"Jace! Look! Here!"
He leaned over her, his shoulder brushing hers as he pressed his fingers to a divot in the wood. The wood was smooth and polished, as if it had been worn smooth by years of touching. "This has to be it." He moved his fingers over the crevice, trying to figure out how to open it.
"Jace." Drake's voice was taut. "Wolves incoming. At least ten. From the north."
Jace spun around and lifted his head, reaching out, but he couldn't pick anything up. No scent. No sound. But Drake didn't need scent or sound. He could sense wolves from miles away, based only on their energy signature. "Grigori?"
Abby sucked in her breath and swung around, her fingers digging into Jace's shoulder. "Lucius?"
"Not Grigori, but they're not hiding their approach. They're moving fast." Drake was standing in the middle of the room, staring at the north wall as if he could see right through it. "They're in vehicles. Moving fast."
"Oh, God." The girl by the bed leapt to her feet. "They followed us. Oh, no." She spun around, her eyes wild. "We have to leave," she said. "They'll kill us-"
"No time. They're too close." Drake met Jace's gaze. No words were spoken, but he knew the stakes. There was no way they would win, not with Jace's injuries, against ten wolves trained by Grigori.
Swearing, he ran his fingers over the wall of the closet. "We need to open this and get in there."
Abby flung herself at the wall, frantically searching. "It has to be somewhere. A hinge or something."
Drake strode over to the bed. "I'll get your brother. Help them search."
For a split second, the woman stared at Drake. Jace understood her dilemma. How could she trust strangers? But how could she not? They were all the chance she and her brother had. Finally, she nodded. "If you hurt him, I will kill you," she snapped.
"You can try," Drake said mildly, even as he reached past her to pick up her brother.
Clutching the sheet around her, she raced over to the closet, dropping to her knees beside Abby, frantically running her hands over the back wall of the closet, looking for a trigger point that would open some hidden door
Drake moved up behind them, the injured shifter in his arms. "Three minutes until arrival."
Jace swore and thudded his fist against the wood. This wasn't working. They didn't have time to search randomly. He needed a strategy, and he needed it now. "Abby."
She whirled around to look at him, her face ashen. "It's Lucius," she whispered. "I know it's him. He's coming."
Her fear stuck him like a cold knife, and he swore at his answering instinct to drag her into his arms, sprint to the car and get her to safety. Except there was only one road out, and they'd run into the incoming shifters on their way. Their only option was to open the blasted door.
Jace set his hands on her shoulders, gazing steadily at her face, as if the clock wasn't ticking with deadly quickness. "Abby. You know Kiernan well. What would he use as a safeguard to protect his entrance?"
She looked at him frantically. "Seriously? I don't know-"
"You do know." He tightened his grip on her shoulders. "Close your eyes and picture him. He must have come and gone countless times while you were his patient. You must know how he does it."
"Two minutes," Drake said.
Jace ignored him, forced himself to remain calm, sending out reassuring energy to Abby. "You've got this, Abby. I know you do."
She glanced at the others, and then back at him. Her face was ashen. "Jace-"
"You can do this."
If she couldn't, they were all dead.
Chapter 11
Panic hammered at Abby, but she focused her attention on Jace. His gaze was steady, his jaw flexed. He acted as if they had all the time in the world, and that took a little bit of the edge off her.
"Come on!" The female shifter banged her fist on the back of the closet, anguish tearing through her voice. Her fear knifed through Abby, jerking her back to awareness. This wasn't just about her. It was about all of them, including another woman who was on Lucius's radar.
It was up to her. Fierce determination surged through her. She squeezed her eyes shut and let her thoughts race back to the hellish recovery time she'd tried so hard to forget. She remembered the scents of earth and healing. Of plants. She remembered the pain-
"It's okay." Jace lightly squeezed her shoulders, his voice forming a protective shield around the memories, giving her the distance she needed to focus on it. "You're safe."
She wrapped her fingers around Jace's wrists, grounding herself in his solid strength as she tumbled back into the past. Her mind flashed around the room she'd been confined to for so long. She ignored the things that weren't relevant, her thoughts racing to the door at the end of the room, the one where Kiernan always emerged from.
She thought back to the sounds that had always indicated his arrival. The sound of a gentle wind, the light scratching of a bird searching for earthworms, the whisper-light sound of his footsteps. Kiernan was grace and beauty. Understated. Light, like a feather, moving through life with more delicacy than anyone she'd ever met--
Her eyes snapped open. "I know."
"What is it?"
"Finesse." She raced to the back of the closet, where the polished wood was. She bent forward so her lips were hovering above it. Lightly, so lightly, she blew on it, the faintest breath of wind. As her breath warmed the wood, she lightly scratched the worn wood, letting her fingernails drift over it so softly that it would never leave a mark.
For a brief moment, nothing happened.
Something thudded against the front door. Lucius?
She did it again, breathing and scratching. And then a third time-
The back of the closet slid to the side, opening to a pitch-black stairway.
"Go!" Jace whispered.
"I have to close it. You first."
Jace gestured for Drake and the female wolf. They raced through, hurtling down the stairs. Jace shut the exterior closet door, then grabbed Abby. They raced through the hidden door together. The front door of the cabin crashed open and she whirled around, frantically running her hands over the wood to find the smooth spot on the inside of the door to close it. With the closet door shut, it was pitch black, too dark to see. "I can't find it!"
"Here!" Jace grabbed her hand, and brought her fingers to a section of smooth wood.
She leaned forward and blew on it, lightly scratching. One.
Toenails scrabbled on the wood, in the front room.
She breathed and scratched again. Two.
The bedroom slammed open.
Three.
The secret door slid shut with silent, well-oiled perfection.
Jace pulled her against his chest as it closed, both of them staring into the closet, waiting for the door to open. The first crack of light shone, and then the slider closed, sealing them in the darkness.
She started to run, but Jace's arm's tightened around her, holding her in place. "Don't move." His lips brushed against her ear, so softly she could barely hear it.
She froze, realizing that any sound would alert Lucius that they were there. He'd smell their scent, but he would see no way through the closet. If he heard them, however, he'd know they were there, and he'd do whatever it took to get through.
She closed her eyes, pressing herself against Jace's chest as she heard the snuffling of a wolf on the other side of the door. He was scenting her, trying to figure out where she was. Fear constricted her chest, and her heart began to hammer frantically. Lucius was only inches away from her. Inches. She had to run. She couldn't stay there, just waiting for him to break through the door-
Jace pressed a kiss to the side of her neck, his arms tightening around her. His chest was powerful and warm against her back, his arms heavily muscled as they crossed over her breasts. She had nowhere to go, completely trapped against him. She was his prisoner, but by being confined to his embrace, it meant she wasn't alone.
This deadly, powerful alpha was her protector, and his tight embrace was his reminder that she could count on him, to help her stay silent, to protect her if Lucius broke through, to do whatever it took.
He rested his head against hers, his cheek warm, his whiskers rough.
Abby took a shallow breath, trying to stay quiet as she focused on Jace, instead of the sounds of frantic scratching from the closet, as if Lucius was trying to dig through the floor. She concentrated on Jace's scent, an earthy combination of male and something else, something warmer, something that seemed to ease through her and take the edge off her panic.