Her heartbeat tells a different story. She knows that if we're caught, she'll get punished. Or worse. I wouldn't be surprised if Sophie's parents would kill the woman for helping us. But I won't reject her help.
"Thank you," I force myself to say. "How can you aid us?"
A tiny smile curves her lips. "A distraction. I'll set fire to the kitchen. Let's burn this place down."
I look into her eyes to see if she means what she's saying. And yes, she does.
I give her a small nod. "Sounds good. How many people are in the building? Are Sophie's parents here?"
"No, they're away on business. They were supposed to return yesterday but they messaged to say that they'd be delayed. I think they're in Attenburgh to meet Peter Tamari."
"Wait, I know that name. What does he look like?"
The woman frowns. "Quite ordinary. Not exactly a looker. Late fifties. Grey hair. A scar beneath one of his eyes."
That's the siren Lily mentioned, the one who she accompanied to the Jewellers' Guild ball. It feels so long ago now. Stealing the diamond, working for the mayor, Lady Lara, finding that cute little fawn... Back then, we'd been wondering if Tamari was the siren who'd orchestrated the assassination attempt on me. I shudder at the memory. That poison was awful.
"If they're gone, who is here?" I ask to distract myself.
"It's just us, two other employees plus the usual guards."
I assume that with 'guards' she means the mutant grunts. "How many?"
"When you were still...below, we only had six of them around at all times. Now it's twelve."
She looks at me as if that's my fault. I didn't miss her slight pause though when she talked about below. The cell they kept me in must be on a lower level.
"Are there any other prisoners?" I ask out of interest. Not that I have the time or energy to save anyone else.
"No. You were the first in a long time. Lord Delaney changed his methods a couple of years ago."
Lord Delaney. This is the first time I hear his name. I don't like it. It sounds too pretty for the man who kidnapped and tortured me. Who turned Sophie into this. I wonder why he's called Lord. We've not had a monarchy in centuries. In Attenburgh, Lady Lara had that title because she was the mayor. Is Delaney a mayor here too? Or some other powerful official? It wouldn't surprise me.
"Shall we have our picnic?" Sophie is jumpy with impatience.
I smile at her. "Yes, let's do it. Do you know what the weather's like?"
"It's cloudy but there's no rain."
That means there are windows further up in the house. Or maybe she just watched the weather report, but let's hope it's the former. I can't bear the thought of my little sister growing up in a house without windows.
The cook leads us out of my room and through the corridors I'm already familiar with. I hope she knows where the guards are so that we can avoid them. Maybe she's even told them to stay away. I don't want to get my hopes up, but if this ends well, I might give her a job at M.E.O.W. We could always do with a cook.
I get a little wary when we walk up the stairs that I was pushed down during my last exploration, but nobody stops us. Everything is quiet, no matter how much I strain my ears. Sophie doesn't show any fear, but the cook makes up for that. Sweat pools on her back, gluing her blouse to her skin. Her heart is beating fast but, to her credit, her expression doesn't give away her anxiety. I guess she's used to hiding her feelings in this household.
We sneak through the house, ascending floor by floor until a blast of fresh air reaches me. Wow. After months inside windowless rooms, I'd forgotten what air smelled like. We must be close to the exit now.
I itch with the temptation to just run and run without ever looking back. Freedom is so close. If only I could do that, but I went through this whole ordeal to save my sister and there's no way I'm abandoning her now.
When we pass a kitchen - much larger than the one I saw downstairs - the woman stops and collects a big picnic basket. She lifts the lid just enough for me to get a quick look at the contents. Knives, wrapped food, two bottles. I'm having trouble to believe that she's helping us. That we might get out of here alive and in one piece. How did someone nice get to work here?
"Thank you," I mutter and I mean it. Every single letter.
"Is there rhubarb pie?" Sophie asks, unaware of what's going on. It's interesting how she can be this innocent one moment and behave much older than her age the next.
"Of course," the woman says not unkindly. When I overheard her, she complained about Sophie having bitten her, but she must realise that my little sister can't help behaving like she does. Not after all her supposed parents have done to her.
The cook checks her watch. "Time to go, their break is almost over. There are some shoes by the door, hopefully they’ll fit. Get as far away from the house as you can, I'm going to try and make this one big firework."
Something akin to excitement crosses over her lined face.
I bow my head. "Thank you. Be safe."
"You too. Look after Sophie."
The girl in question looks up at us both. "Are we not coming back?"
There is both hope and fear in her eyes.
I take her hand and squeeze it. "No. We're not. We have a new life waiting for us."
Chapter Eight
I can barely breathe when I step out of the building.
Free, at last.
We're surrounded by houses, most of them a lot smaller than the tower-like structure I've been held in. Too many possible eyes on us. We need to get out of here as fast as possible.
"Let's have our picnic in a quiet spot. Do you know one? Maybe a forest?"
"The Duchess Woods," Sophie suggests, her normal eye sparkling with excitement. "It's not far."
"Good. Shall we have a race there? I'll take the picnic basket to make it fair."
She scoffs. "I may be smaller, but I bet I'm faster than you even if I'm carrying the basket. But alright then. First to get to the Woods gets the rhubarb pie."
