5
The seconds dragged by, turning into the longest minutes of my life. I didn’t have a clock in here, but I was pretty sure it had been nearly a half hour already.Shit.
I’d totally been played.
I shouldn’t have believed Kyle. What was wrong with me? Why was I constantly seeking allies when I knew everyone was just going to let me down in the end?
The door opened and I spun on my heels to face the newcomer. Kyle’s hair was a mess, his eyes were wide, his cheeks flush.
“What happened?” I had planned on asking more questions, but it was clear by his disheveled appearance that something was going on.
He pressed his finger to his lips, then bolted for the bed, sliding under it and pulling the comforter down over the edge to hide him. Before I could figure out what was happening, the door opened again and a huge, bald shifter male peered in. His nose looked like it had been broken a few times and his bushy eyebrows made his eyes look like tiny specks on his squishy, pink face.
Baldie stomped into the room with a grunt. “Where is he?”
“Where is who?” My heart pounded and my stomach twisted into knots. Whatever was going on, I hoped it was the plan to get me out of here. And I really hoped it was going as anticipated.
He walked to the closet and slid the door open, then stuck his head inside. I kept my gaze on him, afraid to turn to look toward the bed where I knew Kyle was hiding.
After looking in the empty closet, the huge shifter scanned my room, glaring at the pile of clothes on the floor.
“What? They tossed me in here naked. I had to find something to wear.” I shrugged. My nose caught a strange scent. Like smoke. “Is something burning?”
With a growl, he turned and left the room. I let out a relieved breath but remained in place, my eyes fixed on the door. A few long moments passed, and it didn’t open. There was a more obvious scent of smoke in the air now, but I figured grunting bald shifter had it under control. I turned toward the bed in time to see Kyle crawling out from under it.
“What the hell?” I whispered.
Kyle held up one finger as if to tell me to wait. I glared at him. Trusting him might have been a huge mistake.
Suddenly, an alarm blared and I covered my ears. “What the fuck?”
My eyes widened. The smoke might not be under control. “What did you do?”
“Time to go!” He grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the window. Instead of the six shifters that had previously been standing outside, only one remained. He looked up and us and waved. While he was a little rough around the edges, I was pretty sure I’d be able to recognize the familiar form of Alec for the rest of my life.
“You saved him first?” I yelled at Kyle.
“I told you that you wouldn’t like it,” he said as he pulled the window open. He pushed out the screen, giving us a clear exit. “Now, jump.”
We were on the second story and while I’d considered this as a way out, it didn’t seem as great of an idea as it had when I first contemplated it.
I heard the distinct sound of cracking bones and when I looked back over at Kyle, he was in his wolf form. He growled at me, then he leaped through the open window, landing ungracefully, but seemingly unharmed.
He was back in human form so swiftly, it made my head spin. Quickly, he moved alongside Alec and the males stretched their arms out. Alec and Kyle were going to catch me.
“You have got to be kidding me,” I shouted.
“Just fucking jump, Lola,” Alec said. “Now.”
Dammit. This was my best chance. Taking a deep breath, I climbed onto the window so my legs were dangling out. Then I pushed off, hoping I wasn’t going to end up with a broken leg and remain trapped here.
I landed hard, but I was in strong arms rather than the ground. The two males set me down and I was pleasantly surprised that I was in one piece. So far, Kyle’s plan wasn’t so bad.
“Time to run,” Kyle said. He shifted into wolf form quickly.
Ace reached for my hand. “We gotta go.”
I pulled my hand away. “I can run by myself.”