She nodded. “Can I take a shower?” I asked, raising my voice pointedly.
“Absolutely, I’ll go start it for you.” She looked at me, confused, and then strode through the second door attached to the room. I plucked my phone off the stand and found Alex’s number.
I opened our chat.
I need your help.
The little bubbles popped up quickly.
Are you okay? I heard about Cierra coming for you. Lucian has the pack searching for her.
I’m fine, but I don’t have much time. Can you promise not to contact your brother?
And risk death?
Please. I beg you. Pick me up. I need your help.
The bubbles popped up and disappeared as I held my breath. I was using his interest in me against him, but I didn’t have a choice. If I returned to my apartment, he’d find me immediately.
I reserve the right to change my mind and contact Lucian.
Getting in my car now. Where do I pick you up?
Relief slumped my shoulders, and I exhaled, relieved.
I slid off the bed and shoved my feet into the slippers resting beside the bed. As I entered the bathroom, Melodie straightened.
“All ready.”
“Thank you,” I announced exaggeratedly. She furrowed her eyebrows. I debated asking her for help; she’d seen how Lucian refused to allow me to leave, but she was terrified of him. Now I understood everyone keeping their distance from him. My mate was psychotic.
“Hey, are there any stores nearby? Or maybe a gas station?”
She hesitated and looked down at the phone dangling from my hand. Her eyebrows twitched.
“The Community Center is a few miles down the only road outside of the Alpha’s personal land.” She kept her expression bland.
She was helping me.
I could only nod jerkily.
“I’ll be doing my rounds.” She paused and turned her wrist to look at her watch. “You know, Ms. Olif is a couple of doors down from you. In a few minutes, she’s going to set off her alarms. She has this pesky tendency of ripping her monitors off.” She pointedly looked at me. “It’s a lot of noise, so I apologize for that.”
With that, she strode out and shut the door with enough force that the doorframe rattled. I squeezed the device in my hand, so relieved.
On the main road between the Community Center and the Pack Clinic.
I didn’t bother waiting for his response. Now, to find which window to escape from. The one in the bathroom was slightly cracked, but the hinge locked before it could stretch further out.I hurried out to the main room, phone in hand, and unhooked the latch. I pushed it, and it was the same as the one in the bathroom. Fuck.
A sudden alarm blared from outside the room.
I scanned the small couch, the messy bed, and the counter to find what I could use to break the hinge. I couldn’t use anything metal because it would be too noisy. My throat felt too tight. I forced myself to take a breath. Panic would lead to mistakes.
There was no time to debate. Kicking it in would be the easiest way to break it; I just needed to get to an elevated surface so I had the force needed to do it.
I dropped my phone on the bed, dragged the chair over, and hoisted myself up. The bar holding the curtains was securely drilled into the wall. I bunched the bottom of the gown in my hand and drew my foot back to drive the bottom of my slipper into the window above the hinge. A pinch radiated up to my knee, but I didn’t stop. With each hit came a dull thud that couldn’t be heard over the alarm.
Come on.
