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I was torn. One option screamed logic, but it was also laced with a fair amount of stupidity. Did I really want to go through the fence that looked as if it were meant to guard a maximum-security prison? Absolutely not. But the alternative was standing here to face whatever was coming my way. There wasn’t anywhere I could run or hide unless I fled into the woods. That was Dumb Shit Not To Do 101.
Ciaran, who hadn’t said a word during any of this, suddenly maneuvered himself so he was the only thing I could see, planting himself right in front of me. My chin was lifted with a gentle tilt, eyes ensnared within his.
“You’re going to give Maverick your phone to put in the barrel, and if that gate slides open, we’re going in. Do you understand?” His vocal inflection didn’t change, making his irrefutable command come across that much louder.
Something reflected in his gaze sent a chill down my spine, daring me to object.
I couldn’t pull away or bring myself to remove his touch, invoking a flurry of different emotions that hit all at once. The note of command didn’t sit well with me, though. I opened my mouth to tell him he could fuck off. Before I could get out one word of protest, he deprived me of my free will.
He dropped his hand and spun me around, securing me to his solid body with one arm going across my chest.
“Go stand by the gate!” he commanded the group. “We’ll be right behind you.”
They hesitated for only a second, then began racing towards the entrance.
“Get off me!” I demanded, tugging on his wrist.
“I’m doing this for you,” he said softly, reaching into my pocket for my phone.
Mel and Gracelyn attempted to come to my aid, but Charon and Kyrous were all but carrying them away. Just as Ciaran retrieved my cell, something whizzed past us and made impact with the window, shattering it into pieces. My eyes rounded as soon as my brain registered what it was.
“Oh, hell no!”
I immediately gave up resisting, snatching the phone and throwing it to his friend my damn self.
Before I could see it land safely within Maverick’s hands, I was being forced to run towards the others. I assumed it made it into the barrel, because the gate began to slide open.
We squeezed through with Maverick thankfully right behind us. When we came to a stop near the others, I tore my hand from Ciaran’s and whirled around.
The gate was already sliding shut, a locking mechanism clicking loudly into place.
I took a few steps towards it, and then paused, mind scrambling to understand what the hell had just happened. My pulse was racing, heart pounding to keep up. Every muscle in my body was still tensed and ready to run.
The group began talking amongst themselves, all agreeing that we should keep moving. Gracelyn and Mel came to stand beside me, not saying a word.
There were a million things that could have been said, but where did we start?
I sucked in a deep breath, inhaling a cocktail of magnetic notes—a mix of warm cinnamon, mint, and masculine leather. I knew who had just stepped up on the other side of me without needing to look, but I didn’t know what to say to him right now either.
I was livid that he’d forced me in here but also grateful, because it had more than likely just saved my life. The giant arrow sticking out of the wax figure was solid proof of that.
“You saw that the gate opened?”
“Obviously,” I replied, still not looking at him.
“You saw it opened only after we put your phone in the barrel?”
I hesitated to respond, my anger ebbing as I turned that over in my head.
He didn’t need me to answer. The question was rhetorical. It also shed some light on a potential aspect of our current predicament.
“For my phone to be the one needed to get in here, someone would have to know I still had it.”
“Exactly,” he affirmed. “I think what just happened is proof of that.”
“Wait, hold up.” I crossed my arms and partially angled my body towards his.
“So not only did someone lay out a spike strip to sabotage our shuttle bus and then kidnap the driver, but they placed booby traps too? And now they’re somehow aware of minor details, like me having my phone but not Mel or Grace? That’s your theory?”
Now he turned, placing himself directly in front of me, bringing our chests inches apart with zero regard for my personal space.
“Someone did sabotage our shuttle bus. The driver is missing, and none of us could get through that gate until after we put your phone in the barrel.”
His matter-of-fact tone needled my last nerve. “Don’t forget the part where someone’s watching us.”
