Aaron in the shoulder. “What the hell is your problem?”
“Nothing, I was getting her back and making sure she understood that she had to rest.” Aaron pointed at me. “Remember, no getting up.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I couldn’t get over the way Mac was treating him.
“Ever since we brought her in, you’ve been all strange.” Mac glanced over his shoulder at me. “Why?”
He better be good at lying. Now that I might have a chance out of here, he can’t screw it up.
“It’s not her.” Aaron took a step toward Mac and punched him in the shoulder, which caused Mac to pay attention to him. “It was purely coincidental.”
“Okay, then what is it?” Mac crossed his arms and leaned back on his heels. “I’m interested.”
“To be honest, it’s because of a girl.” Aaron ran his fingers through his brown hair.
My heart must have stilled in my chest. I had thought we had something between us, but obviously I was wrong.
“What?” Mac stiffened. It was obvious he hadn’t expected it.
“Yeah, she hates me being gone for long spans of time, and my heart isn’t into it now.” He sighed and kicked at the ground. “I just thought …”
“Why are you letting a female get under your skin?” Mac laughed and shook his head. “That’s no excuse.”
“It’s because I’m pretty sure she’s my mate.” His last word hung in the air.
“What?” Mac’s shoulders sagged. “Are you serious?”
Seriously, and all along, I had thought he was interested in me. That’s how stupid I had been. It hurt, but it was better for me to learn this now and not later.
“Yeah, and I’m struggling with staying away.” He kept his eyes on the ground avoiding both mine and Mac’s gazes.
“Fine. Since she’s your mate.” Mac blew out a breath and growled. “But you better get your shit together. You are still part of our team, and this excuse won’t last long. You have until next week when you’re starting your split between jobs again. Do you understand?”
Wow, I hadn’t expected Mac to be so sympathetic. He had always been an ass. He must take all his self-hate out on hybrids.
“You are still going to help load up the equipment right now and help me figure out what this half-breed is a combination of.” He opened the door and motioned him to leave.
“Yeah, okay.” He stole a peek at me before he headed out. “Remember to rest.”
I wanted to jump up and smack him. He’d led me on the entire time. It wasn’t because he was interested in me. It had to be because of his guilt or something else.
Right when the door clicked, I grabbed the phone under my pillow and glanced at the text. Okay, the address had been sent. At the present time, this was what I needed to focus on. Not that Aaron had a mate. It was a good thing. Honestly it uncomplicated my life because now I knew that my feelings would never amount to anything with him. I had to figure out what was going on between Knox and me.
After staring at my phone for a few minutes, I realized that there was a problem. My battery wouldn’t last for three days. I shot another text off to my biological parents, telling them I still had my phone but I was turning it off until later tonight. I had to conserve the battery. Right before I shut it down, a text came through.
We already formed a plan. Now we need to figure out logistics. We’re coming for you, baby girl. -<3- Jess and Cole
Right when I thought I might die of boredom, the cabin door opened, and Pete walked in. “Hey, I’m leaving for the day, but I got orders to let you out for dinner.”
“Uh … thanks.” I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. He’d always been snarky and a bit of an ass.
“Hey, I thought about not doing it but figured I better not risk an ass-kicking. You seem to be high on the doctor and George’s list.” He lifted his thumb and pointed it to the door. “Hurry up or your ass will be locked up again, and you’ll miss out.”
“Fine.” I gently climbed down the ladder. I had put my phone in between the mattress and wall, so I didn’t want to jar it as I climbed down. At first, I kept it under my pillow, but that would be the first place someone looked if they got the urge.
“I don’t have all day.” He groaned.
Lord help me if I wanted to be careful and that wasn’t acceptable. I landed on my feet and headed to the door. “Sorry, I just woke up. Moving kinda slow.”
“Well, you better hurry up.” He snagged my arm and pushed me out the door.
Luckily, I landed on my feet instead of my ass.
“Now, go.” He barked the order at me as he locked the cabin door behind us.
I hated everything about this place. Not wanting to be further insulted and annoyed, I rushed to the cafeteria. When I entered the building, I noticed Sol, Deissy, and Knox sitting together, eating their food.
As soon as I crossed the threshold, Knox’s eyes landed on me. I read his lips as he spoke to my friends. “She’s here.”
Both girls were sitting across from Knox, and their backs were facing the door. Deissy spun around and sighed.
“Thank God, you’re here.” Sol glanced over her shoulder and winked at me. “We’ve been worried.”
Not wanting to draw any more attention to myself, I nodded my head at them and kept going to the line. I grabbed a ton of food the same as always and strolled to the table. As I sat next to Knox, I bumped him in the shoulder. “You’re slumming it again today?”
“We’ve been worried sick.” He put his fork down and focused on me. “What the hell happened?”
