Landon let out a frustrated breath. “Sorry.” He nodded, then ran a hand over his jaw. “I should know you wouldn’t condone something like this.”
Should he know that? I’d done things for my brother I wasn’t proud of, things I never wanted to voice. Some concerned Landon, but more had to do with others. He didn’t know me, not truly, not the way he should for how much I cared about him. If we got out of this alive…maybe he’d give me the chance to fix that.
I could hardly dare to hope—especially because we were here.
“This place…” I contemplated our cell, the band around my chest squeezing painfully. “No one ever comes back from here. The guys working for my brother called it a one-way ticket.”
Landon stared at me, grim resolve in his features, fingers twitching at his sides. Then he looked away, exhaling, to pace the length of the wall.
I watched him for long moments, then took a step forward when he paused. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I tried to keep the hurt out of my voice as best I could. It was a foolish emotion to have, given the circumstance that sent me to him.
His eyes bounced down to my neck. “I did.”
I lifted my hand. The necklace he gave me hung on the outside of my shirt. I’d always thought it was a crescent moon, but now that I was looking at it in the shadows of this room, the light glinted off the sharp edge. I inhaled a quick breath. He’d given me a claw—a large one.A real one.Was thishisclaw?
My stomach flipped, eyes snapping to his hands hanging loose at his sides.
It’s amazing really. They’ll grow their skin back if you allow it, even a limb, but that takes longer.
Nausea rose in my throat just as it had the day I realized what my brother and Allan had been doing to shifters while I’d been away in the military. They’d kept that remote location in Alaska to experiment on the ones he couldn’t “employ.”
I pressed my thumb against the sharp edge of the claw, ran it along to the point, something I’d done often to give me comfort. There were only a few animals I could think of that would have a claw this large. Dear God, what kind of shifter was he? A mystical sort of sensation grabbed hold of me. My brother’s words from a long time ago flitted across my brain.Are they all just regular animals, or will we someday discover something extraordinary? A unicorn perhaps?
I lifted my gaze to Landon’s. Would he turn into a mythological creature like a griffin or a dragon? My heart pounded. Would he tell me if I asked?
Swallowing against the dryness in my throat, I opened my mouth, then closed it again. I could barely make out his lifted eyebrow in response. My gaze jumped to the gap at the top of the wall. It had darkened since I’d woken up. “What time is it?”
His hands twitched at his side. “I seem to have left my watch in my other suit.” I shook my head, not appreciating his attempt at humor. “Sunset, I think.” His voice cracked on the last word.
That meant a whole day had passed since the crash. My stomach rolled, the tightness in my chest squeezing to maximum. It meant all those deliveries scheduled for today would have come to pass. Landon glanced away from me, blinking.
“God, no.” His family would all be shifters too, his mom, cousins, everyone. “I’m so sorry.”
I couldn’t stand being apart any longer. I rushed toward him and wrapped my arms around his torso, squeezing him tight. My cheek pressed against the soft hairs of his chest. His heart beat steady beneath my ear. Taking a ragged breath, he hugged me to him. My mind raced, trying to find hope in this bleak situation. “Maybe Marley and Alina stopped the deliveries somehow.”
“Maybe,” he allowed, but I heard the defeat in his voice. “Those kinds of thoughts are the only thing keeping me sane right now.”
I squeezed him harder. As his hand roved up and down my spine, the crisp scent of linen surrounded me, comforting in this horrible place and circumstance—familiar. My body recognized the warmth of his.
I inhaled another deep breath. “Were you holding me earlier?”
“Yes. It’s cold in here.” He said it like he needed an excuse. “But I didn’t want you scared when you saw the collar.”
I tipped my head to see his expression. “You don’t scare me.”
With slow movements, his hand cupped my jaw. I leaned into the touch, shivers cascading through my neck. We stood that way, the wind picking up outside, then he leaned forward and pressed his lips to my forehead. I closed my eyes and melted.
Clank clink.I jumped away. The metal door beside us began to lift. Dim sunlight shot beneath the door to highlight our feet, then shins. Side by side we faced it, Landon’s shoulder grazing mine. I took a deep breath. Whatever my brother’s plans for us were, we were about to find out.
20
LANDON
She twistedthe handle on the window, cracking it open with a protesting groan of wood and paint. With a shake of her hand, she dropped the ladybug on the windowsill.
“Are you going to let all the spiders go free now too?” I teased, coming up behind her.
She spun around, a sheepish expression on her beautiful face. “Well, spiders are one thing. But ladybugs wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