And she starts running.
With a grin, I follow her. I keep my senses on high alert, very aware of how exposed we are. People could be watching us from their homes. People who're friends of Lord Delaney, or even other sirens. It's not safe, but there's nothing I can do about it but get out of this settlement as soon as possible.
Stretching my legs feels amazing. A fresh breeze strokes my hair while sunshine warms my face. Most of the houses have small gardens filled with sweet-smelling flowers and their scent almost makes me want to cry. I've missed this so much. Nature. Freedom.
Even in my weakened state, I have no trouble matching Sophie's speed, but I let her lead, staying close behind her. Hopefully, if the neighbours do see us, they'll think us two girls having fun on a sunny day. That's certainly true for Sophie. Her happiness surrounds her like a second set of clothes, bright and beautiful. In turn, I'm happy for her. She deserves this moment of happiness. Who knows when we next get a chance to laugh.
After a few minutes of running, we reach the edge of the village. The houses here are smaller and nowhere near as well looked after as the ones earlier. We pass a ruined building to our right before the forest welcomes us home.
It feels like that. Home. The cat in me is itching to get out. Not yet. We need to get to safety first. Far away from Lord Delaney's house. If I shift now, I'm not sure if I'll stay in control. The panther might take over and I'd be no use to Sophie that way. I might even be too weak to shift in the first place.
Sophie stops at an old birch, panting slightly.
"I win!"
I grin. "Yes, you do. The pie is all yours. But let's run some more, okay? We don't want to be interrupted."
She shoots a wistful look at the picnic basket but then nods. "Where are we going?"
"How big is this forest?"
"Big. We might have to run for two hours to reach the other end."
I raise an eyebrow at her. "Are you afraid of a challenge?"
Again, she look
s at the basket. She really wants that pie.
"No. I'll beat you," she says, pushing back her shoulders and puffing up her chest. "I'm the fastest girl in Parseldon."
"Then let's prove that. First to the other side gets the sausage rolls."
"I didn't want them anyway."
This time, I didn't let her beat me. It took most of the energy I'd gained over the last twenty-four hours though. I'm exhausted. I need a break, and besides, I don't think I could stop Sophie from finally having her picnic. I think she knows that we're running away. She's too clever not to realise, but pretending that it's all just a little excursion will make it easier for her to deal with. I keep having to remind myself that she won't be able to shake off her captors' influence just like that. It will take time.
We sit down and start gorging ourselves on the food the cook prepared for us. Sophie doesn't comment on the knives in the basket. She's only interested in the rhubarb pie. At least I know how to bribe her in future. This girl will do anything for a slice of pie. Hopefully, Caitlin can bake some. If not, she'll have to learn. There's no way I'm standing in the kitchen, baking. I'd probably burn the place down.
By the time my stomach has reached a satisfying level of fullness, I'm having to fight a wave of tiredness. No time to sleep. We need to get more distance between us and Parseldon. By now, they'll have likely noticed our absence. They will be coming after us. The forest is too dense to use horses, but those grunts will be at least as fast as us, and I doubt they'll stop for a picnic.
"Sophie? What happens if you cover your eye?"
"I'm not allowed to." She grimaces. "Father doesn't like it."
"But you've done it before, haven't you."
"Yes. Once. But I promised him never to do it again."
The anguish on her face tells of the punishment she must have faced. Poor thing. But I have to know more.
"Can he still make you do things even if he can't see through your eye?"
She nods. "But it's harder for him. Right now he can't reach me anyway."
Confusion battles relief. "How? I thought distance wasn't an issue? He was able to eye you yesterday even though he wasn't home."
"The antenna isn't here, silly," she tells me as if that should be obvious. He needs the antenna to send the signal. He once explained to me how it all worked. He either needs to be close to me or I need to be close to the antenna."
"So that means he definitely won't be able to control your eye?"
She shakes her head, clearly very happy about that fact. "No eyeing. It's just us." Her smile disappears. "We're not going back, are we?"
"No, we won't. I'm going to take you to my home. You'll be safe there. You'll get to meet my friends and our sisters. And lots of cats."
"Sisters?"
Ah. She doesn't know. "I'll explain later. We should leave."
"Where is your home?"
I can't help but sigh. "Attenburgh. At least we'd just made our home there before I was taken. I don't know if they're even still there. We need to find a phone so I can find out. If they're still in Attenburgh, we'll have to find a way to get there."
"When we went to see you, we took the train."
Bless her innocence. See me. Not quite what I would call kidnapping. She was used as the bait and didn't even realise it.
"I'd love to take the train, but only rich people get to take it."
"I'm rich."
She's not boasting, she's merely stating a fact. She'll have to drop that attitude though. While I have money, there's always something I need to spend it on. And I'm not talking expensive jewellery and jacuzzis. More like a malfunctioning morgue or new lab tools for Bethany.
"Do you have any money on you?" I ask. It's a rhetorical question, but to my surprise, she nods.
"I don't know if it's enough for the train though."
She pulls out a bunch of notes from her skirt pocket. I think my eyes are about to pop out of my head. That must be at least a thousand darems. Where did she get that kind of money?
