SWNOVELS Chapter 42
Once in the bathroom, he returns to wolf form and creeps to the door, listening to whatever sounds are coming from the bedroom. He's probably trying to hear movements and smell feelings or some shit, because the dialogue is plenty audible from where I'm standing "I don't care, Alex!" my friend yells. "There's nothing you could say that would make me give two shits about our past, because what you're doing is wrong. Now get this goddamn blindfold off of me!"
even with my bullshit human hearing. Mostly because of AJ.
"How can you trust these guys and not me, AJ?" Alex sounds serious.
"How can I... you pretended to have brain damage for ten years!" AJ makes a really good point.
"I wasn't pretending, I was... look, you don't understand, and you're not--"
"Alex, stop." Another voice enters the conversation, this one a woman's. She sounds familiar, but I can't place her.
"We don't have time to debate these issues," the woman continues. "I've come for the child, and I'm not going to waste time trying to convince you."
"You sound familiar," AJ says, mirroring my own thoughts. The voice has a nostalgic quality. Like a high school teacher or someone I once knew long ago. Chances are pretty strong that's who it is. AJ and I definitely called Ms. Day a witch all the time; maybe the reason she got so mad is because we were right.
The voice ignores AJ entirely and speaks directly to Rune. "Fae, you're running out of options. I've got plenty of spells left to try, and sooner or later you'll lose consciousness and any mystique you've created will vanish."
Jesus. I can't tell what's going on, but it appears Rune doesn't have the upper hand. Whatever he did to help hide Rain seems to have put him in a bind. Zev's hackles are up, and his left paw is raised, like a hunting dog ready to strike. But where the hell is Darius?
I hear Rune clear his throat before speaking. "Like you said, Witch, we're not debating anything. Please, continue with your spells." His voice is extremely strained, even if he's still putting up a verbal fight. I can only imagine what's been done to make such a strong man suffer so much. I wish I could do something to help him, but I know I'm way out of my depth.
"Very well," the voice says with a trace of disappointment. God, she sounds more familiar with every word. Who is she?
I hear the clinking of some glass, maybe a spoon hitting the edges of a cup as it stirs. "Would you like to drink this one on your own, Fae? Or shall I pour it in your eye like the last?"
Before Rune can respond--or not respond, depending on how he prefers his torturing--Alex speaks up.
"Hey, we might have a problem."
"What?" the mystery woman asks sharply.
"I, um... I just looked at AJ's phone." Alex fumbles his words, sounding pretty nervous, just like the guy I remember from high school. "She... she sent a text to Bernie before I took it away, I guess." After a second of silence, I hear a loud slap.
"Ow! Goddammit, that hurt!" Alex screams, obviously on the receiving end of a smack across the face.
"Did it?" the woman asks. "Because if that hurts, you're not going to enjoy being ripped apart by a werewolf at all."
"You certainly won't."
Darius has joined the mix, probably appearing out of nowhere in his annoying way, which I swear I will never reprimand him for again if he can get us out of this mess.
His arrival seems to put a temporary halt on conversation as fighting ensues.
I hear crash after crash and loud growls from Zev, who sped out of the bathroom without me even noticing.
"Hold on, Rune!" Darius says. I don't know what he's asking the fae to hold on to, but the fear in the vampire's voice is tangible and makes my own fear that much stronger.
Snapping myself out of panic mode, I scan the bathroom, searching for any sign of Rain or a weapon I can use, anything to make myself useful. Maybe this is my chance to sneak into the bedroom and try to find my baby.
I feel the urge to help, to do something more proactive than just sit on my ass like a damsel in distress. I want to help Rune, or distract the attackers so Zev can maul them or Darius snap their spines. But more than that, I want to find my baby.
I
creep
toward the door, trying to be
wary of the fight that's going on
while staying under the radar. Peering down the hallway, I see a whirlwind of activity. Chairs crash against the wall, flashes of light scorch my plants, and AJ lies slumped against the floor, a blindfold tied around her eyes. I'm about to throw caution to the wind
and rush to help when I see her push herself up.
"Rune!" Darius sounds more anxious this time, causing my anxiety levels to spike as well. How dire is the situation out there? Is Rune going to die? Where the hell is he?
But before I can worry about the guys, I need to find Rain. I take a deep breath and slink down the hallway toward the bedroom, hoping I can turn the corner into my room before someone grabs me.
I make it through and close the door quietly behind me, leaning against it while I reach behind my back to turn the lock. I search the room, starting with the crib and moving over to my bed, hoping a mother's intuition will help me find a baby that's shrouded in a magical illusion.
As I fumble around checking the most obvious and oddball places for a baby, I hear a soft cry. It doesn't sound like she's in distress, but it still makes me that much more panicked about finding her. I move more slowly, listening as hard as I can, inching closer to the source of the whimpers...
And then the world goes dark.
I can't see anything, and sounds are muffled.
My first guess is that the lights went out. My second is that I've been knocked out. My third is that a bag's been put over my head.
When I try to lift my hands up to my
face, someone with an iron grip grabs my wrists and thrusts them behind my back, binding them with something warm. It ties too fast for a normal rope but doesn't hurt like a zip tie. Before I can guess what's holding me in place, I'm hoisted over someone's shoulder and carried toward the back wall. I'm helpless with no hands or vision, and I can only scream as I feel myself falling
out the window and through the cold
night air.
I don't have a clue where I am when I come to. It's still dark, my hands are still tied behind my back, and I'm shivering from cold.
At first I panic, trying to fight out of my tethers and shake off whatever's covering my head. All that does is fill my hood with noise and make me less aware of my surroundings, so I stop. I take a few deep breaths, then try my best to be still and listen.
There's the sound of a fire crackling nearby. Not close enough for me to feel its warmth, but not too far away. There are also voices--soft and distant, but loud enough to make it through whatever fabric covers my ears.
Another sound cuts through it all. The same sound that rose above the chaos in my apartment. Rain is crying.
As I listen, her tiny voice gets closer, as do the voices of others, along with the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow. My heart races as I prepare for the people, witches, or monsters that are coming my way. To kill me? Maybe. To kill my baby? That's the only thing that worries me.
I feel a body come close, stopping
right beside me, Suddenly, the hood over my head gets ripped off, and cold air hits.my face. The distant fire provides the only light, and I blink my blindness away, allowing my eyes to focus. The first thing I see is trees everywhere, branches heavy with the recent snowfall, the ground covered by a fresh layer. I can't hear or see any signs of city life. We must be deep in the woods.
Whoever lifted my hood steps behind me and unties my wrists. Moments later another captor passes me Rain. I cry through a painfully dry throat and pull her close, trying to give her every ounce of warmth in my body, doing whatever I can to protect her and make her feel safe. My touch seems to settle her a little, which in turn calms my nerves the slightest bit.
"Beautiful."
I hear that same voice, the familiar woman from my apartment, though now she sounds soft and nurturing. I look up to find the source of the sound, and see a cloaked figure a few paces away. She's outlined by the fire in the background, so I can't see anything except her profile.
"She's absolutely beautiful," the woman says again.
Who the hell is this? Who kidnaps a mother and child, only to tell the bound-up mom how pretty her baby is?
The figure steps closer until she's right next to me, and as the moonlight illuminates her face, I finally get to see her.
"I'm so proud of you," she says as she kneels down and touches my cheek.
It takes another moment before I can place her, because it's been almost twenty years... but that smile. Those eyes. That voice. The small scar on her forehead that I used to run my finger over.
I'm staring into the face of my dead mother.