Page 72 of Nico

My stomach twisted. I'd been taken, and that was unacceptable. I tried to sit upright, but nothing happened. My arms refused to move, and my legs stayed planted exactly where they were.

I frowned before instinctively jerking harder. Metal clanked, and pain flared. A vicious hiss escaped my teeth. The cuffs encircled my wrists, attached to thick steel loops welded directly into the chair.

The instant I pulled, the silver seared into my skin.

My wolf recoiled violently inside me, snarling and pacing in frantic circles. I growled through clenched teeth and pulled harder. The silver dug deeper.

A sharp, sizzling pain ripped through my wrists, making me jerk forward before instinct forced me to stop. The smell of burning flesh reached me a second later.

“Damn it!” My breathing quickened, but I forced myself to calm down.

Panicking wouldn't help. Focus and assess, tackle one problem at a time. I slowly forced myself to relax despite every instinct screaming to fight.

The chair was heavy, solid metal and clearly built for industrial use. It was also heavy enough that even if I broke free from the cuffs, I doubted I'd be carrying it anywhere.

Chains secured my ankles as well. They weren't silver, thankfully, but thick steel links anchored them firmly to the chair legs.

Whoever had done this knew how to restrain a shifter. He hadn't underestimated me. I lifted my head and finally took in the room. I was in a trailer.

Hardly any of the metal was actually visible, because every inch of the walls had been plastered over with Shadowfall posters.

Foam replicas of weapons hung from hooks, while shelves overflowed with figurines still inside their unopened boxes. Pins, keychains, collector mugs, and T-shirts filled another.

My stomach dropped another inch. There wasn't a single empty patch of wall. It was less a trailer and more a shrine, and dominating nearly every poster was the Orc King.

In one poster, he towered over blood-soaked battlefields, a massive green-skinned warrior clad in jagged black armor. A crown fashioned entirely from bones rested upon his head.

His tusks protruded in a permanent snarl, and his eyes glowed gold beneath a heavy brow.

The character the stalker had insisted I resembled. My skin crawled. Nico hadn't exaggerated in his reports. This wasn't admiration, it was worship.

"You're finally awake." The voice floated through the trailer with unsettling cheerfulness.

I slowly turned my head. He stepped into view. The acid green hoodie was impossible to miss. It looked even filthier than before, stained around the sleeves and fraying along the cuffs.

The hood hung halfway off his head, exposing strands of greasy dark hair. Oily locks clung to his pale cheeks in uneven ropes, framing a narrow face dotted with old acne scars.

Dark crescents beneath his bloodshot eyes suggested he'd forgotten what proper sleep looked like. His fingers twitched constantly, and his left knee bounced even while he stood still.

His smile was the worst part. It was wide and almost childlike, so eager it made every hair on my neck stand upright.

Then it clicked. I knew that face.

It wasn’t because Nico had shown me the photographs. He was the guy I saved from the falling camera crane.

When I'd spotted him on the side of the road, he'd looked so ordinary, so forgettable. He'd probably been wearing makeup.

"You," I whispered. His grin somehow grew even larger. "I saved you that day."

"That's right." His eyes practically shone. "I'm so glad you remember, Isaac."

There wasn't a trace of resentment in his voice. Heck, he sounded delighted. I swallowed carefully. Think. Keep him talking. Every second mattered.

Logan would realize I was missing soon enough. And Nico? He would lose his damn mind.

He'd already been tracking this guy. Surely they'd find me. Unless nobody knew where to start looking. I glanced around the space, hoping to find windows.

Too bad the tiny windows were covered from the inside with overlapping strips of duct tape, blocking out every sliver of daylight. I couldn't tell whether it was morning or night.