“Um … Jin?” Susan said quietly as Jin turned toward her. “I wanted to talk with you about something.”
Jin smiled and sat up straighter. “What is it?”
“Well … the thing is … I hope this isn’t rude to ask, but Adam’s birthday is coming up. He’s always wanted to go to one of those indoor skydiving places, and with everything going on, traveling is out of the question. So I was wondering if you thought maybe you could simulate something like that with your powers. And if it would be safe. If it’s a problem, I completely understand. I just wanted to do something special for him.” Susan glanced at Jin, trying to gauge how she felt.
Jin grinned widely. “I think I can do that. We might need to set up like a round barrier or something, but I should be able to manage that. It’s no problem at all. And it’s okay for you to ask.” Jin smiled at Susan.
“I wasn’t sure if it was rude to ask that of you or not. I’m really excited now. I want this to be special. It’s his first birthday with us as mates.” Susan couldn’t help but feel giddy. Having the mate connection with Adam was wonderful. They already knew each other and had been friends forever. The mate pull just made love happen instantly.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone running up to them from behind. Before she could turn her head to look more, everything suddenly went dark. She struggled for a moment before she fell unconscious.
Freja and Renee walked out, carrying their bags of items. They could see the car parked in front of them, with Chasen and Sam leaning against the front of the vehicle. They rushed over and took the bags from the girls, tossing them into the back hatch.
“Jin still inside?” Chasen asked with a smile.
Freja’s eyes opened wide. She moved her head around and looked at the empty bench. “She came out with Susan to wait for you …”
“Maybe they decided to get some drinks?” Renee suggested. It was warm out, and it made sense.
“You’re probably right,” Sam said as he began to look around.
Freja felt a chill race down her spine as she approached the bench. She could see some torn material from Susan’s clothes. There was no other evidence except for one … the faint smell of putrid flesh. She didn’t want to alarm anyone, but her gut told her she was right.
Freja looked over the clothes she had on and quickly made her way back to the vehicle. In the back was a zip-up leather bag. She quickly grabbed it and started strapping items to herself.
“Hey, what are you doing?” Sam asked nervously as Chasen watched her with an intense gaze.
“Just a precaution.” Freja’s voice was terse. She was going into huntress mode, trying to block everything out and focus on finding her target. It would be reverse hunting in a way. She would be hunting for Jin and Susan, and by finding them, she would find who or what took them. She was convinced they didn’t just wander off.
She straightened up. “You guys wait here in case they make it back. I’m going to go looking for them.” Freja gave them a weak smile.
Sam eyed her suspiciously. “I’m calling Hunter to see what he wants to do.”
“There’s no time. Hunter will want us to stay put.” Freja didn’t mean to sound the alarm. In fact, she could have kicked herself for blurting it out.
“Enough time? What is it you’re not telling us, Freja?” Chasen’s voice was low and murderous. Just the idea that something might have happened to Jin was making him go feral.
Freja looked at him and sighed. “I don’t know. I just need to go.”
“I’m coming with you,” Chasen said firmly.
Freja glared at him for a moment. “Don’t get in my way or slow me down. I’m not waiting for you.”
Chasen scoffed. “Just the way I prefer it.”
“Look, I’m calling Hunter now, so …” Sam began to plead again, but Freja was gone, and so was Chasen. “Shit.” He looked at Renee and punched the car.
“Sam. What’s going on?” Hunter answered his phone.
“I think we have a problem,” Sam said quietly.
“What is it? What’s going on? Is Freja okay?” Hunter’s voice sounded distressed over the phone.
“Jin and Susan aren’t where they were supposed to be, so Freja grabbed her things out of the car. She had a weird look on her face, and then she and Chasen left. I tried to make them wait. Hunter …” Sam trailed off as a loud roar sounded over the phone.
“Where are you?!” Hunter snarled angrily. He was livid. Chasen and Freja both knew they should have waited to hear from him. He didn’t want anything to happen to Jin either, but he had already been through so much with Freja. Hecouldn’t lose her. And Chasen wasn’t thinking. The only thing on Chasen’s mind was Jin.
Jin felt the familiar shackles on her wrists first. She opened her eyes to look around. She was in an old, abandoned building, full of dust and cobwebs. She heard a soft whimper and she directed her gaze in front of her. Susan was tied to a post and bound with silver chains.
