Page 30 of Into the Dawn

John waits for me to finish ranting. "I'm fine."

Even in the darkness, I can smell the lie.

I hear scuffing along the ground as he struggles to get to his feet, and I grit my teeth, knowing that losing my mind to rage isn’t going to help us escape.

"What’s wrong with you?" I ask, more upset on his behalf than he seems to be. “Weak or injured?”

"I'm okay, Ben. I'm okay." He reassures me, but I notice how he hasn’t answered my question.

“So both, then.”

"Jed likes to act the big man, and I'm obviously the softest target here. But Rusty isn't the worst. He keeps them on a short leash, and he's told them I'm not to be touched."

Everyone here is scared of Rusty and will follow his instructions most of the time. But he can't be everywhere all at once.

"Why did they even take you, John?" I ask. "None of this makes fucking sense." My head pounds with too many scents, too many emotions. Something about this place is making it hard to think straight.

From around the corner, a hand appears through the bars, thin and pale, and streaked with dirt, but proof of life, nonetheless.

I grab it and shake it hard.

Skin to skin contact with the man I consider my father gives me a renewed sense of strength. He's alive. I'm here. We're gonna get the fuck out of this place and get home.

"I don't know," John says. "These guys knew I'd fend off their plans to hurt Kali, and I suspect Jed might have been involved with the missing girls. It took me longer to connect the dots back to Scott. Too long. Maybe they conspired to lock me up here and throw away the key. Or maybe, they planned to lure you and Evan up here and then pin the blame for the disappearances on you. I'm not sure what their end game was."

"This is so fucked up," I reply. "Were Scott and Jed friends?"

John's hand turns palm up, as if to say,I don't know.

"I'm going to get us out of here," I say, unable to give a fuck what their plan was. It doesn't matter now. Scott's dead, and Jed's next.

I don't mention her involvement, hopefully, in getting us out of here. This place looks rough and ready, but who's to say nobody's listening? I assume the walls have ears.

"They came after Kali," I say quietly.

John always said they would.

"I heard," John responds, sounding weary. "I also heard the commotion when they came back missing a couple of people."

It's crazy to think that Henry was here, getting statements and interviewing witnesses, yet nobody realized John was locked up underground. But I suppose burying something is the easiest way to hide its scent.

My beast bristles at the thought of being buried down here, the walls suddenly feeling closer.

"Does Evan know where you are?" John asks, a glimmer of hope in his voice. When I stay silent for a second too long, he groans, knowing full well that I haven't talked to him.

"He would have stopped me," I say stubbornly, justifying my going off on a solo run with this one. The heat under my skin is making me restless and aggressive.

John laughs. "He would have been right to."

Yeah, maybe.

"But he met somebody," I continue, struggling to keep the joy out of my voice. I'm so happy for him. "He has a mate now. And I couldn't ask him to give that up, to risk leaving her alone."

"That's brilliant," John says, his voice slightly choked up. "I hope she's good to him. And that he knows what he's got."

"She’s the best. You're gonna love her," I say. I won't ruin the surprise by telling him that Evan's mate is the daughter he doesn’t even know exists. That’s going to be a lot to process. He can find that out for himself when we get back to the Devil's Claw. "She keeps him on his toes, that's for sure."

John laughs and sighs. "What about you? Still gallivanting around the place?"

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