Page 23 of Vicious Little Vows
TEN
Istood on the sidewalk near the park gates while Sebastian hailed a cab. He was still cranky, and I didn’t have the energy to push it. We could discuss what had happened between us later—after I made sure everyone in the Bogs was safe.
A man on a bike whizzed past right in front of me, nearly running over my toes. I heard the sound of glass breaking, then I was right in the middle of a huge cloud of odorless smoke. I coughed, unable to see a thing as Ringo squealed. Something pressed over my mouth and nose—cloth with an acrid scent.
Oh holy hells, I was being kidnapped. I kicked back at my attacker, but I was already dizzy and didn’t do any damage. He lifted me from my feet and started moving. I didn’t know where Ringo had gone, and I couldn’t see through the smoke to find Sebastian.
When I could finally see, I caught a glimpse of a van’s interior. My attacker had pulled me in, keeping me on the floor of the vehicle to maintain the cloth over my mouth. I gave one last surge of effort, then lost consciousness.
Sharp pain lancedthrough my skull. I tried to lift a hand to my brow, then realized my arms were at an uncomfortable angle, bound behind my back. I was leaning against a wall.
“Shit.” I cracked my eyes open, grateful that the only lighting came from a row of windows high up on the wall. Anything else would have been too painful to look at. Wherever I was seemed like a warehouse with tall shelves of boxes and the smell of dust and moisture.
“She’s waking up.” I tensed at a voice behind me, then that damned cloth clamped back over my mouth. I had no fight in me to resist. My last thought was, where was Sebastian? If he could find me anywhere, why hadn’t he come?
There was only one good answer, and I didn’t have time to think about it.
When I woke again,I was in a different room. This one had a lone, buzzing bulb overhead and no windows. The florescent light making my head pound was not appreciated. Neither were the ropes binding my arms and legs to a metal chair. The ropes around my biceps were tied to the metal slats of the chair back tight enough that my arms had gone all tingly.
I didn’t want to get knocked out again, but I couldn’t very well just pretend I was asleep until I met whatever ill fate was on its way. My heart raced as I dared a glance over my shoulder, but there was no one there. I was alone in a small, windowless room. And what was worse, I couldn’t sense my magic at all. The room must have been enchanted to keep me from traveling, whichmeant these people knew exactly who and what I was. They had taken me as the best way to find my mom and turn her in for the bounty.
I jerked my body back, scooting my chair just an inch, for what good it did. There were some pipes sprouting in one corner of the room—maybe I could use them to undo the ropes. I debated the best way to reach the pipes when something started moving in my shirt.Somethingwith little claws and a soft furry body. I hadn’t noticed it before where it had been resting in the pouch of my tucked in shirt.
“What the—” I hissed, then Ringo’s head popped up between my breasts. “Holy crap little buddy, I thought you were a rat!”
Ringo blinked at me. “I had to hide so they didn’t fling me away.”
Realizing Ringo had actually witnessed everything—or had at least heard what was going on within my shirt—I went still. “Who arethey? Where are we? Did Sebastian—” I cut myself off as a lump formed in my throat. But maybe he was okay. Maybe he just couldn’t find me because I was in a magically warded room.
But I hadn’t been the first time I woke up…
“Three werewolves, two goblins, one fairy,” Ringo said, and when I looked a question at him, he added, “I could smell them. They took you one place, to wait for the fairy, then they moved you here.”
Werewolves and goblins. The werewolves were confusing, but could the goblins have been the ones who tried to steal from Isadora? They’d had that smoke potion, so maybe they got away with more than she realized…
“Did you recognize the fairy?” I asked, then realized he had never met Varian. That didn’t mean it wasn’t him, though. He had to be pissed after he’d gotten tossed out of the Bogs, losinghis magic-stealing vortex when the Bogs decided to eat it. “Never mind. Can you get these ropes off of me?”
He crawled the rest of the way out of my shirt, then dropped into my lap where he started gnawing at the ropes binding my upper arms to the chair back. They were thick, but chewing through them would still probably be easier than attempting to untie big knots with his tiny paws.
He was almost through the first rope when we heard footsteps beyond the door, and a man’s voice said, “She should be awake by now, but don’t worry. She can’t use any magic in there.”
“Back in my shirt!” I rasped, worried they’d hurt Ringo if they saw him.
This time once he was inside, he wiggled around to my lower back where his bulge would be less noticeable. He settled into place and stopped moving just as the door opened, revealing two men. Neither of them were Varian.
One was tall and burly, with a mane of curly black hair. His deep set eyes were just as black, looking me up and down as he entered with the other man, who stood a whole head shorter than him. He had violet eyes, the irises big and vibrant. His short hair was a dusky purple. I assumed he must be the fairy Ringo had mentioned.
The big guy—I was pretty sure he was a werewolf—wore street clothes, while the fairy wore a pale gray button up and pin-striped pants. He hadn’t needed to dress down for the actual kidnapping.
Both men stepped into the room, shutting the door behind them.
“What do you want?” I demanded.
The two men looked at each other, and neither of them answered. Instead, the fairy said to the werewolf. “You’re sure it’s her?”
The werewolf’s bushy brows lowered. “She was with the devil, right where they said she’d be.”
The fairy waved him off, then glided toward me, his impressive eyes looking me up and down. “You are Eva Nix?”
