My hellhound may be sulking in a corner, but present conditions make it pretty easy to rouse her into action. Drawing back my arm, I drive the end of the pocket knife into the window hard enough that it fractures into a spiderweb of cracks. Another two blows have the glass exploding, and I pitch backward before I tumble out of the window.
Every thought is harder to hold onto than the last as my head spins, but I lean into my panic to drive my actions. Shoving the folded knife between my breasts, I use my cleavage as a makeshift pocket and scan the room, my vision already wavering.
On unsteady feet, I scan past the seven unconscious bodies and stagger back to the bathroom. If I’m in better shape, it was because of the distance from the source. But if I hang around a busted window on the top floor for fresh air, I’m likely to fall out or get pushed, so the bathroom offers a little more security. At least it locks, and the steam from the shower might help counteract whatever’s in the air.
I make it all of five steps before I faceplant onto the carpet.
***
Motherfucker, my headhurts.
The thought is answered by a vicious snarl that reverberates around my skull until I can feel the vibrations in my teeth. Slowly releasing a breath, I rapidly take stock of what I have to work with.
My wolf ispissed,and that’s putting it mildly. Where she’s spent the last few days sulking, she’s awakened with a vengeance, pacing at the forefront of my brain. She doesn’t wrench control away from me yet, only mentally punches me awake, insistent that I’m as ticked off as she is, but gives me a choice, even if it’s an ultimatum.
Either I get us out of this, or she will, and it will be neither pretty, nor discreet.
Clenching my eyes shut tight, I extend my senses. Fabric surrounds me, along with the faint scent of bleach and sweat. Opening one eye and the other, I see nothing but muted light, and after a second blink, it registers that it’s a sheet over my face; several of them.
Without the worry of someone watching me, I slide a hand over myself in a body check, relieved to find not only my towel still in place, but the pocket knife I stole from Cinjin wedged between my breasts, and my necklace on. No matter how bad things get, whenever the guys come to, they’ll be able to find me, and I could kiss Bo right now for his paranoia.
Extracting the knife, I flip it open, extending my senses farther, but the dirty laundry overwhelms everything besides the lurching, sinking sensation.Elevator. Still in the hotel, then.One breath and then another, I come to a decision. Everything I’ve ever seen or read screamed, ‘don’t let them take you to a secondary location.’ That’s how you wind up raped and murdered with no one finding your body until it’s too late.
Taking a slow, deep breath, I mentally nod to my counterpart. I’m not giving her control yet, but if I can’t handle it, she has full permission to take over.
Carefully shifting the sheets off of my head, I pull my feet beneath me and tighten my grip on the knife. Launching upright, I pivot towards the faint sound of a single, steady heartbeat. The laundry cart crashes onto its side as I slam into the housekeeper, shoving her back against the elevator and pressing the blade to her throat.
“What the hell do you-”
The rest of my sentence is stolen from me as she grabs my wrist and twists it, locking a foot behind my ankle to throw me off balance and slams me down onto my back. The air rushes from my lungs with a grunt as her hat falls off, sending her dark hair tumbling around her shoulders into a curtain around my face. Before she can blink, I headbutt her, the satisfied sound of her hiss of pain and crunch of cartilage accompanied by her loosening grip on my wrist. Wrapping a leg around one of hers, I push off with the other to flip us, glaring down at her.
“As I was saying, what the hell do you think you’re doing, Mom?”
Blood pours from her nose, and I let her clap a hand over it while I continue to straddle her waist. Eyes that hold all of the warmth of the arctic glare right back at me as she snaps, “Saving you from yourself. Again.”
Scoffing, I lean over to snatch up the knife and get to my feet, fixing my towel before this ends up even more awkward than it already is and I have to fight her naked. Smacking the emergency stop button, the elevator lurches to a stop.
“Oh, of course. It has nothing at all to do with wanting to keep me as far away from your mates as possible so that I don’t slip up and give you away.”
Where I’m her carbon copy, instead of looking twenty years older than me, the last eight years since we parted ways clearly haven’t been kind to her. Dark shadows beneath her eyes only highlight a hardness in them that surpasses the lack of empathy that I remember. And while she’s thinner than healthy, she hasn’t lost any of the muscle, like she’s thrown herself so completely into keeping up with her training that she forgets to eat. You’d think that without me there to ruin her life, she’d have been happier.
Shaking my head, I watch her rise with a wary eye. “Well, you can relax. The Slaughters may be awful, but even I’m not so cruel as to make them have to suffer through living withyou.”
“Charming, as always.” Snagging one of the sheets from the fallen cart, she uses it to staunch the blood flow.
Sighing, I relent, “Seriously though, the whole arranged marriage thing is bullshit.” After a brief hesitation, I admit, “I almost ran, too. Not quite the same circumstances, but I had no interest in suddenly being married toanyone,let alone multiple someones that I barely even knew.”
Adjusting the cloth for a fresh spot to bleed on, she scoffs. “I’m sure.”
Rolling my eyes, I take a step back and cross my arms. “Can we not play mind games for once? What are you really doing here?”
For several moments, she simply stands there, looking me over. “What do you think is going to happen if you go there? They’ll suddenly welcome back their ‘long lost daughter’ with open arms, and you’ll be a big happy family? Unite all of the packs on the mountain and go about your best life? Don’t be stupid, Sabrina. Even if you don’t tell them where I am, they want you there for a reason.”
Tongue in cheek, I tip my head. “A few of the guys mentioned that. Apparently you broke everything when you dipped out, and they’re under the impression that it might magically get better if your daughter returns.” With one hand, I splay my fingers and wiggle them with fake enthusiasm. “Huzzah, babies and bountiful crops for everyone again, happy day.”
She levels me with a wry look that I don’t even blame her for, because I agree, the whole concept is ridiculous. “Or maybe they’re cursed for a reason; they deserve to be."
“And us? Do we deserve to suffer, too?”
