She wanted a lot more of that, so she needed to channel some of Seth’s training and get herself out of here.
The first step was to free herself from the ties that held her in place. She’d feel so much better if she could remove the gag. Was she somewhere with people nearby? Could she scream for help? Probably, or he wouldn’t have wasted time gagging her.
Why couldn’t she remember how she’d gotten here? The last thing she remembered was making love with Seth before he’d headed back to prepare his carnivore feast for the bodyguards.
What happened after that?
The memory gap was as terrifying as her present captivity. What memories had she lost? Would she ever get them back? She didn’t even know how long it had been since she’d been taken.
Frustrated with her lack of focus, Mara started the lyrics to “Hakuna Matata” in her head. No worries. She had this.
Well, she didn’t, but she wasn’t giving up.
She needed a tool to help her with the bonds and the gag. If she could free her hands, the rest would be easier.
Mara turned her attention to what she could sense around her. The ground was cool beneath her. No, not ground. Floor.
She was inside. That helped ease some of the panic. At least none of the predators they worried would bother her hens would start nibbling her toes.
Predators. Chickens. Had she been heading to Chick Inn Time? A vague memory tried to land in her brain, but she couldn’t grasp it.
It didn’t matter. Getting free mattered.
“Make Them Hear You”. The song from Ragtime was perfect with its strong, determined beat. The backstory didn’t match what was happening to her, but the desire to be heard was.
She had to tell Seth she loved him.
With a slow breath out and renewed determination, Mara twisted to the beat in her head, searching for something she could use as a tool.
Her feet clunked against something solid. A wall or a door?
More shifts, more explorations with her feet had her thinking it was a door because there were bumps about a yard apart. Doorjambs? A twist had her finding something softer. A large bag of something. Like flour bags, but larger.
More twists showed another bag, another wall, back to the front. She was in a tiny space. A storage room? The blank wall had to be the door.
Which meant she had a way out. All she had to do was get to her feet and open the door.
She refused to think about it being locked. She’d deal with that once she was upright.
The space was small enough, she hoped she could leverage herself to a standing position.
She had to stop several times to steady her breathing, but she managed to sit up. Then she shoved her feet against the bags and shimmied up the wall, a quarter of an inch at a time—more fractions for Charlie.
Her breathing was harsh in her ears, but she couldn’t slow down, not when she was halfway to a standing position. She didn’t want to face her kidnapper lying on the ground. At least if she gained her feet, she’d have a chance. Standing had to be better than being helpless on the ground.
The noise of metal on metal made her entire body flinch. Should she make noises around the gag? Was it Seth coming to help?
Another scraping sound sent shivers down her spine, and she shoved against the door and the bags again, trying to get higher.
If it were Seth, he’d be calling her name. It had to be the man who’d taken her. What was he planning? Why did he take her?
Tears filled her eyes, and she blinked furiously while trying to shove to her feet. Almost there.
The door behind her opened, and she stumbled backward. Without her limbs free to brace herself, she fell hard, thumping to the ground, forcing the air out of her lungs.
Dragging in as much air as she could through her nose, she blinked her eyes in the sudden brightness.
A man laughed, and the sound sent fear racing back.
