66. Rush of Blood
After ominously stating that he had to make a phone call, Robert left the basement.
The older man went with him, leaving me alone with Elias, Mr. Callahan, and my unconscious birth father.
The two men looked at me, probably wondering what to do with me now that their boss was gone.
Elias was the one to suggest that I be temporarily released from my restraints and allowed to use the
bathroom.
“Why?” Mr. Callahan snapped.
“Because she might need to take a leak?”
Elias was right. My bladder felt like it was about to burst.
Mr. Callahan stiffened, his eyes on me for a moment, but then he turned away as if he couldn’t stand to look at me for too long.
I wondered if he’d just viewed me as human for the first time since my kidnapping and it was making
him uncomfortable.
Good. I hope he feels guilty.
“Fine,” my teacher grunted. “Just be quick.”
After removing the heavy silver chains, Elias put a cuff around my ankle and locked it with a key from his pocket.
The cuff was connected to a different chain that was wrapped around a load-bearing pole nearby, secured with a padlock.
I felt like a fucking zoo animal…but at least I could move.
“Where…you…?”
I snapped my head up, searching for the person who had just spoken.
Elias was still messing with the lock at my ankle, and Mr. Callahan was busy glowering down at Mitchell.
I frowned. The voice couldn’t have belonged to either of the men in the room. It was too quiet and muffled, like someone speaking from the other side of the thick basement walls.
It’s probably Robert talking upstairs.
But then, why did it sound like Ace?
Wishful thinking.
“Come on,” Elias said.
He offered me a hand, but I ignored it and stood on my own. My legs wobbled, and the room spun. I stumbled a bit but managed to right myself before I toppled over.
Elias tried to usher me forward, but I halted, noticing Mr. Callahan kick Mitchell’s head, forcing it to the side. He glowered at my birth father.
“Don’t hurt him,” I said.
Mr. Callahan raised his head and narrowed his eyes menacingly. “I’ll do whatever I want,” he shot back.
I took a step toward him, ready to fight for my pathetic excuse of a father. “I—”
Elias put a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll make sure Cormac doesn’t hurt your dad. If you don’t go to the bathroom now, you might not get another chance. Robert is coming back soon.”
I looked at him. His expression was genuine. Gentle.
Was he trying to help me? It made no sense. Where was this warmth when he poisoned my little brothers and watched Robert punch me so hard he broke my nose?
Maybe watching me get literally tortured a few minutes ago brought some of his humanity back?!
With one last worried glance at Mitchell, I nodded at Elias. “Okay.”
I thought he was going to pass me a bucket to pee in, but instead, he led me forward.
I hadn’t seen it before, having faced the other side of the room, but there was a small, unfinished bathroom. It had concrete walls and was covered in a layer of dust and grime. couldn’t stand to Tiles covered only half the floor, a single, flickering light bulb hung in front of the mirror, and there was no faucet or handles in the tub. It must’ve been a project that someone forgot about.
I wondered how long it had been since the last time someone had used it. Years, it looked like.
Even so, it was way better than a bucket.
Elias let me use the toilet with the door mostly closed, leaving only a small crack for my chain to run through.
Mr. Callahan grumbled. “You’ve got one minute. I’m affording you some trust.” He gripped his gun tighter. “Don’t make me regret it.”
With that ominous threat looming in the air, I took care of my business quickly and efficiently, while also scanning the small room for anything that might be of use in this situation.
The mirror could be used as a weapon if I broke it but that would be too loud. The toilet seat was heavy enough to do some damage. I wondered how hard it would be to unscrew it from the toilet.
“Where…are…you?”
I paused. There it was again! That strange voice that sounded so much like Ace. I was sure I wasn’t making it up now.
“Minute’s almost up!” Mr. Callahan shouted from the other side of the door.
What an ass.
I made my way to the sink to wash my hands, gasping when I saw my reflection in the dirty mirror.
The girl staring back at me was barely recognizable. Were it not for the scar on my forehead, I might have thought I was someone else entirely.
I was covered in dry blood, and my left eye was swollen, the other one not too far behind. My nose was a tad bit more crooked than the last time I had seen it.
Definitely broken.
I looked like I had gone through hell and back. No wonder I was in so much pain.
“Where are you?”
Okay, seriously, was I going crazy or something? Why was I hearing Ace ask me the same question over and over again?
I don’t know where I am! I wanted to yell back.
All I knew was that I was in a house. I wasn’t even sure if I was in Colorado anymore. Mitchell was with me, though, so maybe we were back in Massachusetts?
I hung my head and gripped the counter for stability, shoving down the need to cry.
I could not let my emotions get the better of me. Not again.
I had already revealed so much weakness to my captors; I could only hope it wasn’t too late to turn things around.
Ace isn’t here to save you this time, I told myself, even if my brain producing his voice was trying to convince me otherwise.
I had to make it out of this on my own. I had to be strong. Even if the events of the past several hours made it almost impossible.
I could already feel the weight of everything starting to crush me. Being kidnapped, betrayed by my birth father, finding out my boyfriend was a monster straight out of a horror movie.
It all threatened to cut off my airway and send me down a spiral of panic and devastation.
My brain refused to let me fully process the thing about Ace being a werewolf. I could have gotten caught up in all the “How the fuck did I miss it?” moments, but I simply did not have the energy.
It was too big, too much to come to terms with, and I already had a lot on my plate.
I couldn’t devote my already limited mental energy to comprehending that mind-fuck.
I needed to focus on escaping. Surviving.
