23. Talia

23

Talia

" H ow are you doing?" Savvy asked.

Talia sighed. "Great. I'm just worried about Sebastian. I haven't heard from him since he left three days ago."

"Rory says they don't carry their personal cell phones with them so they can't be tracked. All he has is a satellite phone. I'm sure he's fine. Sebastian has gone on several of these missions before."

"What exactly is he doing?"

Savvy laughed. "Your guess is as good as mine. I think that the missions are top secret, at least until they're over. Even then, Sebastian usually doesn't talk about specifics, although he'll tell stories about the region or the people if he has any dealing with them. People are people all over the world. They just want to be free to live their lives."

"True enough."

"How's the baby?"

"Tired. I take a twenty-minute nap during lunch just to make it through the day. Then, I take an hour nap when I get home."

"Wait until you start feeling like a cat when all you want to do is eat, potty, and sleep. That's the stage that I'm at. I take lots of naps while the kids are at school."

"When are you due?"

"I have another month to go. I love being pregnant, though, and feeling the baby move is fun. She's going to be a ballet dancer or a soccer player. Not sure which."

"Maybe both." Talia laughed.

"Rosa said to tell you she'd be glad to make extra food and send it over so you don't have to cook."

Talia groaned. "Rosa knows before Sebastian does?"

"It's hard to keep secrets around here."

"I tried to tell him the other night, but our conversation got interrupted."

"He'll be back soon. All will be well. The kids are restless. We're going to play hide and seek. Talk to you soon."

"Take care." Talia grimaced. She hated the idea that everyone in the world was going to know about the baby before Sebastian did.

She sat down and pushed the food around on her supper plate. What in the world did he want to talk to me about? Was he going to tell me that he loved me or that he really didn't?

Although the stress of not knowing drove her insane, she believed, deep inside of her, that he did love her and he was going to talk about the next step in her relationship.

Savvy and Beth were both dolls. They both called her every day to make sure that she was doing okay. They mentioned that they should get together on Saturday and hang out. Talia was waiting to see if Sebastian would be home by then.

The next afternoon, Talia noticed a van with no windows following close behind her. She didn't think much of it as she pulled into the grocery store parking lot. However, it was parked a few spaces away from her and pulled out behind her when she left.

Talia drove toward the police station and pulled in. The van continued going straight. She quickly drove home, went inside the house, locked her door, and set her alarm.

Should I call Sebastian's company and tell them about the van?

After deliberating for a few minutes, she decided not to. Her doors were locked and the alarm was set. She wouldn't go anywhere but work and home, so she should be fine.

Before she went to bed, she walked around the house, making sure that her doors and windows were locked. Then, she did it again.

I'm just being paranoid. I watch too many true crime shows.

Despite her self-reassurances she struggled to go to sleep. Finally, after tossing and turning a million times, she dozed off.

Suddenly, she sat straight up in bed. The bright red numbers on her clock told her that it was a little after three. Talia shook her head, trying to pinpoint what had disturbed her sleep.

Talia heard a shuffling sound, as though someone dragged their feet over the tiled floor in the kitchen. She pulled back the covers and put her feet on the floor. Talia was prepared to shift in a second if there was an intruder.

Before she could stand, there were four men in her room. Talia leaped to her feet and started to shift. Halfway through the process, one of them punched her hard in the face. Stunned, she returned to her all-human form. The man behind her grabbed her head and pressed a damp rag to her face. A sweet smell filled her nostrils and the world went dark.

Talia's eyes fluttered open. The world was spinning around her and the sharp pain in her head made her sick to her stomach. It took her several minutes to figure out where she was.

Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself as she looked around. The trickling of water in the background told her that there was a stream nearby. The floor was cold and rocky. Stalactites, shaped like spears, hung from the ceiling.

She felt the shackle around her ankle before she saw it. Talia reached down to touch the iron wrapped around her ankle and felt the chain. Her eyes followed the chain to a huge D ring bolted into the cave wall.

Her heart stopped and her breath caught in her throat. She was being held prisoner in a cave.

Why would someone do this to me? With Joe and Darius out of the way, I shouldn't have any enemies. I'm pretty sure no one else knows I exist.

Her body ached and she had a coughing fit. Talia's throat felt raw and burned as though she had been screaming for hours. She managed to push herself into a sitting position.

A man sitting by a fire watched her. The warmth of the flames didn't reach her, teasing her, just out of range.

"What's going on?" Her voice was hoarse as though she hadn't used it in a month.

"Your man, Sebastian, took something special from my boss so we're going to return the favor. We're going to wait for him to rescue you, and then we're going to torture you and kill you slowly in front of him. When you finally die, we'll kill him slowly." His thick accent made it hard to understand his words, but the message was quite clear.

She shivered and coughed again until her chest ached.

He handed her a bottle of water. She looked at it distrustfully, but she had no choice. The cool liquid soothed her throat a little.

"We know you are a shifter. If you try to shift and escape, we'll just shoot you in the knees and let you suffer until he shows up."

Talia fully believed what he said. This must have something to do with his mission. Does this mean he failed? He must be alive, though, because they are expecting him.

They fed her regularly and gave her water. They provided a bucket for her and at least gave her the dignity of being able to use it without them watching her. They finally gave her a blanket.

She alternated between sweating and shivering as fever ravaged her body. The coughing spells became even more common. Her body ached and felt so heavy.

They were concerned and discussed whether she was going to live long enough for Sebastian to rescue her. If she didn't, their leader would be upset, and he would take his anger out on them.

The leader of the group came up with a plan. "If she dies, we'll make it look as though we tortured her. When the man shows up, we'll kill him and take the bodies back to General Sorn."

Talia had no idea who General Sorn was. She'd have to do some research if she got out of this alive.

When I get out of this alive, she corrected herself.

Her main focus was on the baby. Talia talked to the baby aloud when she was alone and telepathically when she wasn't. She didn't want them to know she was pregnant because they might do something to make her lose the baby.

She was so tired, but there was no way that she was going to simply sit there and wait to die. A tiny ray of hope flickered inside of her when she found a flat rock she could use to unscrew the D ring from the wall. Talia winced when the chain jingled as she slid it out of the ring, but no one looked at her.

It was early morning, but the four men were already awake. They made some eggs and coffee and one of them brought her a plate of food and a cup of coffee. She sat in front of the D ring so they couldn't see the chain.

Talia wasn't hungry, but she forced herself to eat. She and the baby needed the energy. Her stomach churned and her throat burned, but finally she managed to choke down the meal.

The men sat around the fire, talking. They wanted to go back home and hoped that Sebastian would hurry up. Talia wasn't sure that they were ever going to give her a chance to escape. After an eternity passed, three of them went outside, leaving one by the fire.

It's now or never.

She shifted and discovered that her paw was just big enough that she couldn't slip it out of the iron grip that wrapped around her ankle. Talia slowly crept toward the man. Before he could react, she ripped his throat out and ran, hating the sound of the chain that followed behind her.

Poking her head out of the cave, she quickly surveyed the area. None of the other men were in sight. She noticed that the sun was just starting to peak up over the mountain in the east and made a split decision to go south. Talia ran as fast as she could with the damned chain clanking behind her.

All too soon, she heard angry shouts. Desperately, Talia looked around and found a cave with a tiny opening. Hoping it wasn't already occupied, she ducked inside. She shifted quickly and pulled some branches toward her, covering the entrance. Then, she shifted back, curled up in a ball hoping that either the men would give up searching for her and she could run or that Sebastian would find her.

Sebastian, I need you. Please find me. Small cave. South.

She tried to connect with him telepathically until she passed out from exhaustion, her body automatically shifting back to human form.