Merciful blackness swallowed me, and the pain was no more.
“Luce? You down here?”
I was dreaming again. Though, the splitting pain in my face was still present, as well as a sickly feeling in my guts, like I’d eaten a bucket of live worms and they were trying to crawl out of me in protest. This was a sorry-ass dream.
“Lucien, holy Goddess help us. You look like shit on a stick, man. How long have you been down here?” The voice sounded familiar, but too distant for me to place. Oh well. Dreams were dreams.
I tried to blink, tried to move, but there was nothing left in the tank. Whatever had been on that knife Dominik had used on me had really done a number on my already weakened system. Attempts to rouse my wolf were fruitless, and the first true shot of fear flooded my system.
What had that fucker done to me?
“He’s got you cuffed, but I think I can get them out of the ceiling and floor. The idiot used magic cuffs but regular chains, which is good for us. Hang tight, okay? This is probably going to hurt like a bitch.”
I tried again, but still got no response from my wolf.
With herculean effort, I finally got my good eye open. A blurry man who smelled familiar stood before me, hands half shifted and fur running up his arms as he gripped the chains attached to my ankles and pulled, veins cording in his neck with the effort as he used his wolf’s strength to separate the links halfway between my ankle and the heavy bolts anchoring them to the bare cement floor.
“Hell yes. Okay, three more, and we’re out of here.” The man grinned triumphantly up at me, and I finally placed him.
Samuel. Pack Blackwater. He was ruddy cheeked, and his thick thatch of brown hair canted down over one eyebrow.
Tepid relief tried to work its way in, but I was too beaten down to feel truly excited. We weren’t out of this hellhole yet, and the chains were making a lot of noise as he snatched them apart.
But in another moment, both of my feet were free-cuffed, but no longer attached, at least-and that was more freedom than I’d had in weeks.
To my shame, tears prickled my eyes as my arm came down, the muscles burning and protesting as he lowered my shoulder to its normal position for the first time in more than a day and night.
Dominik hadn’t bothered to release my arms since he hadn’t fed me in days.
I swore under my breath, and Samuel grimaced. “I’m really sorry, Luce, but I’ve got to get you out of here quickly. It’s just me and you, and if Dominik catches sight of us, he’s going to send the whole pack after us. There’s no signal in these woods to call for backup, but I didn’t want to hike back and leave you down here any longer.”
“So we can’t get caught. Got it,” I wheezed as much as spoke the words, probably from that broken rib Dominik gifted me with yesterday.
Although, I hadn’t been wheezing before, so maybe he broke something new while I was still out? Didn’t matter. Samuel found me. We had to get out. There was no time to think about anything else.
I might get my revenge after all. The thought was fleeting, pain clouding out any chance of more as I had to take my own weight.
He made pretty quick work of the last chain and, with a shudder, released the call on his wolf. The fur faded along his arms, and the sharp claws faded into blunt human fingertips.
“Can you walk?”
I was barely standing, but like fuck was I going to admit it. “I’m good. Let’s go.”
I only made it one step before my knees buckled, and I would have face-planted into the nearest wall if Samuel hadn’t caught me up under the arms.
“Okay, tough guy. New rule: you be honest about your condition, so we don’t make stupid mistakes.”
I grunted with half acknowledgment, half pain as he looped my right arm over his shoulder to hold me up. Our ascent out of the weird dirt cave I’d been held prisoner in was slow, my body protesting every single step.
But I wasn’t looking a gift escape in the mouth, so I bit my bottom lip until it bled, and knuckled under. Samuel took most of my weight, but even so, every step was excruciating. In my feet, yes, but by the time we made it to the surface, the pain in my face and abdomen was white-hot and throbbing. I didn’t know what Dom did to me this time, but I must really have hit a nerve with the line about him being a bastard.
That, or he really had been possessed by the spirit of my depraved father there at the end.
I must have made a noise, because Samuel looked down at me and frowned.
“Shit. Why didn’t you tell me you were bleeding?”
“Been bleeding for weeks. Not worth mentioning.” The words came out too quiet, and my head felt light, like a balloon trying to float away. I was so out of it, I couldn’t even appreciate the fresh air and sunshine, which I’d so badly missed over the last few weeks. If I passed out, he’d have to carry me, which would take twice as long and double our chances of getting caught.
Samuel hobbled us over to the nearest tree and sat me down where I could lean against the trunk, lifting my ragged, bloody shirt to get a better look at my abdomen. Sitting down did feel better, but we couldn’t afford the break. He and I both knew it.
“Fuck me.”
“What is it?” I asked, not bothering to lift my burning arms to check for myself.
There was a long pause, and I could see his decision to lie to me play across his features before he intentionally blanked his face. “It’s nothing. You’re just more busted up than I realized. We’ve got to get you to a medic.”
Yeah, whatever was going on with my gut? It wasn’t nothing. But if we didn’t get out of here, it wouldn’t matter because I’d be worm bait.
“Hoist me back up. I’ll live.” And if I don’t, I don’t want to kick it here.
To his credit, he didn’t pussyfoot around and claim it was going to be roses. He pulled a crinkled water bottle out of his back pocket and shoved it into my hands, and as soon as I had taken a few blessedly cool swallows, he was back to business.
Samuel’s mouth was set in a determined line as he pulled me to my feet and used the momentum to heft me all the way onto his shoulders into a fireman’s carry.
He grunted as my full weight hit him, but a moment later, he pressed back up to standing, and then we were running.
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