A slow, human one—Miles—and a fast, lupine one.
That explained how he knew what I was: his werewolf companion must’ve filled him in. Now to understand who that companion was. I’d never been one to wait for things to come to me, so I opened my mouth, which he hadn’t duct-taped—I suppose there wasn’t much point in shutting me up when surrounded by miles upon miles of trees and lake and snow. I didn’t even think that in wolf form, my howl would carry back to the compound.
“Miles?” I screeched. “Miles?”
The human pulse quickened, and then footsteps trampled snow and twigs. A second later, the doorknob spun and the front door squeaked open. I turned my head and watched my captor approach.
“What the hell? Why did you kidnap me?”
His jaw ticked. And ticked. He pursed his full lips, pressed them together, parted them. “You lied to me. You lied to me about Bea.” He looked toward the door he hadn’t shut, probably at his shifter companion.
“What exactly did yourfriendtell you?”
His eyes snapped to me. “What?”
“I know someone else is out there.” I spoke this loud enough for the person to hear. Come to think of it, considering what they were, I could’ve whispered it and they’d still have heard me.
Shock momentarily warped Miles’s crazed expression. He shifted on his heavy boots, then crossed his arms, creasing the sleeves of his winter jacket. “You lied to me, Nikki.”
Even though I was curled up on my side like some hapless larva, the anger careening through me made me feel indomitable. “Yeah. And you fucking kidnapped me. On a scale of one to ten, what you did rateswayhigher than what I did. So now tell me what the coward hiding from me told you I lied about.” I glared in the direction of the heartbeat pounding out of sight.
“You really aren’t in any position to make demands.”
“For Lycaon’s sake, Miles, just tell me why you kidnapped me.”
“To get your fucking brother to release my sister, that’s why!”
“You could’ve gotten that without kidnapping me!”
He took a step closer and put one knee to the ground. “Don’t you think I tried? I know Bea isn’t traveling the world in search of herself.” His voice was so loud it echoed between the low-timbered ceiling and beetle-eaten floorboards. “I may be human, but I’m not an idiot.”
Even though my brain felt like it was grinding against my skull, I twisted my neck to look up at him. “Call Nate. Call him and ask him to put Bea on the phone. She’ll explain why she faked her traveling. I bet you, she’ll even come out here and tell you herself.”
He fisted his fingers, and his knuckles cracked. Was he going to hit me? Was whacking me with a gunnotan accident? Was Miles the type of man who hit women? “You don’t think I tried phoning your brother already? You don’t think that was the first thing I did when your friend told me he was keeping her in a cage?”
“My friend?” I spat. “Obviously, your informant’s not my friend, or I wouldn’t be shot up with Sillin and tied up like some criminal.” I glared at the door, wishing I had X-ray vision. “Bea’s alive, Miles. She’s alive and well. Andnota prisoner.”
Doubt sparked in his dark gaze, but it was quickly snuffed out. “If she were alive andwell, then why doesn’t she pick up my phone calls?”
“Because she was told to cut all contact with people outside the compound.” I licked my lips, found the lower one swollen. I licked it again, tasted copper. I must’ve bitten it or hit something when I’d fallen. “Call her from my phone. She’ll pick up.”
A nerve ticked along his jaw. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I didn’t bring your phone, that’s why. Didn’t want anyone tracking you.”
I blinked at him and then shook my head, probably picking up every dust mote in the process. “I’m guessing you know what I am. What my family is. Right?”
He dipped his chin, lips ironed shut.
“Do you really think my brothers and myrealfriends need cellular service to track me?”
A floorboard creaked, and then boots topped with slender legs came into view. I didn’t need to trail my gaze any higher to figure out who’d filled Miles’s head with lies.
Chapter 58
“They haven’t trackedmeyet,” Camilla said pleasantly.
