Page 90 of Pretty Lethal
She nods, but fear shines in her eyes, darkening their natural jade green color.
“Where are we?” I ask, reluctantly tearing my gaze from her to take in our surroundings. Low-level lighting illuminates cold, dank walls and stone floors. There’s a dampness in the air that can only be obtained beneath the earth.
“I think we’re in the tunnels that run under the campus,” Wilder answers.
The strain in his voice has me glancing his way. Like me, he’s sitting on the cold ground with his arms pulled behind his back. One shoulder is perched at an unnatural angle, and despite his joking—probably for Emilia’s sake—concern shines in his eyes, which are lined with pain.
Catching me looking, he grunts, “Think it’s dislocated.”
Otherwise, he seems fine, so I turn to Hawk next. He’s lying on my other side, still unconscious.
“He’s breathing, so I think he’s okay,” Wilder informs me. “Just knocked his head.”
I nod, shifting on my ass and doing my best to ignore the screaming of my muscles as I nudge Hawk with my feet. He groans and I do it again.
“Come on, you lazy bastard,” I growl at him.
“Go away, it’s not time to get up yet.”
I roll my eyes while Wilder snickers.
“Hawk, please.” The pleading in Emilia’s voice rouses him enough to peel open an eyelid, and he blinks at her for a moment before groaning in pain.
“Ugh. Why does it feel like someone trampled all over my skull?”
“Because they did?” Wilder deadpans.
Slowly returning to the land of the living, Hawk awkwardly pushes himself upright, groaning at the pain in his head. “Where are we?” he grumbles, squinting as he peers around our less-than-stellar accommodation.
Wilder recites his theory, which I have to agree with.
“So it was the King’s Elite that ran us off the road,” Hawk deduces.
“Does anyone still have their weapons?” I question, glancing at each of them. I can tell by the loose fitting of my jeans that my gun is missing, and as the others shake their heads, my fears are confirmed.
I’d hazard a guess that they took our cell phones too, not that they’ll do us much good if we’re in the underground tunnels.
“What do you think they want with us?” Emilia asks in a small voice that makes me wish more than anything I could bundle her into my chest and promise I’ll protect her.
I don’t get the chance to offer her any reassurances before we hear footsteps approaching, and a door on the far side of the room is thrown open. A towering, cloaked figure fills the doorway, and Wilder shifts in front of Emilia as the three of us defiantly stare the concealed entity down.
Without saying a word, it stalks toward us, aiming directly for Wilder and Emilia.
“Stay the fuck away from her!” Wilder snarls as Emilia bites back a whimper, staring up at the hooded figure with fear leaking from her pores.
However, the figure reaches out to fist Wilder’s hair, using it to drag him across the room.
“No!” Emilia screams loud enough to be heard over Wilder’s violent cursing, her fear momentarily forgotten as concern for him takes priority. “Let him go!”
The cloak doesn’t pay her any attention as he continues dragging Wilder into the center of the room before tossing him into a chair. Despite his grunt of pain as he collides with the wooden seat, Wilder glares daggers at the cloaked figure. Murderous intent is written all over his face, and despite his bum shoulder, his ass has no sooner touched the chair before he’s launching himself at the masked individual.
“Motherfucker,” Wilder snarls as his good shoulder connects with the person’s stomach. A masculine grunt escapes the cloak as the two of them go tumbling to the floor. The air is knocked from Wilder’s lungs, but he struggles to his knees, with a determination and desperation to survive, driving his actions as he pounces on the man.
“Enough!”
Wilder pauses as a deep, booming voice echoes off the walls, practically vibrating through my bones, and I turn to find another cloaked figure standing in the doorway. This one has gold filigree stitched into the lining of their cloak.
I’m guessing we’ve been graced with the presence of the almighty King.
