"Where is he?" I straightened up and winced like it hurt. "Let me talk to him."
Chad and the other man looked at each other and had a silent conversation with their eyes. "He's unavailable right now. We'll get you a bucket to piss in and bring you something to eat." The broomstick was set back against the wall and they both headed up the stairs, luckily leaving the lights on.
The wolf had rolled over and was staring at me inquisitively. She wasn't looking the greatest, with tearstains running along her face, blood covering her side, and her ribs showing.
I looked back around the room again, making sure there weren't any cameras. "Hey. I'm going to get us out of here. Are you a shifter?"
She gave me a slight nod, and my stomach churned. There were so many implications of what that meant after the conversation Marcos had withKingston about wanting female shifters. He had tried to convince Kingston that female shifters would be willing to do anything if he paid them well. The female wolf was definitely not being paid.
The door opened, and the man I didn't know the name of came back down with an actual bucket from a hardware store and a giant muffin.
"What's your name?" I watched him closely as he pulled keys out of his pocket and used one that had a red key cover on it to unlock my cell door.
The door opened inward, and he held onto one of the bars as he dropped the bucket and muffin inside and shut the door again.
"Mateo." He didn't look at me and went right back up the stairs, shutting the door behind him. I didn't hear a lock click, which was a win for me.
But I needed those keys to get the wolf out.
"Do you know their routine or schedule? I can get out of here, but I won't be able to get you free unless I can unlock your door." I grabbed onto the bars and raised a hopeful eyebrow.
The wolf stared at me with sad eyes. Could she not shift? If she had been down here a while and wasn't doing so well, she either didn't have the energy or didn't want to. It was much easier to dealwith trauma by pushing away the part of you that hurt the most.
"Do they usually go a long time without coming down here?" She nodded. "Are there just the two of them?" Nod. "Are we in a house?" Nod. "Is the house in a secluded area?" Nod.
She shut her eyes and didn't open them, her breath hitching. Without thinking twice, I stripped out of my dress and shifted. The squeeze through the bars was a little tight, but I made it through with no problem. I ran across the room, hoping she was right and the two men didn't come back downstairs.
I entered her cell and shifted back, kneeling next to her and running my hands down her matted hair. There was no way I'd be able to heal her completely if I wanted to ensure our escape, but I could do enough so I could get us both out safely.
She whimpered as my hands glowed and warm energy spread down my arms and into her. "Keep your eyes closed for me. I know it feels weird."
The best thing was for her not to see me glowing like a lightbulb. She'd have questions, and I also had absolutely no clue who she was.
Moving my hands, I stood and let out a long breath. "You can open your eyes now. You should feel like you have more energy."
She rolled so she was on her stomach and looked up at me with wonder. I avoided her stare and fiddled with the door in case it was unlocked. It wasn't, but it was always worth checking first.
"I'm going to bring that muffin for you to eat, and then I'll figure out how to deal with those two assholes. I might be gone for a bit, but I will be back to get you."
When I didn't get a response, I took that as an acknowledgment and shifted to my fox.
After taking her the muffin, I sniffed around the room, looking for another way out or, at the very least, a weapon. From what I could tell, there hadn't been any other wolves recently, but there had been human males and females.
Marcos was a sick fuck, and he and his men deserved to die long and painful deaths. I hadn't killed anyone before, but I'd watched some of my colleagues kill out of necessity, so I wasn't opposed to it.
You don't lock women and men up in basements and do who knows what with them.
With a newfound determination coursing through my veins, I scaled the stairs and listened at the door, sniffing the crack underneath. I picked up on Chad and Mateo, as well as the faint scent ofMarcos and a few other men. They were at least a few days old.
The television was on somewhere in the house and what sounded like water from a shower. I jumped, clinging to the doorframe with my claws, and partially shifted my hand so I could open the door. It was a skill that had taken me years to master and still freaked out the other agents I worked with when I did it.
Securing the door so they would be none the wiser if they passed by, I moved down the hall, keeping close to the wall. In the other direction was a garage, the smell of fuel coming in under the door. That would be how we escaped. There might even be a vehicle that could be hot-wired or, hopefully, a key fob was with the key to the cell.
At the end of the hall, there was a large entryway with a chandelier and two large iron doors. On the other side of the space was a formal sitting room and double doors with the scent of papers and tobacco coming from under them.
A grand staircase with two sets of stairs took up the perimeter of the entry, and there was a wide hall leading in the direction the television noise was coming from. I sniffed, but their scents were mixed, not giving me any clue as to which man was where.
Deciding my best option was to check the guy that was showering, I headed up the staircase. I still didn't see any cameras, but the odds they were watching any inside feed was slim.