When I ask her, she just shrugs. "My mother pays me pocket money, but I never get to go out so I can't spend it. Sometimes Cook bought me something, but never enough to really get rid of my money."
Her fake mother must have been compensating for the lack of maternal care. I'd usually have to do at least twenty hits for this kind of sum, and that's without expenses like poison top-ups and extortionate amounts of laundry detergent. Of course, the only one that effectively deals with blood stains is also the most expensive.
With her money, we might actually be able to afford the train, but I doubt that's a very stealthy way of travelling. Only the rich and famous use the train that criss-crosses the country like a compass rose. Passengers will know each other. The two of us would stand out like a torn-off thumb. No, we have to travel the slow way. But first, I need to figure out if my family is still in Attenburgh.
"Is there a village nearby?" I ask Sophie. "I need to find a house to sneak in and use their telephone."
"I'm not sure. I don't think there's anything but fields around the Duchess Woods, but I've only been here a few times for hikes. And that was always with my parents so we didn't explore away from the paths."
"Then I'll guess we'll just have to walk and see. Once we're away from the forest, I might be able to sense any nearby humans."
The food has refilled my energy levels pretty quickly. My senses are getting stronger, as is my body. If I continue to be able to eat as much as I want, it shouldn't be too long until I'm back to normal. Hopefully. It's not as if I have experience with being almost starved to death while also being tortured physically and mentally. I'm sure this will leave some scars that won't show until later. Not something I should worry about now. We've got more pressing issues.
With most of our food gone, carrying a picnic basket around doesn't make much sense. I wish I had my normal clothes with all the pockets and not this flimsy dress they put me in. My calves are full of bloody scratches from the undergrowth and my feet hurt from the uncomfortable shoes the cook gave me. I shouldn't complain. I could still be naked and barefoot. Think positive.
We make our way to the edge of the forest. This time we're walking rather than running, both of us both full of food and exhausted. Darkness is closing in quickly.
"Where are we going to sleep?" Sophie asks the question I was posing myself.
"We're going to find somewhere safe. Not yet, though. We don't want the guards to find us, right?"
"No, they're not very nice. Some of them can't even speak. They only growl and attack without warning."
I should ask if they ever hurt her, but I don't want to know the answer. I'm pretty sure I already know. She's been damaged by everyone who's ever been around her, save maybe that cook and other servants. It's a miracle that she trusts me.
"Once we're home, we'll be safe from them," I promise. "We just need to get to a phone and find out where my friends are. Everything will be alright."
I wish I could believe my own words.
Chapter Nine
As soon as we leave the forest, my senses go into overdrive. Enemies could be lurking in every shadow. In the forest, the trees gave us some cover, but here we're exposed.
Fields spread out all around us, reaching far into the distance. Most are host to dried stalks of whatever the farmers harvested, some are completely empty. The harvest season must have been at least a month ago. Yet another reminder of how much time passed while I was imprisoned. I used to love harvest time. The market stalls would be full of ripe fruit, but Lennox and I often went straight to the warehouses, munching on whatever had fallen off the carts on the way there. Sometimes, we were sated by the time we got to the warehouse so we'd just sit down in a quiet corner and snooze.
I lead us through the fields with the most crop corpses. I know they don't offer enough cover, but it makes me feel a little less on edge nonetheless. The sharp stalks rip open the soles of my feet, but my shifter healing powers have grown back just enough
to take the edge of the pain. Sophie follows me without complaint, but she's wearing expensive-looking boots as well as trousers that protect her legs.
By the time the night envelops us in its cloak of darkness, we still haven't come across any signs of nearby humans. No houses anywhere to be seen. No fresh scents either. Luckily, Sophie's night vision seems to be as good as mine, so we trudge on. A full moon is shining above us. Lennox will likely be running right now. He's got his wolf under control, but during full moon nights, it's hard for him to stay human. In Attenburgh, we once ran together, all night until dawn, before shifting in a little meadow. We had great sex there. I can't help but smile. Sex after shifting is always the best. It's when my senses are still more intense and every touch creates explosions of pleasure in my mind.
"What are your friends like?" Sophie asks out of the blue.
"They're all very different, but they're also similar in what drives them. Some of us are usually solitary, but we somehow fit together like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. We've all got different backgrounds, but that doesn't matter. Gryphon is a siren and had a very privileged upbringing. He even went to university to study medicine. On the other hand, Lennox grew up with me in the Pack. We didn't have a lot of food as children, but we had each other and that helped a lot."
I continue telling her all about my men, then the M.E.O.W. employees. I have to fight tears when I think of them all. She listens intently, sometimes asking questions, but mostly just taking it all in. With every word, my heart breaks a little more. I miss them so much. It's been too long since I saw them. Touched them. My skin tingles at the thought. I've not touched another being ever since I got self-kidnapped. Strange. I never thought I'd miss being touched, even if it's just a handshake or a quick hug. I'm not even a hugger, but...
"I can smell something," Sophie interrupts my train of thought. "I think it's a human."
I still and breathe in the night air. She's right. At the very edge of my sensory range, I can detect the faint traces of a human male. He's old and sweaty.
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