We stand, panting and bleeding, regarding each other with wild eyes.
“Well, what do we do now?” Gabe demands.
“I don’t know.” Theo shakes his head. “I’m trying to think.”
“Well, we’ve got to come up with something, and it had better be fast!” I shout. “Amber doesn’t have time for us to come up with some fancy-ass plan. She needs our help now.”
“This might help,” The Warden steps forward, holding out a small, dark object. “It’s Theo’s phone. Maybe one of Amber’s sisters will know where they could be taking her?”
“Thank you.” Theo accepts the device gratefully, immediately tapping the screen and pulling up the messaging app.
“Why don’t you all get in the car,” Warden Black gestured. “Let me take you back to the nurses’ station to get patched up while you sort out where they’re going. However else I can help you, just tell me.”
We stumble our way toward the SUV.
“Well,” Theo says, “we could use a ride…”
twenty-three
AMBER
Iwake with a screaming headache. Pinholes of light in the darkness remind me of the bag over my head, and I realize I’m restrained by a seatbelt but slumped over with my aching head resting on the window. A jolt rocks the vehicle as we drive over another bump, which is probably what woke me in the first place.
Sitting up slowly, I bite back a gasp of pain. My stiff body and neck don’t seem to want to straighten. However, I appear to be unrestrained, since I can raise my hands and pull the bag from my head. It’s the one thing helping me remain calm. My memory swells with bits and pieces, my heart aching. This can’t truly be happening. I’ll wake up from another nightmare at any second.
No such luck.
Finally free of the cover, I draw in a big lungful of air, peering out the window to see if I can determine where we are. Unfortunately, the world outside is black. The headlights only illuminate a dozen feet in front of the car, revealing a gravel road and an endless line of trees, but that is all. No landmarks. No houses or anything.
It ignites fear inside me. There’s only one reason Pack Fernando would take me to the middle of nowhere. Easier to get rid of a body. My body.
Shut up!I scold myself. I can’t think like this.
I have no idea how long I’ve been out, and no idea what time it is or where we are. I risk a glance to my right, and see the thug who grabbed me and knocked me out staring at the blue light of his phone screen. His lank, greasy hair hangs around his eyes in a dark curtain. Blood-stained tissues are shoved into his swollen nose, and I allow myself a small grin at the knowledge that I inflicted some kind of damage. He didn’t take me without a fight, at least.
A fight!My heart lurches, wondering what happened to the guys. We must have left them behind, fighting Mother’s other two henchmen.
I lean slowly toward the center of the car, trying to see into the front seat. Mother sits primly in the passenger seat, playing on her phone from what I can tell. Faint electronic dings and pops echo in the silent car from her corner. I don’t recognize the driver, but if I had to guess, I’d assume he’s another member of Pack Fernando. Where are my fathers in all of this? Do they have any idea what she’s up to? Do they know and chose not to stop her? Are they letting me die without so much as a glance in my direction? It’s then I realize that they are every bit as culpable as she is. She may have been the one holding the key, but they gave her the fucking car. They’ve enabled all the cruel and terrible things she did to me and my sisters over the years. Whether intentionally or apathetically, I guess I’ll never know now.
“Well, looks like our sleeping beauty is finally awake,” the greaseball beside me says. “Did you sleep well, princess?”
“That’s an awful lot of sarcasm for a man who got his face busted by a ‘princess,’ ” I comment dryly. “Do you always have to knock girls out with a hit to the head when you’re trying to pick them up? Or do you prefer roofies for that job?”
“You little bitch,” he snarls, “when I’m done with you, you’ll—”
“That’s enough, Edward,” Mother’s threatening tone rises from the front seat.
I snicker loudly so he knows what I think of his name. It’s not exactly tough or fitting for a brutal alpha.
Edward’s eyes flash with malice, but he seems to think better of it and leans back in his seat.
Hmm, it appears the ‘mom voice’ can even control the most unruly of thugs.
I chew over my options for a minute then decide ‘repentant daughter’ is the best tactic at this point.
“Mother, where are we going?” I ask in my sweetest, gentlest voice. It’s fake as hell, but I learned from the best.
“None of your concern. You’ll find out when we get there,” Mother says dryly without looking at me. The dings continue on her phone as she texts rapidly.