Page 24 of Vicious Little Vows
I thought about lying, but since I was still alive, they probably wanted me that way. If I wasn’t who they wanted, they might just kill me. Giving him my best withering glare, I nodded.
“Well, that was easy,” he snorted. “I hope you’re ready for a family reunion.”
I inhaled sharply before I could stop myself. He couldn’t mean my mom, could he? Had she been captured? Unless—
The fairy had turned back to the werewolf. “He’ll come for her tonight. Keep an eye on her.” He turned away and left the room, shutting and locking the door behind him.
I looked at the werewolf, and the werewolf looked at me.
“Harry is going to be pissed when he finds out what you did.”
The werewolf wrinkled his nose. “Not every wolf in the city is part of the pack.”
Damn, it was worth a try. I knew there were plenty of lone wolves in the city—Harry couldn’t police them all from Willowvale—but there were also many others like Braxton, loyal to the pack even though they lived apart from the group.
“Who’s coming for me?” I asked.
The werewolf only smiled. He had a few scars on his face, and more on his arms. He was no stranger to fighting, and probably outweighed me by a good 80 pounds. Even with the rope around my arm ready to snap, I wouldn’t have the physical strength to make it past him, nor the speed to get my legs untied in time. So that left the potion still in my pocket. With the concentrated magic, I should be able to jump even from within the warded room, and I only needed one free arm to do it.
Now to snap the rope and reach the potion before he could stop me. The chewed portion wasn’t noticeable against the foldsof my shirt, but once I started straining it would be. If it didn’t snap fast enough—
The werewolf tilted his head, listening to something, and I forced myself to relax. Maybe he would go investigate, and I could snap my rope in peace.
His brow furrowed, and I found myself listening for whatever was drawing his attention. At first I heard nothing, then I jumped at a sudden shout, followed by a crash. Had Sebastian finally come for me? I was starting to worry that he hadn’t made it out of that smoke cloud alive.
The werewolf looked at the door, then at me, debating his next move. More shouting made his decision. He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, then fumbled them as he tried to find the right one to unlock the door. When one finally slid easily into the lock, he gave me a triumphant look as if I had something to do with the crashing out there, and now he had bested me. Then more shouts sounded and he quickly let himself out into the hall, shutting and locking the door behind him.
The second he was gone, I strained against the rope, but it wasn’t breaking. “Ringo!” I rasped.
He scurried around to the front of my shirt, tickling my belly as he made his ascent up my chest, giving me a few more scratches along the way.
“Hurry,” I said as he dropped out of my shirt and got to work on the rope he’d been chewing before.
After a few final chomps, it came free, and I realized it was the same rope binding my other arm, tied behind the chair back. With my arms free, I struggled with the separate ropes around my legs, my hands having lost sensation after my arms had been bound for so long. I had just gotten the final rope free when the door slammed inward, tearing off its hinges with the force of the blow.
I staggered to my feet with Ringo on my shoulder, reaching my hand into my pocket for the potion vial. I didn’t recognize the massive gargoyle standing in the doorway, but now the door flying off its hinges made sense. Gargoyles were incredibly strong.
I hesitated with the potion halfway to my lips. Gargoyles lived in the Silver Quarter with the angelics, and often ran errands for them. This guy might have been sent by Lucas, who I didn’t trust, but my mom did, and that was good enough for now.
The gargoyle’s impressive gray wings flexed behind his back. He wore a low cut muscle shirt with plenty of open room for the wings. Noticing the potion, his eyes narrowed and he lunged for me.
I downed the potion, prepared this time for the immense power washing through me. I should have thought of Gabriel or Mistral, since I knew where they were, but my worry over Sebastian made him come to my mind first. The world spun, and I left the terrible room and the angry Gargoyle behind.
ELEVEN
Someone steadied me as my boots landed on asphalt. Despite the lingering ache in my head, the sunlight was a blessed relief. I lifted my hand to make sure Ringo was still steady on my shoulder, then turned in the partial embrace of Sebastian—alive and well, not kidnapped at all, and decidedlynotrescuing me.
Stepping away from him, I looked around. I could still hear shouts and commotion coming from inside. We were in the back alley of the building I’d just escaped.
With Ringo secure and clinging to my braid, I punched Sebastian in the arm as hard as I could. “You asshole! Why did you leave me in there for so long!”
Unfazed, he lifted a finger to his lips, warning me to be quiet, though no one would notice my shouting over the commotion inside. “Don’t you want to know who was coming for you?”
“They drugged me and tied me to a chair,” I hissed, fuming.
“Yes, and if you would have remained there, we could have cut off the snake at the head. Now whoever was coming for you might not show.”
I forced my breathing to calm, still livid. “You let them take me on purpose?” I knew he was practical, but I hadn’t thought he’d go that far. My kidnappers could have wanted me dead.
