I slowly started to open the portal behind him and his men.
“I’ll do it, just don’t hurt my mom.” Damien and I had to school our features as the opening behind them grew bigger and bigger. A sentry was off in the distance. I could see the glint of the metal armor they wore, and I prayed it didn’t see us and start shooting. The bullets would probably slice right into Damien and I.
“Forget it,” he said into the phone and hung up.
Relief crashed through me and I used all of my concentration to pull the opening wider and wider.
“I’m exhausted,” he said. “I’ve got a room set up. We can go in now.”
He went to turn around.
“Wait!” I cried out, and he and both of his men froze and turned to face me. They hadn’t yet seen the portal I was creating and I needed to distract them a moment longer while I opened it wide enough. “You want me to take you into the Dream War… now?” Using every ounce of my strength to open the hole bigger, it went from the size of a bean bag to the size of a car as a mild headache pressed in on my skull.
“Yes. Now,” he growled.
Damien and I shared a look. “Now!” I shouted, and we both shot off our chairs and football tackled the men. I went right for the douchebag in charge while Damien had the complex task of trying to knock over both of his guards before they shot us. The second I slammed into the asshole, I was already closing the opening so they couldn’t get back through. He fell to the dirt of the Dream War, stunned, and I landed right on top of him, chair still attached to my back via handcuffs.
If it weren’t for the sheer shock factor, they might have shot us by now. Instead, all three men lay on the ground looking up at the Dream War’s sky, probably wondering what the hell was wrong with me.
Wasting no time, I stumbled backward through the now-shrinking portal, and Damien did the same. The men seemed to get their shit together then, because they started to scramble to get up.
Fuck that.
I let the concentration that was holding the opening together snap; it fell in on itself just as Damien and I stumbled backward into the room. Falling back, I landed at an odd angle, half on the chair, and pain shot into my ribcage as I landed wrong.
My gaze flicked to where the opening once was and relief poured through me that it had closed and those assholes were on the other side.
“My mom. The team. We gotta warn them that this asshole has people watching them, ready to strike.” I groaned at Damien who was trying to lift himself up off the floor. He was wincing, sweat beading on his forehead.
“What’s wrong?” I scanned his body. I hadn’t heard a gun go off. Was he hit?
“I think my shoulder’s out of the socket.”
I hissed. Nothing hurt quite like a dislocated shoulder.
How many guys were outside this door waiting for their boss to come out? I needed to get these damn handcuffs off and help Damien before anyone came in looking for their boss.
I carried a multi-tool in my pocket at all times, and one of the gadgets was a universal handcuff key. But how the hell was I going to get it from my front right cargo pocket with my hands behind my back?
“I’ve got a universal handcuff key in my right cargo pocket. Can you get to it?” I inched over to Damien.
He nodded and started to do tiny hops to bring himself closer to me. I positioned myself behind him, since his hands were behind his back as well. The second I saw the odd angle his left arm lay at, I gasped. It was definitely out of socket and I needed to put it back before it could cause damage.
Finally I was able to line my right leg up to his hands, but he was only able to move his right hand. “My left arm is completely numb.”
Shit. I’d have to fix it quickly and pray nothing was torn.
“Higher,” I instructed him as he squeezed my thigh, feeling for something hard.
“There,” I told him.
“I feel it.” He worked his fingers to undo the Velcro and get inside my pocket. Once he finally got the tool out, I realized we’d have to both go back to back in order for one of us to undo the other’s cuffs. It should probably be me since his shoulder was messed up.
“I’m gonna flip around and take it from you, then you need to try and keep still while I unlock your cuffs.”
He groaned. “Alright, but get the right tool out first, while you can still see it.”
Right. Looking down at his hand, I instructed him to pull on each compartment until he found the right one. Once I saw the key come out, I nearly wept with relief. The guards would come looking for their boss any minute and I hadn’t slept in almost a week, other than that small bit at the motel, which just served to make me feel groggier.
