Ava’s POV
As Rachel and the Lycan walk in the room and shut the door behind them, I look at Lily, trying to make eye contact.
Something is wrong with her though. Her eyes look glazed and her feet drag slightly as the Lycan pulls her inside.
I feel panic and I wonder what to tell Cameron so he knows the details of the situation…I can mindlink him and tell him what is going on, but he cannot just barge in, it is too risky.
“Here, drink this.” Rachel is still grinning as she tries to hand me a small black bottle.
I hesitate, taking a step backwards.
Rachel steps forward and raises her eyebrows at me as she thrust the bottle at me and glances towards Lily.
“Take it, or he slices.” She tilts her head towards the Lycan and Lily. The Lycan pushes the small knife further against Lily’s throat and a tiny drop of blood runs down her neck. Lily doesn’t react or move in any way. I look back at Rachel in panic.
Defeated, I jerk the bottle from her hand and slowly lift it, trying to smell it before I drink it, but there is no scent.
Hesitating again, I glance at Lily, who still just stares back at me blankly.
Is this what she took? Can I somehow fake drinking it?
Rachel grabs my hand that is holding the bottle and forces it to my lips, tilting it upwards so a liquid with a strong bitter taste hits my tongue, and I nearly start choking.
She laughs quietly as I try to shove her away and she plucks the bottle from my hand and recaps it.
She puts it in the belt bag around her waist and pulls out a small spray bottle, which she spritzes on me a few times as I try to wave the spray away, taking another step back.
“There.” She nods at the Lycan. “Let’s go.”
Wait. No! I need to tell Cameron. I try to open the mindlink to let Cameron know…but its fuzzy…clouded.
No…
What was that liquid?
I start to feel a little woozy and I glance around the room desperately, trying to think of something to grab, to help…
I attempt to take a step, my arm outstretched, towards the nightstand where my phone lays in view on top of it, but I stumble, barely catching myself against it as I knock my knee hard into it. My phone falls onto the floor, and I feel my body being lifted into the air, the room swirling around me.
I try to keep my eyes open as the Lycan carrying me opens the doors to the balcony and then we are flying…landing softly and then flying again, this time through the woods…the trees a brown and green blur.
Something is knocking into me and I move my head slightly to see Lily over the Lycan’s other shoulder, her body loosely flopping, her hair covering her face.
Cameron. I try to think of Cameron. Try to call to him…but it is like a white fog has taken over and there is no one there…no one to hear me.
I close my eyes and the darkness overtakes me.
-------
My head is pounding, and a small groan escapes me.
I try to lift my hand to my forehead but my hand jerks to a stop after I lift it a few inches.
I open my eyes and quickly shut them, the small amount of dim light in the room making my head pound even harder.
I take a deep breath and open them again, slower this time, and glance around the small, familiar room.
We are in my aunt’s abandoned house. More specifically, her basement storage room.
I try to lift my hand again and when I feel the resistance, I look down. Rope is tied roughly against both of my wrist. I grab the rope and lift it slightly, my eyes following it until I see the end, two feet away, tied to the bottom of a large pipe.
I give it an experimental tug, but it just tightens more against my wrist.
I try to dig at the ties around my wrist with my fingertips, but it is too tight, and I cannot get a good enough grip on the knot.
Closing my eyes again, I think of Cameron and try to mindlink with him.
Nothing. It doesn’t feel quite the same as before though, instead of a fog, it just feels empty.
Frustrated, I stop and look around. There are three large candles burning on the other side of the small room. I look to the right and I see a lump in the shadows.
“Lily!” I whisper, trying to stretch my foot out to poke her.
“Lily!”
The lump starts to move a little and lets out a groan.
“Lily!” I hiss a little louder.
She lifts her head off the ground.
“Ava?” Her voice is tiny, frightened. “Wh-what are we doing here? Where are we?”
“We are in Aunt Casey’s house, in the basement storage room.”
She tries to lift a hand to her head as she sits up and she looks down, trying to tug at the ropes.
“Oh my god, Ava!”
She looks at me in panic, unconsciously still tugging at the rope that is tied at her wrist.
“Shh…not so loud.”
I scoot over to the end of the rope that is tied to the pipe to get a closer look, wondering if there is a way to break the pipe off the wall. I take a look at the large screws holding the pipe against the wall and feel frustration again.
Dammit!
I look around the room again, trying to figure out if there is anything we can use, but the room is bare, having been abandoned for so long.
“W-why would they bring us here?”
Lily is looking around the room too.
“I don’t know.” I murmur as I try to scoot closer to Lily. “Can you move closer to me?”
She crawls towards me but jerks to a stop three feet away from me.
“This is as far as the rope lets me get.”
Shit.
I pause for a moment to think.
What if I shift? Could I chew through the ropes?
Worth a shot.
Wait…no…what is happening?
“Lily…I can’t shift. Can you?”
Lily looks at me with her eyes wide, shaking her head.
I pound my fists against the concrete floor in frustration.
