67. Whispered Promises
I’m not going to leave this basement alive, I realized. ~They would be idiots to keep me alive.~ Ace would find me eventually. No matter where I was or how far they took me, Ace would track me down and make anyone who hurt me pay.
They couldn’t let me go for the same reason. I would go running to Ace, Ace would see what they did to me, and he would make it his personal mission to make them suffer.
The only way to avoid facing Ace’s wrath was to wash their hands of me completely and make sure my disappearance could never be traced back to them.
I might never see Ace again. I might never see my family again.
“Where are you?”
“Dorothy.” Elias’s voice was muffled and far away. “Dorothy, look at me.” His hands fell on my shoulders and squeezed, forcing my eyes up. “You need to breathe.
You’re panicking.”
Am I? Huh. I hadn’t even noticed. All at once, I became aware of my burning lungs. I was full-on hyperventilating.
“Breathe,” Elias said again. “If Waylen hears you crying like this, he’ll come back down and murder us all. Cormac doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He just wants to get in your head.”
“We don’t want to kill you,” Elias continued. “That’s never been the plan.”
I didn’t believe him. Their treatment of me so far did nothing to convince me otherwise.
“Where are you?”
Elias’s eyes sparkled with genuine sympathy. “As soon as you give us the information we need, you can go home with your dad and this can all be over. That was the deal.
“We don’t want to kill you. You’re just as much a victim in all of this as the rest of us.”
My breathing finally slowed. I searched Elias’s face through my tears, trying to understand. “What…
what do you mean?”
How is he a victim? How am I a victim?
“What did Ace do to you?”
His hands fell to his sides, and his expression darkened slightly. “His family has ties to the Mortars.
The Mortars killed my sister. So, we’re going to kill them.”
*** “Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
About twenty minutes had passed since Mr. Callahan left, and I think the voice in my head was about to push me over the edge.
It just wouldn’t stop. It asked the same question, over and over, sounding so much like Ace, it made me want to sob.
It was getting louder too. Whereas it was barely even discernible before, now it blared in my mind as if being spoken through a megaphone. My brain felt like it was about to explode.
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
I placed my forehead against my folded knees and squeezed the sides of my skull with my hands to make it stop. It was no use.
I didn’t understand what was going on. My brain had never conjured up Ace’s voice before. How could I make it stop? It was so real . And incessant. And ~annoying~.
How was I supposed to figure out a way to get out of here if I couldn’t even think anymore?
It was honestly a little scary. Is this what my mind resorts to during high-stress situations? Making up nd make sure myvoices to comfort me?
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
Fuck. I needed to distract myself before I broke down into a sobbing mess.
I looked up. The early-morning sun had started to shine through the small egress window by the stairs, making the scary basement look a tad less intimidating.
Elias had taken a spot on top of the washing machine on the other side of the room.
His gaze was glued to his phone as he scrolled through what sounded like TikTok.
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
My eyes drifted to Mitchell. He was still passed out on the concrete floor. The swelling on his forehead wn and murder uswas getting bad.
My pulse raced with worry. Shouldn’t he be awake by now? What if something is wrong with him?
What if Mr. Callahan gave him a brain bleed or a fracture in his skull?
I didn’t want Mitchell to die. I didn’t care that he abandoned me when I was a child anymore, or that he was the reason I was in this horrible situation. His death would be my breaking point.
“Cormac gave him something to make him sleep while you were in the bathroom,”
Elias said, noticing where I was looking.
“He was being difficult when we first brought you here, and my father didn’t want to deal with that again. He should wake up in a few hours.”
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
“Oh,” I murmured, my shoulders loosening. Well, that’s a relief. “Your father?”
Elias shifted, looking like he regretted revealing that information. “Robert,” he confirmed. “The one in charge.”
Oh. So that was how he got involved in all of this.
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
I eyed Elias warily. He seemed uncomfortable speaking to me. But he was doing it anyway.
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
My god, I was about ready to start banging my head against the wall if I didn’t get the voice to stop soon.
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
“Where am I?” I asked abruptly.Ace, it made me Elias furrowed his brow. “What?”
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”in my mind as if “Where am I?” I repeated.
Maybe that was the way to get the voice to shut up. Maybe if I knew the answer to its question, it would finally let me rest.
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?” efore. How could“Do you really think I would give up our location to you?” Elias replied.
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
Tears of desperation stung the back of my eyes.
“Are we still in Colorado?” I said.
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
Concern flashed over Elias’s features. “You know I can’t answer that.”
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?”
I was considering screaming just to drown it out. “Is this your house?”
“Ask all the questions you want,” Elias said. “I can’t tell you anything. I’m not even supposed to beg on his forehead talking to you right now.”
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
Where are you?” ymore, or that heI gripped the sides of my head again. I just wished I knew how to make it stop.
“Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
Where are you? Where are—?”
“Shut up! Shut up, shut up, shut up!” I finally screamed back in my mind. “~I don’t know where I am!
In a basement, in a house! I don’t know where! Just please shut up!”~ And just like that, the voice was silent. My exhale of relief came from deep within my soul as every muscle in my body finally relaxed. A painful weight was lifted off consciousness.
“You doing okay over there?” Elias leaned forward, looking ready to jump down from his spot on the washing machine.
I sighed and brushed the hair out of my face. “I’m fine. Just a really bad headache
—”
“I’m…tell…anything…please…”
I froze. The voice was back, but it was quieter again, no longer making my brain rattle. I could barely
make the words out.
