“Don’t you have her stripped and tied down yet?” A skinny cowboy of a man strutted in the room, dressed in too tight black pants, cowboy boots, and a plaid, pearl-button down shirt topped with a string tie. The dark hair he sported was so greasy it appeared black enough to blend into the background and stank of gunky motor oil. A mustache, pitted skin, and cold eyes told of a man who liked women, but didn’t have time to waste romancing them to get what he wanted.
This would be her rapist.
She eyed Soldier Boy and raised her brows in challenge.
“She’s mine.”
Cowboy just laughed. “Don’t worry. There’s more than enough to go around.” He raised a hand, reaching to touch her face when Soldier Boy caught his wrist.
“No. You had the others. This one is all mine.” Soldier Boy gazed at her when he spoke, his words a promise.
A wave of relief threatened to weaken her spine, but she didn’t allow herself to show it. Talk about jumping from the frying pan into the fire, but she’d worry about that later.
“You can’t do that.” Cowboy jerked his hand away, narrowing his eyes when Soldier Boy took his time releasing him. Hatred thickened the air.
Soldier Boy straightened to his full height, his chest puffed up, his stare unwavering. “She’s mine.”
The man finally seemed to sense the danger. The vicious look tossed her way warned her that she’d better watch her back. As soon as Soldier Boy dropped his guard, she was meat for the taking.
“We’ll see about that.” Boots clumped out of the room. Soldier Boy nodded to her and left. Raised voices resounded in the small cavern, and she willed herself to remain calm. He’d keep his word; he needed the adrenaline rush too badly to let Cowboy win.
The cuff latched onto her wrist could be broken with time, but she wouldn’t be able to sneak into the cavern and release the others before her absence was noticed.
She searched her core, noting that neither her animals nor her power seemed to be very interested in helping her out. Not that she could blame them after the abuse she’d put them through. It was the vault that drew her worry.
With nothing to hold it back, it was leaking like a sieve, spilling poison into her system. It wouldn’t be much longer before it reached her core and put her out of commission. A few of the animals paced restlessly as the poison threatened their domain, and she felt helpless to do anything. Her hands were tied until her power came back online.
A small sound snapped her head around. She searched the room, but found nothing. “Who’s there?”
A shadow moved. A dirty face leaned out of the darkness, intelligent, kind eyes looked at odds with the collar and chain strapped cruelly around his throat.
“Digger?”
“Smart girl to play them against one another.” The whisper barely reached her ears, the range so low she wondered if she’d imagined it. Then he flinched. “They’re coming back.”
Then she heard the footsteps, too. She licked her lips and spoke quickly. “When they take me out, Griffin will come get you. Run like hell and don’t look back.”
He lifted a finger to his lips and vanished into the darkness, meshing with it so completely that even with her keen sight, she couldn’t detect him. She quickly refocused her attention away from him and cleared all expression from her face.
“So you’re the one who’s put my boys at odds.” An older, white haired man who could pass for anyone’s good-natured grandfather entered the room. The light scent of peppermint candies rose from him. Even his voice sounded jovial.
Not his eyes though. Those snake cold eyes observed everything, dispassionately cataloged every weakness and strength he could ferret out. “I can see why. There’s something different about you.” He rubbed his chin, the short, clean whisker rasping dryly against his hand. It was all she could do not to flinch under his regard.
“The police are closing in on us thanks to you. We’ll have to close shop in this area.” She couldn’t prevent a betraying twitch at his accusations, and a hard smile crossed his lips. “You didn’t think I recognized you from your picture in the paper?”
Relief struck hard, and Raven bit down on the inside of her lips to prevent another tell. Grandpa didn’t know that the police and her people were out searching for them this very moment. She could still make this work.
He continued as if he didn’t expect a response. “Nah, you’re the type of girl a guy doesn’t forget. Too bad you’re a filthy paranormal. Stink clings to your kind.” His hand lashed out. Fingers cruelly gripped her chin, dug down to bone, before she even thought to twist away. “Ross usually doesn’t send us his leftovers in such pristine condition. You must have been getting too close.”