Page 92 of Tethered to the World
“Coming…to…gloat?” The question was a rasp as Vicki struggled for breath.
It shook Annora out of her paralysis, and she called the darkness, banishing the butterflies in a cloud of smoke. The action was draining, her head thrumming in time with her heartbeat, and she knew she didn’t have much strength left. She reached for the shackles with shaky fingers when the guy from the first bed shuffled over next to her.
“Go. Finish the rest.” The words seemed to exhaust him, but he was already looking better than he had been ten minutes ago…which wasn’t saying much. His skin was beginning to heal, looked less likely to slough off when he moved, but his skinny frame was seventy pounds too light, his body so bony it was a miracle that he could even move. She’d swear she could actually hear him creaking as he nudged her aside.
When she went to the last three beds, she discovered it was already too late.
The bodies on the beds were nothing more than fleshy skeletons, their skin seeming to peel off their bones to pool around them, barely clinging to the bodies anymore. Their eyes were wide in pure terror, no longer able to close them and block out the horror, their mouths open on a silent scream. She banished the last of the butterflies, then slowly closed the netting behind her, blocking out the gruesome sight.
Only a few of the shifters showed even a hint of healing—the strongest of the alphas—while the rest looked barely able to hold themselves upright. If it came to a fight, they’d be slaughtered.
“How are you able to do that?” Vicki was seated at the side of her bed, panting as if the small effort required to remain upright exhausted her.
The last thing Annora wanted to do was admit anything to them, and the true extent of her mother’s warning struck home. She could never be friends with these people. They would always see her as a threat or a potential victim to exploit. “You’re a wolf…I am not.” She pulled out the sheet out of her back pocket and held it up. “I banished the parasites back to where they belonged.”
The first guy she rescued swallowed hard. “They etched some kind of design on our bodies with a nasty mixture that seemed to summon those insects. Every few days they would harvest the butterflies, grind them into powder for their drug, and start the process all over again, just so some asshole can feel good for a few hours.”
As if exhausted by his speech, he slumped on the bed behind him. She glanced at the seven survivors with no clue how to get them out of this mess alive.
Before they had a chance to say more, the door was thrown open. Taylor stood in the doorway, a few of his pack members behind him. He blanched when he saw the others were out of bed, a tendril of terror nearly dousing the anger in his eyes. “What did you do?”
Chapter Twenty-three
“How the fuck could we have lost her?” Camden paced the kitchen, gripping the back of his neck, unable to face the others.
He was supposed to be the leader, but he was fucking useless.
He had no clue how to get her back.
The instant the connection broke, the light went out of his world. The crushing weight of being alone again robbed him of breath. He tore out of the house, barely aware of the guys a second behind him. He charged through the forest, dread tearing through him because, he knew if he didn’t catch her in time, it was likely he would never see her again.
Not acceptable.
They searched for an hour before giving up. Her trail led to a pool of blood, then her scent vanished.
There was no sense searching farther.
They’d taken her.
The doorbell rang, drawing him back to the present, and he turned to see Director Greenwood had entered without waiting for a response. “Erickson is gone, his office cleared of files. He’s not coming back.”
Greenwood looked like he’d aged ten years, and Camden realized the old man considered Annora one of his own—and he didn’t believe they were going to get her back.
She burst into their life, a breath of fresh air to a drowning man, and managed to burrow a place for herself in all their hearts without even trying.
The Director’s doubt firmed Camden’s resolve to get her back, and he straightened and faced the others. “The wolves won’t kill her right away. We have time to get her back.” He whirled to face the Director. “Where would Erickson and the wolves go?”
Xander punched the fridge once, twice, denting the metal, the fine feathers in his hair standing on end, his human form barely able to hold back the gryphon as he lost hope. Mason was so devastated about losing Annora on his watch that he was barely able to function. Logan, fortunately, was in warrior mode, and nothing could persuade him they wouldn’t get her back.
“We’ll go through his finances and records,” Rufus volunteered, but shook his head. “But it will take days, if not weeks to track them all down. I have assembled the other teams, each of them volunteering to help search.”
The guys fell silent, going still as the truth settled over them.
No one else thought they would get her back.
Panic and despair nearly gutted him, but Camden shook his head.
That outcome was completely unacceptable.
