He hangs up and Ares immediately says, “What’s going on?”
“He wants to meet at the warehouse,” I tell him. “Alone and unarmed.”
“There is no way in hell that’s happening.”
“Oh, I’m going,” I tell him. “But not without a plan.”
27
EMBER
My mind has been working since they took us. We were tied up and blindfolded, then thrown in the back of a car. Now we’re here in the dark with the smell of dirt and metal all around us.
I think it’s an abandoned building or a warehouse, but in this darkness, it’s impossible to tell. Sergei took the blindfold off, I guess, as a courtesy. Some courtesy. I can barely see anything at all in this room.
He sat us down on these chairs that feel like metal against the backs of my shoes, arms tied behind our backs. I can hear Sasha sobbing next to me—little quick breaths as if she’s trying to hold back from making too much noise. My heart goes out to her, more so because I’m probably just as scared as she is.
I don’t know why Sergei’s done this or what the end game is supposed to be… but he hasn’t killed us, so there must be something he wants. The downside to that is that he knows that I know who he is. He didn’t even bother covering his face. Thatcould mean that once he gets what he wants, he’s not planning on keeping us alive.
In any event, there’s no way we can wait for someone to come get us. We need to get out of here somehow.
“Sasha?” I whisper. I feel movement against my arm as she starts, her breath hitching. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re okay. We’re alive and that’s good. It means we’ve still got a chance to get out of here.”
“Who are these people?” she asks in a small voice. “Are they enemies of my father?”
“I don’t know. Seems likely, though, right?” I swallow hard. My mouth is so dry, it feels like the desert. “Whoever they are, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we get out of here and away from them before they carry out whatever plan they have for us.”
She sniffles and says, “You don’t think… you don’t think they’re going to kill us, do you?”
I want to lie to her, tell her no and that everything is going to be fine and dandy. But Sasha’s a smart fifteen-year-old girl who has lived in this world her entire life. I can’t do her the injustice of lying to her.
“Listen,” I say, “I’m going to be straight with you, okay? I don’t exactly know what they plan to do with us. What I do know is that at the moment, we’re serving some purpose. As long as that’s true, they won’t kill us… but that doesn’t mean that they won’t hurt us in some way, so we can’t stay here.”
She whimpers and the sobs start up again.
“Hey, hey. I know it’s scary, Sasha, but we have to pull it together if we’re going to get through this, okay?”
“Is Daddy coming to get us? He’s got to come, right?”
“I’m sure he’s going to try, but Sasha…” How do I say this? How do I tell her about the possibility that he might not make it to us in time for whatever may happen? How do I tell her that it may come down to us fighting for our lives against these men?
I take a quick breath and steel myself. Now is no time for doubt. And it’s no time for me to flake out. If I’m not strong, then she won’t be.
“He’s going to do whatever it takes to get to us,” I tell her. “In the meantime, we need to make it easier for him when he shows up. Okay?”
She sniffles again. “O–Okay. I’m so scared, Ember.”
“I am, too. And that’s all right. It’s okay to be scared. It doesn’t mean that we can’t fight for our lives. Whatever these guys have planned for us, we don’t have to make it easy for them to get it. “Right?”
I feel her shoulder moving against mine as she takes a deep breath and blows it out. “Right,” she says with a hard sniff.
“Okay.” Then I say again, more to myself, “Okay.” I adjust myself in the chair. My arms are wrapped around the corners of the back and tied securely together at the wrists. As I move my arms, there’s the distinct feeling of plastic digging into my skin.
Zip ties. Of all the things they could have used to bind us… My stomach tightens as my mind spins, trying to remember the trick I’d learned years ago.
“First things first,” I say, sliding my feet forward. They didn’t tie my feet to the chair, so I can stand up. This is good. Very good. “We’re getting out of these things binding us.”
“How? These things are tight. They hurt my wrists.”