Besides, if it really was true, it meant the boy I was hopelessly in love with had lied to me our whole lives. It meant he had betrayed and manipulated me. It meant I didn’t really know him.
How were we supposed to come back from that? How could I ever trust him again?
No, I couldn’t let myself go there. Not yet. Not when my physical and mental well-being depended onet seat was heavy me remaining calm.
It might not be true. There could be a reasonable explanation for all of it.
Please don’t be true. Please ~don’t be true.~ “Where are you?”
I turned on the old and squeaky faucet and washed my hands, then cleaned the dried blood on my face.
It didn’t do much without soap or towels. After I was done, I felt dirtier than when I’d started.
“Where are you?”
I slammed the faucet handle down, abruptly turning it off. The voice was getting louder. Deeper, more insistent. It was becoming impossible to ignore.
I was seriously losing my marbles. Even after learning Ace was a monster, my messed-up brain wasnd. My nose was still so desperate for him that it was producing non-existent samples of his voice.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Ugh, I could feel a headache coming on. A bad one.
Someone banged on the door, making me jump in surprise. “Time’s up!” Elias called out.
“Where are you?”
Ignoring the voice, I shook my hands to dry them and pushed the door open. Elias stood on the other side, waiting for me. His eyes traveled down my body.
He didn’t put the chains back on me but did wrap the one connected to the cuff on my ankle to a nearby pole, making it shorter so I could only move a few feet in any direction.
Elias also placed a pair of handcuffs on my wrists. The restraints weren’t ideal, but I would take them over being forced to sit in that terrible wooden chair again.
“Let me know if you need to use the bathroom again,” he said to me.
I nodded absently as I was busy watching Mr. Callahan.
He had dragged Mitchell’s unconscious body to the corner opposite the one I was in now and was using ropes to secure his hands together behind a wooden beam with a tight knot.
There was a huge welt on Mitchell’s left temple where Mr. Callahan had struck him.
It worried me that he was still unconscious. How hard did he hit him?
Once he was done, Mr. Callahan approached me. He crouched down in front of me and tugged on my handcuffs, making sure they were secure.
“You’re sure we shouldn’t put the silver back on her?” Elias asked him, hovering close by.
Mr. Callahan stood. “She’s human. Silver won’t affect her.”
“What about her mate?”
“They’re not fully mated, so we don’t have to worry about it.”
Mr. Callahan eyed me. “Elias is going to stay and watch you two. No talking. He’s armed, so don’t try anything.”
He directed his gaze to the younger man. “You can handle them on your own for a while?”
“Where are you?”
Elias glanced at my birth father, unconscious and tied up on the floor, and then at me, bruised and cowering in the corner.
“Yeah, I feel pretty confident about it.”
My former teacher walked toward the stairs.
Fueled by the bout of misplaced confidence taking over my body, I called out, “Why are you doing this?”
Mr. Callahan turned, his gaze pinning me sharply. His expression held some animosity—animosity I didn’t think I deserved.
I swallowed my nerves. “What did I do to make you hate me so much?”
“Where are you?”
Mr. Callahan’s upper lip curled. “You didn’t have to do anything. You’re human.
You’re weak . You don’t deserve to lead our pack alongside one of the strongest alphas in existence.
“Ace may be too blinded by the mate bond to see how much you drag him down, but I saw it every time you walked into my classroom, wide-eyed and clinging to his arm like the pathetic omega you are.
“As soon as you’re gone, his eyes will be opened to the truth, and he will return the Embermoon Pack to its former glory with a luna truly worthy of the title.”
That was a lot to process. I recognized a lot of the language from conversations I’d overheard over the years, but that didn’t mean I understood any of it.
“As soon as I’m gone?” I parroted. Those threatening words made me shudder. “Y-you mean, you plan
ankle to a nearbyon k-killing me?”
Elias stepped forward, shaking his head. “That’s not—”
Mr. Callahan sneered and bared his teeth like some rabid animal. “Luckily for you, it’s not up to me. If it were, you would already be dead.
“But know this, I will kill you myself before I allow you to go near Ace Stoll or anyone from the Embermoon Pack ever again.” ow and was usingSensing this was going too far, Elias swiftly put himself between us, facing Mr.
Callahan. “What the fuck is your problem, dude? Do you get off on scaring her or something?”
He shoved the older man, forcing him to step away from me. “It’s not our goal to fucking traumatize her.”
“She should be scared,” Mr. Callahan shot back. “She obviously doesn’t understand.”
The blood rushing in my ears drowned out the rest of their conversation.
For the first time since coming to, I realized just how likely it was that I wouldn’t be making it out of the basement alive.
c omega you are.
u mean, you plan
on k-killing me?”
Elias stepped forward, shaking his head. “That’s not—”
Mr. Callahan sneered and bared his teeth like some rabid animal. “Luckily for you, it’s not up to me. If it were, you would already be dead.
“But know this, I will kill you myself before I allow you to go near Ace Stoll or anyone from the Embermoon Pack ever again.”
Sensing this was going too far, Elias swiftly put himself between us, facing Mr.
Callahan. “What the fuck is your problem, dude? Do you get off on scaring her or something?”
He shoved the older man, forcing him to step away from me. “It’s not our goal to fucking traumatize her.”
“She should be scared,” Mr. Callahan shot back. “She obviously doesn’t understand.”
The blood rushing in my ears drowned out the rest of their conversation.
For the first time since coming to, I realized just how likely it was that I wouldn’t be making it out of the basement alive.