“Let’s talk later.” The last thing we needed was over-eager ears listening. “Right now, let’s eat.” My stomach growled at my suggestion. “See, belly approved.”
“That was cheesy.” Sol rolled her eyes. “But whatever. I’m always down for any reason to eat.”
“Anything interesting happen today?” Normally there wasn’t anything.
“Nope. Same ol’ same ol’.” Deissy took a large bite of steak. “Focused on getting our work done to make sure we could get here.”
That was an awful rule here, but it was one way to keep us motivated. We had to meet our daily quota, no matter what, or we wouldn’t be released for dinner. “What about the barn?”
“Nope. Killed some cows and birthed some pigs.” He shook his head as he took a large bite. “Similar shit but a different day.” He tilted his head into me and took a deep breath. “I’ve been worried about you all damn day.”
“I’m here and, at the moment, fine.” I took a large bite of food and chewed. “Let’s hurry up and go somewhere to talk.”
“No training today after fighting with me this morning?” A small grin played at the corner of his lips.
“There are other things that are going to take precedence.” I wished it wasn’t the case. I needed to learn how to defe
nd myself, but right now, we had more important plans to make.
“Then, by all means, let’s eat.” Sol took a roll and pulled it into two parts.
As soon as we got near the woods and in between the two guards, Deissy sat on the ground. “Alright. Spill.”
I sat next to her and looked at the others. “Are we sure we’re safe here?”
“Yeah.” Knox discreetly pointed to the guard on the right as he took the place next to me. “He’s a bear shifter, and the other one is a phoenix shifter. So they both have piss poor hearing.”
“That’s good to know.” There was so much to learn.
“Nuh-uh. Spill.” Sol sat right in front of me.
I filled them in on what happened earlier that day.
“So you still have your cell phone?” Deissy twisted her rainbow hair around one of her fingers.
“It’s in our cabin.” I bit my lip to hold back my excitement. “I mean, we may have a chance.”
“You’re right. You do.” Knox shook his head. “We’ll make sure you get to leave.”
“What? No.” They couldn’t expect me to go on my own. “I’m not going without you three. No way.”
“No, I have to stay, but I will help you three escape.” Knox cracked his knuckles. ‘You said in two nights?”
“Yeah, but I’m not going if you don’t come.” There was no way I could leave him behind. My heart would break.
“You expect me to leave my pack?” Knox rubbed his hands together. “I don’t …”
“Yes, I expect you to leave them so you can save them.” There was no way I wouldn’t come back and save them all. We had to get in a position where we could.
“What are you talking about?” Sol tilted her head at me.
“Oh my God. You’re so right.” Deissy clapped her hands and smiled. “We get out and come back to save everyone.”
“None of us deserves this.” This was unfair, and no one should be treated like this. “I need all three of you to go with me. Knox, you know all the players best. Deissy, you know how Jenee works, and Sol, you’re badass. We aren’t going to run and leave them behind. We’re going to run and come back with a fucking army.”
“That’s too risky.” Knox shook his head. “I can’t risk you getting hurt.”
“Let me put it this way. I’m leaving, and when I come back, this prison is going to come down. Do you want to stay inside and be a coward or fight for our people?” Yes, a selfish part of me wanted him to come so I could be with him, but it wasn’t the main reason.
“Let’s call it like it is.” Deissy flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You two are mates.”
What? No. No way. Except now that I thought about it, mates kinda made sense. Other than the fact that I had feelings for Aaron too.
Knox closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.
That was not a good reaction to that sort of news. Maybe it was all one-sided, unrequited on my part.
“No, don’t you try this bullshit.” Deissy reached over and smacked his leg. “You’ve been biting at her heels since the first day she got here. If you lie, I’m going to get Sol to kick your ass.
“Hell, yeah. I’ve been wanting to ever since day one, really.” Sol clenched her hands in fists. “What I can’t do in magic, I make up with these.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t threaten the guy. We obviously aren’t or he’d admit …”
“They’re right.” His words were confident and clear.
Okay, that was unexpected.
“Either way I go, a part of me is going to get taken.” He rubbed a hand down his face and groaned. “Though you’re right. I’d go crazier without her by my side, but we have to promise that we’ll come back. For my pack.”
“No, for all of them.” This was something I had to do. Whether it be on my own or with the others. No one should feel this way. Thinking of the young boy from earlier hit me hard once again.
“Even Jenee?” Deissy scrunched her nose.
“Yes, even Jenee.” Yeah, she was a bitch, but everyone deserved freedom.
“As motivating as this is, we need to start laying out plans.” Sol grabbed a long stick and placed it on the ground. “This is the fence surrounding the place. We’ll have to figure a way out of it.”
“Maybe we could scale the building.” Knox put a decent-sized rock right against the branch.
