Chapter 20 - Kit

Whatever Eli had given me had begun to wear off once I woke up, and now that it had been a full day since he'd given it to me, I was finally feeling more like myself. Sleep was still pulling at the edge of my mind at all times, but I'd been up for hours—dealing with Eli's fucking questions and trying to come up with a way to get out of here.

His little crew of misfit wolves had all been in here demanding more and more information about Kaiden and the others. I didn't say anything. I was used to Eli's treatment, and if anything, being with Kaiden, even the one time, showed me what life outside of here could be like.

I wasn't about to let myself be pumped for information and then discarded when Eli was done with me. I had someone to get back to, and finding my way home to Kaiden was all that mattered.

Clang .

Looking up from dozing, I saw one of the pack members at the cell door with a tray of food. Or what could just pass for food, considering the shitty state of it. The guy, tallish and dirty blonde, snarled at me, sliding the metal tray containing the mashed conglomeration of browns and whites through the open space at the bottom of the main door.

"I'm chained up." I jiggled my wrists where they hung from the manacles secured to the wall. "What am I supposed to do? Magically float it to me?"

That earned me another snarl, but the guy had been given the order to feed me, so he sighed roughly and unlocked the cell to come in. He held a long pole I'd seen used before to electrocute disobedient wolves. It hurt—bad—so I was sure to keep my distance from him.

Loud steps shook the quiet I was used to as he walked to the chains and used a thick key to unlock one. My arm fell free, and I moaned as the constant pressure in my wrist let up. It hurt worse now that the blood flow was returning to it, but I knew I had to just deal with it. My hand obviously needed the circulation.

I could reach the floor now, and Mr. Food Delivery shoved the tray closer before leaving me to eat alone. I was fucking starving, too. The trouble was, I didn't know if Eli had drugged this batch of food or not, and I couldn't risk that.

Leaving the disgusting slop untouched, I picked up the fork I'd been given and instead used the metal utensil to pick at the lock on my other wrist. It was a long shot, but I had to try something.

The tines of the fork bent as I tried to work them into the cuff, and I cursed when they bounced out of the small hole and sheared across my arm.

"Ow! Fucking hell."

I was ready to throw the damn fork across the room when I stopped myself. I needed to keep trying things. Giving up would only serve to keep me trapped here for longer. Examining the remaining cuffed wrist more thoroughly, I turned my hand this way and that to see the various sides of the hinge at the back. That's where the cuff itself opened and closed, and these things were rusty. There was a chance that the hinge might be the better place to focus my efforts since picking the lock was a no-go.

Tapping the fork against the little pin in the cuff, I noticed that the tine was just the same size as the little pin that held the two halves together. The pin was flattened at either end, so that it wouldn't fall out, but if I could chip away those edges, I could use the fork tine to maybe push the pin out.

"Okay. Umm, chipping metal…"

I rambled to myself as I thought of various ways to get those little metal edges to bend or break. I tried several things, including using my fingers, which just left me bloody and sore.

"Dammit!" I called out, quickly clamping a hand over my mouth and watching the door to see if someone would come running.

After a few moments, I assumed it was safe, and I went back to work on the pin. If I stood up, I could push the edges against the wall. It took everything in me to get my legs underneath my ass and push up.

I was shaky and weak, but I leaned against the cold stone to keep standing. The little pin couldn't just get smashed against the wall. That wouldn't bend the edges in the direction I needed. So, I used the fork to create a flat edge, bracing it against the wall, and hooked that little flare on the pin over the fork tine.

Pushing with my wrist, I held the fork as steady as I could. It slipped several times before I was able to get some of the problematic metal on the pin to smush up.

About thirty minutes later, I'd unflattened the edge of the pin, and the little end would be able to slip back through the ring it was in with enough force. Standing was getting harder and harder, so I took the opportunity to sit, positioning the fork on the floor now so that I could tap the pin against it.

I missed so many times, but after another fifteen minutes or so, I'd tapped the pin enough times to push it between the rusty enclosure about halfway.

"Oh my God, this is taking forever."

My stomach growled, and I eyed the food not too far away. I couldn't risk it, but my entire body craved that brown-gray goop like it did oxygen and sleep.

Don't. Don't do it, Kit. You cannot trust Eli.

Shaking my head, I refocused, going back to my work on the pin until the blasted thing actually popped free.

"Holy shit!" I whisper-yelled. It had actually worked.

I shoved the halves of the cuff apart and set it down on the floor gently, sure to be quiet. Rubbing at my sore wrists, I just had the issue of the door to worry over. I grabbed the fork again, thinking about how the thing would be coming with me everywhere.

It was a damn lucky charm at this point, and I wasn't going to let it go.

Reaching through the bars, I stuck the tine that was bent back now into the small, but larger than usual keyhole in the ancient padlock. It wasn't modern by any means, and I was actually glad for that. If the lock had been your average twenty-first century affair, this wouldn't have worked.

I jingled the thing around, pushing and twisting in an effort to catch the little piece that kept the lock secured. After another five minutes of struggling, I was greeted by one of the most beautiful sounds in creation.

Click.