“Concentrate…who…recognize…”
It was like I was having a conversation with someone with horrible cell reception.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Elias was still studying me, his lips downturned.
“You’ve got a funny look on your face.”
“Yeah, I’m good,” I replied. “Tired.”
“You should try to get some sleep. I’m not sure what my father has planned for you, but you’re going
to want all your energy for it.”
I didn’t like the sound of that.
He was right though—it was probably in my best interest to try to get sleep, but I was already so sure I wouldn’t be able to get any rest without Ace by my side that I wasn’t even going to try.
My time would be better spent studying my captors, coming up with escape plans, and searching the room for possible weapons.
With a nod, I tucked my face back into my knees—being careful of my broken nose —making sure he couldn’t watch my face anymore. I heard his quiet TikToks start up again a moment later.
Now that the voice in my head didn’t hurt to listen to and wasn’t repeating the same thing, I was interested in what it had to say.
I knew it was ridiculous, but part of me hoped it really was Ace talking to me somehow. It was a long shot, but if Ace was a werewolf, who was to say he couldn’t also communicate telepathically?
Yeah, I was losing it.
The voice sounded again. “Please…tell…see…”
I concentrated even harder, my heart pounding with hope as I spoke into my mind.
“Ace?”
“Yeah…me…Ace…”
The air exploded out of my lungs. It took everything in me not to burst into tears.
I still had no way of knowing if it was actually him or just a hallucination, but I really didn’t care. The voice sounded like Ace and ~claimed~ to be Ace, and that was enough to give me hope.
“I…listen…look…,” Ace’s voice continued. ~“Recognize…”~ I assumed he was asking if there was anything I recognized. now where I am!
That he wanted to focus on where I was seemed to me to be proof that it really could be him. I could only imagine how worried Ace was about me.
Wherever he was in the world, he must have known I was missing. And if he could talk to me, he would definitely try to find out where I was so he could get me back.
I looked around the room, searching for anything that might be useful.
“Mitchell!” I shouted in my head. ~“Mitchell gave me up to the kidnappers! And Mr.
Callahan. He gave me to this man named Robert—”~ “Slow.” Ace’s voice cut me off.~ “Repeat.”~ Right. He was probably only hearing bits and pieces of what I was saying, just like I was only hearing some of his words.
I sucked in a deep breath and focused all my energy on forming slow, clear words in my mind.
“Mitchell. Mr. Callahan. Robert. Elias.”
“Again…,” Ace said, ~“concentrate…slow…”~ It was shocking how much effort it took to communicate in such a way. My whole body shook from the exertion, and I felt sweat dripping down the back of my neck.
“Mitchell…Mr. Callahan…Robert…Elias…,” I said as slowly and clearly as I could.
It was hard to know if I was doing it right. It was possible Ace wasn’t hearing a single syllable.
Hell, it was possible I was making it all up and needed to be institutionalized.
I repeated the same list twice more.
By the time I was done, I was panting, and my skull pounded with painful pressure.
I sagged against the wall behind me, so exhausted that my eyes drifted shut on their own accord.
“A-again?” I asked Ace.
There was a long pause, and I started to panic that I had lost him. I didn’t care how much pain or fatigue this strange connection caused me. I wasn’t ready to be alone again.
“Ace?” I tried again. ~“Don’t go. Please. I need you.”~ My limbs felt numb, and my head fell against the wooden beam next to me, too heavy to hold up anymore.
I sensed my connection to Ace dwindling. I was too tired. That short conversation— if you could even call it that—had used the little energy I had left.
Trying to keep our connection open had given me the sensation I had violent lacerations across my scalp, making it nearly impossible to think.
I could feel myself starting to drift off, the edges of my vision caving in. I had no control over it. It was as if I’d been drugged, then I wondered if that’s what had caused the hallucinations.
Right before completely losing consciousness, during a moment when my mind was otherwise completely blank, I heard Ace’s barely audible voice speak one last time.
“I’m here. You can rest now, baby.” His deep timbre was like ice upon my throbbing skull. ~“I’m coming for you. I’m coming.”~
dy shook from the
Hell, it was possible I was making it all up and needed to be institutionalized.
I repeated the same list twice more.
By the time I was done, I was panting, and my skull pounded with painful pressure.
I sagged against the wall behind me, so exhausted that my eyes drifted shut on their own accord.
“A-again?” I asked Ace.
There was a long pause, and I started to panic that I had lost him. I didn’t care how much pain or fatigue this strange connection caused me. I wasn’t ready to be alone again.
“Ace?” I tried again. ~“Don’t go. Please. I need you.”~ My limbs felt numb, and my head fell against the wooden beam next to me, too heavy to hold up anymore.
I sensed my connection to Ace dwindling. I was too tired. That short conversation— if you could even call it that—had used the little energy I had left.
Trying to keep our connection open had given me the sensation I had violent lacerations across my scalp, making it nearly impossible to think.
I could feel myself starting to drift off, the edges of my vision caving in. I had no control over it. It was as if I’d been drugged, then I wondered if that’s what had caused the hallucinations.
Right before completely losing consciousness, during a moment when my mind was otherwise completely blank, I heard Ace’s barely audible voice speak one last time.
“I’m here. You can rest now, baby.” His deep timbre was like ice upon my throbbing skull. ~“I’m coming for you. I’m coming.”~