“Or we could steal a badge and get inside the big building.” Deissy ran her finger against the grass heading to the big building.
All of that sounded way too complicated. “They have guards everywhere and several posted over the fences every twenty or so feet. We need to think of the least complicated plan. Remember, Aaron will be part of this too.”
“What?” Knox flinched and looked at me. “Other than him giving you the phone, what else is he going to be part of?”
This was going to be fun to explain to him, especially after he had admitted we were mates. I still needed time to process that little revelation myself. “Well, his dad is the warden, and he has to leave too. He said his dad wouldn’t forgive him.”
“Yeah, I’m sure he did,” Knox grumbled as his jaw clenched. “Out of everyone here, you had to be the one who had a guard sniffing after her.”
“Hey, that guard is our one-way ticket out of here.” Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Aaron could make or destroy this plan. We had to be careful.
“She’s right.” Deissy pointed her fingers at Knox. “Don’t let your jealousy get in the way of this. We can deal with him after it’s all said and done.”
“Fine.” He blew out a breath. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t be unhappy about it.”
“Oh, darlin’.” Sol patted his shoulder. “Be all kinds of unhappy. Don’t fuck up the plan. This is our one chance to make it out.”
“But what if he’s playing us?” Knox asked the one question that we’d all been thinking.
“Well, he gave my parents an address, and they claimed their intel had been in that exact area. So either it’s a scam, or he’s on our side.” That wasn’t convincing at all, but it was something. “And my gut tells me he is.”
“Hey.” The bear shifter hollered at us. “It’s time for your sorry asses to get into your cabins. Get gone.”
“Let’s get going before they get violent.” Sol stood and waited as the rest of us got to our feet.
Knox took a step near me and touched my arm ever so slightly. “Can we talk tomorrow? I mean a lot kind of came out tonight.”
Wow, this was the first time I’d ever seen him nervous. He was right though, and at the moment, I wasn’t ready. I needed time and space to think this all through. “Of course. After breakfast?”
“Perfect.” He gave me one of his rare smiles, which made my stomach get all funny. “Talk to you soon. Remember, I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek before walking away to the guys’ dorms. He had further to go than we did.
“Girl, I tell you.” Sol giggled as I caught up to her. “I’ve never seen two guys fighting over a girl like this.”
“Right.” Deissy wrapped her arm through mine. “They’re both hot as hell. I’m kind of jealous.”
The last thing I needed to focus on was my guy problems. I needed to take on one thing at a time, and at the moment, I needed to make it through the night.
Chapter Seventeen
After Deissy and I got settled in bed, I snuck the phone from its hiding spot. This was the one time I was thankful that there weren’t any windows in the cabins. As I turned it on, the phone lit up our room.
“Is that your phone?" Deissy's sleepy voice caught me off guard.
"No, it's my sparkling personality." In my defense, that comment was totally due.
"Alright, smartass." She giggled and yawned. "But seriously, where are you hiding it?"
"Between my mattress and the wall. I don't know where else to put it." It wasn’t like we had a lot of stuff lying around so tha
t I could hide it easily.
She groaned as she climbed out of bed. "I must really love you for getting up right now." She yawned loudly. "I'm exhausted."
"Yeah, that's what this place does to you." Whoever created this place was ingenious. "They work you so hard that you don't have enough energy to contemplate a way out."
"Very true." She stood looking up at me. "Any news?"
"Actually, yes." That was a relief. I opened up the text message from Jess. "It says that they drove by the area today, and the guard's information is legit. That we are about forty-five minutes north of New Orleans. They are gathering a small team for our extraction."
"Thank God." Deissy sniffed and wiped her eyes.
"Hey, are you okay?" I had been under the impression that she wanted to leave. "If you don't want to go, you don't have to." Unlike when the assholes put us here, she did have a choice.
"Of course I do." She sniffed again. “I never thought there would ever be a glimmer of hope to escape. It's just ... I'm so relieved and happy."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." Yeah, we had a chance to get out of here, but it wasn’t guaranteed. "I can't promise you this plan will work. But we're going to try our damnedest."
"Girl, I get that." She snorted and smacked at my mattress. "I finally have hope and there is a chance. Sometimes hope is the biggest motivator."
That made sense. "Hey, she's needing to know the layout. Mind helping me?"
"Hell yeah." Her golden eyes seemed to be brighter. "Let's do this."
As our door opened the next morning, to say I was shocked to see Aaron enter our cabin would be an understatement.
"What are you doing here?" My voice came off cold even though I hadn't meant for it to.
"Well, I'm supposed to be letting you two go eat and then taking you back for some more blood work." His eyes dipped to the floor.
"I thought we still had today and tomorrow." What? This was it. I was going to die.
"No, we do." He held his hands in front of him. "He said it was preliminary blood work like yesterday."