Her expression was bemused, but she nodded, and I saw the muscles in her upper arms bulge. Holy crap, Poppy had more muscle than I realized.
The metal link connecting her cuff to the chain groaned.
I took that as my cue.
I started sobbing, crying, whimpering, and just making the most pitiful sounds I could.
Poppy smirked and rolled her eyes as I fake cried. I even managed to squeeze out a fake tear or two.
With a quiet shriek, the link broke apart at the weld and Poppy unhooked her cuff from the chain. Moving silently, she threaded the chain out of the headboard and held it in one hand.
“It would have been easier to break the headboard,” I pointed out.
“Yes, but not nearly as quiet.”
Since that was probably true, I didn’t say anything else.
Poppy went to the window and peeked outside. Then, she shook her head.
I crept up beside her. “Do you know where we are?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
“Yes. Leo brought us to his grandfather’s fishing cabin. I used to come out here with my dad when I was a kid.” She shook her head. “His pops would be pissed at the way he’s turned out. God knows, he was disappointed that his dad hooked up with Leona.”
I wanted to know more, but I wanted to get the hell out of here more.
“Okay, so what’s our next step?”
She unlatched the window and gave it a gentle push. It slid open on silent hinges, smooth and easy. Considering the apparent age of the cabin, I was surprised that it wasn’t stuck. Or at the very least, loud.
“At least Leo did one thing right,” Poppy said.
“What’s that?”
“He took care of the house as well as his grandfather did.”
With that, she took a quick peek outside of the window, looking one way, then the other. She stuck her head fully outside and inhaled deeply.
When she retracted her head back into the room, she looked at me. “The coast is clear for right now. Are you healthy enough to make a run for it?”
I nodded. “I won’t be as fast as you, but at least it’s not dark out this time.”
“Dark out?”
“Part of that story I’m going to tell you about how Daniel and I met later.”
She shook her head. “I’ll go out first and help you down. The drop is about seven feet since the house is on the edge of a hill.”
“Okay,” I agreed. Seven feet sounded like a long ass way to fall to me.
Poppy climbed out the window, completely silent, and dropped on the ground as light as a cat. It was weird considering she and her brother were wolf shifters. Poppy’s movements seemed almost feline.
She gestured for me to follow her out. I stuck my legs out the window, maneuvered myself to face the frame, and slid my lower body down the side of the house. Rough wood scratched at my legs through the thin denim of my jeans. I ignored it and tried to be quiet as I lowered my weight until my hands were hooked over the window frame and my arms were fully extended.
I felt Poppy’s hands around my thighs, tugging lightly, and knew she wanted me to let go.
Taking a deep breath, I released my hold on the window frame.
Poppy took most of my weight and lowered me to the ground.
