“—and how does he repay me?!He fails to reward me for those services.I am due a bride!”
Ross’s brain screeched to a halt.
“Wait.Reverse, back up, run that by me one more time.So, you helped him, and in return you were promised a bride.As in, he’d help matchmake you with someone?”
“No!He was to select a suitable female from his clan and gift her to me as a bride!”
Good call, Glenn.Seriously, good call.Although now it made more sense why Man-Shik looked like a man who had never been properly loved.Reason for that was pretty self-evident just then.
“I will have what is due me,” Man-Shik snarled, a mad light in his eyes.“And I will show him the pain of what he has denied me.You will not return to him easily.”
So there was some logic to him taking Ross, after all.He’d been assumed Glenn’s lover.Heh.That was almost funny, in a painful way.Somehow, Ross wasn’t laughing.
Man-Shik was back to being his snooty, high wizard self.He had his nose up in the air as he informed Ross coolly, “Until Glenn comes for you, you’re warded into this room with only a bed and the occasional tray of food.”
That was probably meant to sound terrible, but compared to the last few months?Man-Shik had just described heaven.Ross gave him a brilliant smile.“Oh my god—meals, sleep,andsilence?”
Man-Shik glared at him, a visible tic at the corner of his mouth.
“I mean…oh nooo….”
Beyond irritated, Man-Shik whirled, pulling his henchman out sharply with him.“And don’t think you can escape this room!My ward is fool-proof!The ward over this building impenetrable, as well!Glenn won’t be so quick to rescue you.”And with that, he slammed the door, the wood smacking into the frame.
Ward, huh.Ross couldn’t see one, but then, most magic wasn’t visible to him.Keane usually made wards visible just for Ross’s benefit.And because the clan’s territory had multiple wards up, Keane had explained how they functioned, the pitfalls of them, basically how to operate them and what to watch out for.
Ross, in fact, knew quite a bit about wards.
But he set that thought aside for now.Turning, he went to sit on the bed and tried to think this through carefully.First time being kidnapped, granted, but surely common sense applied.
Alright, fact one.Glenn would have no idea where Ross was taken or who had him.Man-Shik was stupid on this point, assuming Glenn would somehow figure it out when he’d given no clues to work from.And he’d seen how the werewolves tracked someone.They weren’t exactly good at it.If Ross waited on the calvary to arrive, it might take a while.And considering Man-Shik’s temper, staying wasn’t advisable.
Fact two, Keane might or might not be able to track him.As far as he was aware, Keane had nothing to use as a focus to do a seeking spell for Ross.Especially with his phone back at the haunted house.Getting out was definitely up to Ross.
And last but not least, fact three.Ross was reasonably sure he could get out of this room and possibly to the van to drive back out of here.It just depended on how close of a watch Man-Shik maintained on him and how stupid his henchman was.Ross was pretty sure of the latter—Hairy did not shout brains—but Man-Shik’s intelligence was really in question.The man had to be smart to be a high wizard, right?Surely temper made him act so stupid right now.
The other fact—why Ross had been taken—he didn’t really want to think about just now.How obvious had their attraction been that even Man-Shik, who wasn’t around them, assumed Ross to be Glenn’s lover?
No, seriously, not thinking about it.Escape first.Question how Glenn would react later.Oh man, Glenn was going to hit the roof.He’d tear the haunted house apart when he couldn’t find Ross and likely shut everything down for the night, then start tearing up Salem.The fallout of Man-Shik’s stupidity would not be pretty.
Kinda hot, to be honest.Glenn on a protective rampage did tingly things to Ross.
Not.Thinking.About.It.Focus, Ross.Focus on the cleanup of tonight if he didn’t get out of here soon.Because holy guacamole, would that be a pain in the ass.
Right.Escape first, cuddle upset vampire later.
He couldn’t bide his time, waiting on the henchman to remember to feed him, so he went to the door and gave it a good knock, testing its weight.Kinda flimsy, like a regular office door.He might be able to bust through this, if he needed to.Assuming he could get around the ward.He gave it another loud knock before calling through the door, “Can I at least get a bottle of water?”
Silence.
He’d give that a few minutes.Retreating to the bed, he sat still and gave the room another good look.As typical with anyone supernatural, he didn’t see any security cameras.They just didn’t use most modern technology, likely because they weren’t comfortable thinking along those lines.Which would have been to his benefit if Ross had anything to work with.He seriously should not have used his phone to hotspot that Wi-Fi.Why hadn’t he used Annabella’s?With her actually manning the ticket booth?That would have made more sense.
Ah, hindsight.
In retrospect, Ross had kind of called upon Murphy.He’d entertained the thought as they’d opened the haunted house tonight that it felt like he’d gotten his life together.It’d been a nice feeling, for the forty-five seconds it had lasted.Really, this whole year had been a rough ride for Ross, and he liked it rough.He’d been ready to use the safe word three months ago.
With no distractions and nothing to do but wait on Hairy, Ross’s thoughts inevitably turned to the one thing he didn’t know what to do about.Namely, Glenn.As he’d told Maria, he was attracted.Even in the privacy of his own mind, he could barely admit this, but he was a little scared, too.Ross knew that if he chose Glenn, so much would change.It wasn’t as simple as them becoming lovers.Ross would need to face his family and admit things he’d failed to tell them for years.Only his brother knew he was gay.His mother kept trying to set him up on dates with women.Although his sister probably suspected.
And aside from coming out, he’d have to introduce Glenn to his family, and he honestly wasn’t sure how they’d take it.Well, his brother wouldn’t do more than raise an eyebrow at the fact that he’d fallen for an Irishman.Who was also his boss, urk.His mom would have a lot to say about it, though.
