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I took off in the direction where I sensed my mating mark on my female. I was vaguely aware of Adryan shouting something at me, but I could only focus on one thing, and that was getting to my Evie.
24
Evelyn
The pain woke me, something hard digging into my back, my head aching, this splitting sensation encompassing my entire skull. I groaned softly before I could stop myself and shifted on whatever I was lying on. The sound I made caused vibrations in my head, and the pain became worse. Even though my eyes were already closed, I squeezed them tighter.
I lay there and breathed in and out, pushing through the nausea, trying to sort through my thoughts even though my skull was throbbing and in agony.
Memories of the fight back at the house flooded my mind. Odhran being beaten and bloody before collapsing on the ground, unconscious or worse. Somebody tackling me to the floor before I passed out. They moved through my memory like a broken record, bits and pieces of images and sounds filtering in before they all grouped together and became one.
I allowed myself some time to gather my bearings before I really thought about what was going on now and what I was going to do next.
The first thing I realized once my head cleared a little was that I was obviously in a vehicle. The ride was bumpy, and my back kept banging against what had to be the side of it. And even though I couldn’t see because of the bag over my head, I had to assume I was in the back of a larger vehicle, a van, maybe an SUV, given the fact that I was stretched out on aflat, hard metal surface and not in a seat.
My hands were tied together in front, the rope tight, the nylon digging into my flesh so hard I could feel the skin had become raw. My feet were the same, tied around the ankles, my immobility causing more panic to fill me.
My hearing was muffled because of the cloth over my head, but I started to make out the conversation of two men clearly, presumably in the front seats.
“He was a bitch to take down,” one of the men said, the other one chuckling in response. “Too bad we can’t turn them to work for us. Can you imagine that kind of strength on our side?”
“Don’t let J hear you say that fucking shit,” the other man snapped. “We don’t join forces with them. We take them. That’s what our job is. Who the fuck you think we fight? Them?” The other man’s voice rose. It was clear he was a loyal asshole to this crazy organization. “That’s not what any of this is about, Jack. And if anyone in the top tiers heard that crazy bullshit coming out of your mouth, they’d throw you in a Session with one of them, you hear me?” I could imagine he was glaring at the one named Jack. “They’ll let one of those beasts tear your throat out as they rip your limbs from your body.”
The other man cleared his throat, and I could sense his discomfort as it filled the vehicle. Good. I hoped these bastards felt so much discomfort they were bleeding out of their ears and eyes because of it.
There was a heavy moment of silence, and although I couldn’t see, I could feel someone looking at me. I feigned being unconscious, not moving, keeping my breathing even. I wasn't a good actress, but right now my life depended on it.
“J hit her kind of hard, yeah?” Jack muttered softly. “I didn’t know a woman could have that kind of… gumption. Hell, it's the first time I’ve seen awoman in the field with us.”
The other man didn’t speak for long seconds before finally saying, “She’s as dangerous as any man in the Assembly. She’s… yeah. Just watch yourself with her, okay?”
Jack cleared his throat and changed the subject. “Since when did we start taking humans?”
“When those humans are known mates to these creatures, that’s when we take them.” There was acid in the other man’s voice, as if he was annoyed at having to explain any of this. “Listen,” he said, his voice a little less harsh, as if he lowered it because he was speaking to a petulant child. “I know you’re new with us, Jack. And I know you got this position because your daddy is one of the higher-up soldiers. But I’m gonna give you some advice, yeah.” He didn’t phrase it as a question. He was clearly going to give Jack the advice whether he wanted it or not.
“When you start asking questions, that's when shit goes south. Your job is to help secure the subjects and bring them to the facility. That’s it. We don’t question. We don’t wonder about the what-ifs. We do our job, we keep our mouths shut, we get paid, and we mind our damn business in all things.”
The other man cleared his throat, his discomfort once again clear as it filled the vehicle with this heavy, toxic feeling.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of men just like you ask one too many questions. And then poof.” I heard him snap his fingers. “They’re gone. You feel me?”
A long, pregnant moment of silence filled the air before he answered, “Yeah, I feel you.”
The vehicle stayed silent for a while, and when I felt like I wasn’t still being watched, I tried to silently loosen the ropes binding me. I held my breath off and on, my heart racing as I shifted my hands, working the rope looser and looser until I was able to pull a hand through. I gritted my teeth as the nylon tore at my skin, wet warmth sliding down my wrists from the now-ripped skin.
“We have to meet at drop point A for the transfer.”
“You think he'll come for her?” the one I now knew was the new recruit asked, and I froze in case he glanced at me again.
“Oh… yeah. He sure as fuck will. With these creatures, they live and die for their mates. He’ll come, and be prepared. If you thought the one back at the house fighting us fucking naked like a beast was dangerous, the one coming for his woman will be one vicious motherfucker.”
My breath hitched and heart raced as I heard them talk about Cian. I had to get out of here. I had to stop this before the man I was starting to fall for very hard and very fast came for me and got hurt or, worse, killed.
For the next five or so minutes, the ride was silent, and I was thankful. I kept working at the rope on my ankles, loosening it up even more but having to go slow so I wasn't heard. Once my legs were free, I kept my hands clenched tightly together so it would still look like they were bound if they glanced back at me. I heard something large slam up against the side of the vehicle and froze. But thankfully the two men up front didn’t notice.
Still being as quiet as possible, I lifted my hands and pushed up the bottom of the bag covering my head. I was holding my breath as I saw two large bodies sitting in the front seats. I glanced around the vehicle, and as I suspected, I was in a van. I didn't see much of anything else back here but two black duffel bags across from me.
We went over a bump, and my head slammed against the floor. Closing my eyes and clenching my teeth in pain, I kept my mouth shut and stayed silent. I opened my eyes again, looked at the other end of the van, and held in my gasp as I saw Odhran’s big, prone body lying against the back doors.