What is preventing us from shifting? Why can’t I mindlink?
I chew on my lip as I scoot back and lean my back against the wall.
How will the other’s find us here? Why in the world would they look here?
Will Cameron be able to follow our scent?
An image of Rachel with a spray bottle pops into mind, grinning as she sprayed me with whatever was inside of it…and with a sinking heart, I realize it must have been wist.
The werewolf spray that disguises your scent. It is very rare, very hard to come by, and it is very effective.
I close my eyes and swallow against the lump forming in my throat.
“Ava…why would Rachel bring us here? What is going on?”
I squeeze my eyes tight to prevent any tears escaping and take a deep, steadying breath.
“I am not completely sure, Lily, but most likely she wanted me out of the way.”
“O-out of the w-way?” Lily sounds uncertain, scared.
“Like I said, I am not sure, but I think she wants me out of the way so she can have Cameron. I think she has been planning something for a while. I have seen her sneaking around…”
I mentally kick myself for not telling Cameron.
Maybe if I had told him my concerns about Rachel and Chris, none of this would have happened.
Chris…was he in on this?
Is that why he told me to leave?
Wait…why would he tell me to leave if this was the plan? Was he involved? He wasn’t the one with Rachel…I have no idea who the other Lycan was, but he did remind me of someone…
“Chris needs me for something…”
My heart thumps hard when I remember Cameron saying those words before he left…was Chris purposefully distracting him so Rachel and the other guy could get to me?
Why did that other Lycan seem so familiar?
I close my eyes as I try to remember his face. He had dark hair that was pulled into a bun on the top of his head, harsh eyes, thin lips…
He looked like the Lycan that Cameron killed in the woods, the one that was about to attack me.
My stomach clenches and my heart is thumping even harder, painfully, against my chest.
Rachel is working with the Red Night pack, and most likely Chris too…which means that Cameron is in danger…along with both of our entire packs.
“Lily…I think that Rachel is working with the Red Night pack.”
Lily lets out a strangled gasp.
“Are…are you sure? Do you really think so?” Her voice is small.
I nod, more to myself than to Lily.
“I am pretty sure.”
“But…why?”
I shake my head. “I really have no idea…it can’t be just because Cameron mated to me…this has been happening before he even came here. It’s something else, something bigger.”
Lily makes a small whimper sound and I see her bring her knees up to her chest.
I want to say something to reassure her, but I cannot think of anything.
How are we going to get out of this? Will someone hear us if we scream?
Lycan’s hearing is amazing, there has got to be a Lycan that comes near here for patrol.
I chew on my lip.
Who else is here? What will happen if we start yelling?
“Ava…do you think they will kill us?”
“Don’t think like that Lily. We need to think of a way to get these ropes off.” I lift my wrists and give another pointless tug at the knot.
Lily gives a big, defeated sigh.
“Stop that Lily! We have got to stay positive! Cameron and Caleb will come looking for us.”
“Ha. Maybe Cameron will look for you, Caleb doesn’t care if I go missing.”
“Of course, he does, Lily.”
She sniffs and I see her turn her body slightly away from me.
“No. He doesn’t want to be with me, he was about to reject me before Rachel came. He wants to be with you. He doesn’t love me.”
The sniffs come quicker, and I close my eyes and lightly tap my head against the wall.
Dammit Caleb.
“Lily, I am sure he wasn’t about to reject you…and I am with Cameron, Caleb knows that.”
She doesn’t respond.
“Cameron and I already marked each other.”
Lily’s head jerks up and she swivels towards me.
“What?”
“Cameron wanted to do it early so he could keep me safe…” I grunt at the irony. That did not work out well at all.
“But…what about the ceremony?” Lily’s voice sounds scandalized.
“I really don’t care about those kinds of things. I just wanted to be one with Cameron.”
Lily is quiet for a moment.
“If Caleb really wanted to be with me, I don’t think I would care about a ceremony either.”
I try to scoot closer to Lily, but my ropes won’t allow me. I can feel her pain and I just wish I could do something.
The doorknob rattles and I stop moving as a light overhead turns on, making me close my eyes briefly against the harsh light.
“You are awake.” I look up and see the Lycan who had carried us here.
“Who are you? Why are we here?”
He chuckles.
“You will find out eventually.” He walks over and bends over Lily, lifting her by the chin to look at her face and she tries to jerk away.
“Don’t touch her!”
He looks over at me and raises an eyebrow as he steps towards me.
“The king’s mate.” He grins as I stare back at him.
“You two will be nice and quiet down here, right?” He reaches in his pocket and pulls out the small black bottle. “Or should I give you more of this?” He shakes the bottle at us.
He leans closer to me. “You will be quiet, Ava?”
The hairs on the back of my neck raise and I nod at him.
He smiles widely. “Good girl.”
He turns and leaves, the light turning off as the door closes.
I look over at Lily who is looking back at me with wide terrified eyes.
How are we going to get out of here?