“Drive!”
We drove for what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. My wrists and ankles chafed where they’d tied me up, and they’d duct-taped my mouth. Presumably Maggie’s, too, since she’d gotten quiet. What the fuck was this bullshit?
The van screeched to a halt and I nearly fell over. Before I could get myself upright, the doors were open, blinding us with the bright evening sun. The light didn’t last long. Maggie and I were quickly scooped up and dragged into a building that I didn’t have time to fully take in, except that it was a house.
“Put them down there,” one of the guys snarled.
Where the hell was “down there”?
I found out a few moments later when Maggie and I were roughly shoved into a dimly lit room. The door closed behind us, and the click of a lock rang out.
Now that we were unsupervised, Maggie and I were able to rip off the duct tape keeping us silent and help each other undo the knots binding us.
“Who the fuck are these people?” I asked.
“Fuck if I know,” Maggie growled, leaning to gnaw at my ropes and loosen the knot.
“I had no idea you were a little beaver.”
“What did you say about my beaver?”
I choked out a laugh, despite the danger we found ourselves in. “Abeaver, notyourbeaver. You were chewing the ropes.”
“Feral energy gets knots undone, what can I say.” Her ropes fell away, demonstrating the truth of her statement.
“Do you think this is some ransom bullshit?”
“Probably.” Maggie sighed. “You and I are worth a lot of money to the right people—and we know Parker will pay anything for you.”
“You think so?” I didn’t have to second-guess it. In the horrifying quiet, the panic from my pack burned hot in my chest. I sucked in my breath, tension gripping my body tightly.
My ropes fell away and I cradled my bump carefully.
“Are you okay?” Maggie whispered.
I nodded. “I think so.”
I’d been feeling light cramping since they’d snatched us. I just prayed it was nothing.
“Where the fuck are we?” Maggie whispered.
“I wish I knew.”
We had a bit of light from a tiny window near the ceiling.
Wonderful. Nothing good ever happened in basements.
Slowly, I did a lap around the room, terrified that someone was going to jump out of the shadows at any moment. The space was concrete, and they’d provided nothing for comfort except an old mattress.
Great. No place to rest, nothing to keep warm, and I was out of breath from being a million months pregnant. At least there was a half bathroom, so I wouldn’t end up peeing myself.
“Why’s there nothing in here?” Maggie toed the dingy mattress with her shoe. “That’s nasty.”
“As far as nests go, I’d rate this minus ten thousand.” I grimaced. “Do they expect us to sleep on that thing?”
“Hopefully not,” Maggie said.
I resisted the urge to gag.
