Whoever controlled my movement directed me out of the window, dropping me a full story to the ground. I landed heavily, pain shooting up my legs and into my hips. My magical kidnapper wasn’t worried about injury though, sending me on a sprint through the immense back yard toward the towering fences that blocked the Reeves’ estate from the land behind.
When I reached the fence, I wondered if they could defy my athletic ability and get me to hop over the ten-foot structure.If Slade had proven anything, it was that scaling walls was not within my regular skillset.
A crack nearby jolted me internally, but outwardly my body made no reaction. The sensation of being trapped in my own skin had a sickening sense of claustrophobia falling over me.
Another crack followed the first, and off to the right of me, a panel of the fence imploded, clattering into nearby shrubs. My feet moved again, and I emerged into the land behind our pack house to find a shifter standing there. One who did not take me at all by surprise, considering the circumstances.
Chelsea had betrayed me. Her involvement in all of it, including the initial attack at the guardhouse, were the only factors that made sense.
She shot me a harried look, and I noticed a crumpled piece of paper in her hands, which she dropped suddenly. I could have sworn, though, that it was the same note I’d just written in my room. “About fucking time,” she muttered, distracting me.
There was no sign of the sweet omega in her voice today. I couldn’t answer, of course, and when she hurried into the darkness, I followed as if we were tethered.
How in the fuck was this possible?I’d never heard of a magic that controlled a shifter like this. I could only assume it was connected to our designation. Maybe if I’d had a chance to read the damn books, I’d have found out.
“Hurry up,” Chelsea snapped, grimacing at me like I was the one running too slowly. “I’ve already waited weeks longer than I should have because you’re a moron who can’t crack a book open despite the danger you’re in.”
A dozen questions pummeled into my thoughts, but I couldn’t voice even one of them, forced to listen to her complain as she picked her way through the landscape.
She sighed in relief when an old, beat-up Honda came into view. The doors were already unlocked, and when she jumpedinto the driver’s side, the magic shoved me into the passenger seat.
Before my door was even closed, Chelsea took off, and I would have jumped at the crash from my door swinging shut, but I couldn’t fucking move. This old beater wasn’t the usual kind of car that filled Golden Claw, the well-paid shifters driving much newer models, but I got that sense that was the entire point. This Honda was made before electronics and tracking devices.
Everyone knew that Slade controlled anything with a computer, so she’d taken that option away. Along with any hopes I had of escaping.
CHAPTER 48
EMME
Chelsea’s angry mumbles quietened as she focused on driving, moving through the dark streets, taking what appeared to be every back road in Golden Claw. When the security fence and city perimeters came into view, I wondered if she’d be stopped at the gate.
Even if she chose to ignore the guards, blasting past them would at least raise suspicions.
As the main exit came into sight, she slowed, and I tried as hard as I could to scream for help, but not even a gush of air escaped me.
Chelsea smiled brightly, and without a word, handed over a thick envelope to a dark-haired shifter, who didn’t even investigate the vehicle. This bitch was organized, I’d give her that.
We were out of the city within a few minutes, and I could do nothing but sit rod-straight in my chair, watching the world go by through the front windshield. Hours passed in silence, and just when I hoped she would have to fill up with gas, she turned off the main road and down an overgrown and rough dirt path. The car’s old suspension didn’t handle the terrain well, and Icouldn’t reach out to keep myself from smashing into the door as we bounced along.
None of which mattered when a rundown old house came into view, surrounded by forest, with not a single neighbor in sight. Chilling tingles ran down my spine, and if I’d had the ability to scream, I might have started and not stopped. This hadhouse of horrorswritten all over it, and Chelsea bringing me here could mean nothing good.
The other omega breathed a deep sigh when she stopped the car, her hands trembling on the wheel. “I want you to know how sorry I am,” she breathed, voice shaking as much as her hands. “I had no choice. It was you or me, and I won’t choose me. They needed an omega, and you are more powerful and already able to scent match multiple alphas. They’d have gotten to you eventually, so when they offered me a deal to help, I took it. But I am sorry.”
This weak-willed bitch. I would never have turned her in to save my own ass.Never.
But now… I’d cut her into pieces and not miss a wink of sleep over it.
I couldn’t glare, but I hoped my eyes were spitting fire, because that was how much rage bubbled over inside me.
Chelsea’s expression hardened, resolve settling over it. “Okay, let’s get this over with. I need to return before my pack notices me missing.”
How in the fuck hadn’t they already noticed? Were they that distant from each other that she could drive for hours at night and not have anyone calling to find her?
When Chelsea exited the car, I followed. We both stomped up to the crumbling front porch. Inside, the house looked deserted, with only a few pieces of moldy old furniture visible in the light from dirty sconces high on the walls. When Chelsea had flickedthem on, they were so coated in grime that they barely made a difference.
Down the creepy hall, everything remained quiet. We entered a room that looked like a living area with one threadbare couch against the wall. Chelsea collapsed onto it, her normally gentle features haggard and worn. She looked like she’d been through hell for weeks, and I wondered how long she’d camped outside the Reeves’ estate, waiting for me to open that book and initiate her spell.
Maybe she’d expected Jones’ plan to work initially, but when that didn’t, she’d gone for her backup. I had no idea if my pack would believe the note I’d written, but at least Hunter and Kellan had no choice but to come after me.We were bonded. A fact I wasn’t sure Chelsea was aware of, but already there was a burn in my chest from our connection stretching too far.