The lock body swung down, and I scrambled to catch the thing before it crashed to the floor and alerted the entire compound that I was making a break for it. As it was, the cell door squeaked loudly as I pushed through, and I hurried forward without stopping. I couldn't risk being seen out of my cell.

I'd never been down here, and it took several wrong turns before I found the stairs up to the main floor. My heart thudded against my ribs. Going up meant running into one of the pack or Eli himself would be much more likely, but I had little choice.

Shoring up my nerves, I huffed in several breaths before taking off at a dead sprint. I rushed up the stairs and paused only long enough to orient myself to where the front door would be from here. It'd be locked, so I knew I'd have to try the back entrance in the kitchen.

Again, that meant I might run into more wolves, but I had to risk it.

The smell of real food made my mouth water as I ran toward the kitchen. My steps were sloppy, and I was huffing for breath so much more than I should be. It had only been a day, but I felt like I'd been kept prisoner by Eli in that damned dungeon for months.

It had to be whatever he gave me.

Voices trailed out from that direction, getting louder as whoever they belonged to walked in my direction. I skidded to a halt, turning on my heel and banking hard to the lefthand hall. This short passage would cut back to the main entrance, where I could try the other side of the house.

The east wing.

I didn't go there. I wasn't allowed, but I had no other option, and I really didn't give a fuck if Eli would be pissed at me.

Tearing off in that direction, I hurried through the unfamiliar halls, trying to find an exit or a new section of the hallway that led to the back of the property.

"Get it loaded. I want each of the wolves stationed to get a hit. We'll tear those fuckers limb from fucking limb."

Eli's voice cut through the silence as a door just ahead of me opened. I nearly fell on my face as I forced myself to stop. Shit, shit, shit .

Backing up, I kept my eyes glued forward as I held my hands behind me in search of somewhere to hide. I just needed to get out of sight for a moment, and then I could get back to work finding an escape.

"Of course, Alpha. But," I heard trepidation in the other wolf's voice, "do you think it's wise to be taking so much yourself? I would hate to see you suffer ill effects."

"I'll take as much as I want, slug!" Eli growled, and my entire body screamed for me to get the fuck out of there.

Just then, I felt a door knob with my outstretched hand. I turned around, trying it, and was beyond relieved to find the thing unlocked. Shoving myself inside as the creak of the door across the hall grew louder, I moved like lightning, closing up the room just as footsteps sounded in the hallway outside.

That was too fucking close.

The room was dark, and I felt around the wall for a light switch.

After a moment of groping blindly, I found it and turned things on. The space before me was flooded with light, and my mouth fell open at the sight.

Dozens of glass jars and beakers and devices I couldn't name were scattered across three tables, a strange bluish-green liquid flowing through the glass piping, which emptied out drip by drip into a wide-bottomed bottle of sorts.

It looked like something out of a horror movie, the laboratory of some mad scientist toying with things he shouldn't. Which I supposed was a bit accurate.

I studied what I was looking at, but with no knowledge to go off of, I couldn't tell what any of it was, aside from likely being the drug in question. There were a few notes and pads of paper scattered across the tables, and I tried to read them for any clues as to how this shit worked.

Dammit. I'm not a fucking cook. I can't make heads or tails of this.

Holding the notes, I squeezed them tightly, the papers rumpling with a soft crunch. I had to bring them with me. It was stupid to delay like this, but Kaiden needed this information to help his pack. Those teen wolves…I couldn't let this opportunity slip by.

A bit of the drug would be even better, maybe.

I looked around for something that I could use to hold some of the concoction. There were syringes to the side, and look at that—some had already been loaded up with the stuff. I snagged one, careful not to inject myself, and spun around to leave.

Dizziness hit me like a truck. I fell forward, catching myself on the ledge of the cold metal table as nausea swam through my stomach. Fucking hell, it was horrible, and I struggled to breathe around the urge to puke my guts out onto the floor.

Putting a hand to my stomach, I silently begged for the sensation to go away. My mouth was pooling with saliva, my entire body heating up, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

Behind my lids, the strange dream image came back to me again. The feeling of confusion and fear ripped through me as I stared at what I knew was Kaiden holding a…

No, you're insane. It was just a dream. You're not…

But some part of my mind, my body, still clung to it. I knew how things worked, too. Just because it had been the first time, it didn't mean I couldn't get…yeah, I mean, come on. They made after-school specials about that crap.

It just seemed unlikely, and I wasn't sure wolves and humans were exactly compatible like that.

Still…I felt like this. And I didn't think the chances were zero. I mean, they couldn't be. Kaiden and I had sex. That's how this shit happened.

"Fucking hell, like I don't already have enough problems on my plate."

As soon as the words left my mouth, the entire building shook as a massive boom rocked it from somewhere close. The lights flickered, and the blaring sound of an alarm I wasn't aware existed cut through the quiet. The entire house would be awake after that.

And then it occurred to me.

"Kaiden. Fuck!"

It had to be him. I scurried across the room, grabbed the papers and syringe again, and ran straight for the door. I had to get to him, and I needed to do it fast. A step away from the door, the thing opened. I stumbled backward onto my ass.

In a smooth motion, graceful and fluid, the door pushed in, and I was no longer alone.

"Oh."