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The people murmured that they understood the orders, and the crowd dispersed.
I turned to Gabriel, my head hanging low. “Thank you,” I mumbled, ashamed of myself. “If it wasn’t for you, I would have beaten up Adans much worse.”
“Don’t mention it, Ban.” Gabriel clasped my forearm.
I raised my hand and put it on his arm. We shared a look. “I still appreciate that you are always at my side.”
“And I always will be.” Gabriel gave me a wide grin. It made him look younger than his 38 years, a lot more boyish. I could see how he could easily charm women with this look.
I nodded. I hoped his words would always be the truth; that Gabriel and I would never be apart and I hoped that soon we would be together with our mate too.
I came out of my thoughts and focused again. We had to rescue her as quickly as possible. Until I had her safe in Santuario, I wouldn’t be able to truly calm down.
I just hoped we would get to her before anything truly terrible happened.
Chapter Four
Daphne
When the car stopped moving, my kidnappers got out and grabbed me, suspending me in the air between them again. They carried me beyond a tall concrete wall, inside an ugly-looking building. I soon realized we were in a prison facility; a bunker-like construction, probably for the worst of criminals. They carried me, despite my struggles, through tight brightly-lit corridors until we reached the main prison unit.
The men deposited me in a cell with a cot by the wall. There was another door which led to a smelly toilet. No windows illuminated the place, and the lights weren’t as bright here.
I put my hands on the bars, but of course they were firm and unbendable even with my shifter strength. The door was locked, and I had nothing handy to pry it open. I cursed myself for wearing my hair down. If I had a pin, maybe I could have gotten out of here… but then what? I was pretty deep inside the facility, and as much as I had paid attention to the route they had taken to carry me in here, I doubted I could recall the entire way back to the entrance.
My gun was in my backpack; another mistake of mine. The bag had been left behind when they had captured me. I would probably never recover it. So much for keeping a photo of my family and friend with me.
Sighing, I sat down on the cot. It was hard and uncomfortable but until I figured out how to get out of here, this cell would be my home. At least I had a roof over my head. I tried to cheer myself up, but I wasn’t at all successful. I hid my face in my hands.
Why did such terrible things have to happen to me one after another? Did the Goddess of Nature hate me? Was my fate to rot in prison even though I had committed no crime? Or was I just this unlucky? I chuckled grimly. At this point, whoever was responsible for my current situation didn’t matter. All that mattered was that it sucked.
But I couldn’t give up. I hadn’t given up back when I defended the sleuth and got my nasty scar. I hadn’t given up when Sander rejected me. Why would I stop believing in myself now? There had to be a way out of here. The only question – what was it and would I like it better than being stuck behind bars?
My best bet would be to try to convince their leader, Victor, to let me go free, but how could I make him let me go? He was just another criminal, like the ones who grabbed me and placed me in the prison. More so, he was the one who had issued the order for my kidnapping in the first place. Victor was not beyond using brute force to get what he wanted.
But why did he want me? My days of confidence and thinking of myself as pretty and smart were long gone. My scar had made me ugly, and my smarts were only related to math and programming. None of my skills would help me get out of here. My ability to shoot guns might help, but I had no weapon.
I lacked information. First I had to talk to Victor to learn why he cared enough to capture me and engage in a violent conflict with those two hot men over me.
I didn’t have to wait long for Victor to come see me. Two hours passed, and then the good-looking man with a mustache and the number 17 tattooed on his biceps came to my cell and entered with a big friendly smile on his face.
“What’s your name, girl?” Victor asked me, giving me an almost kind-looking grin.
“Daphne,” I replied.
Maybe he would be kinder than the others?
“We’ve never been properly introduced. I’m Victor Moreno, the leader of Isla Paraiso.”
As far as I knew the island wasn’t unified under one ruler. Victor wanted me to believe that he reigned over the whole place. That I was in his domain. That I had nowhere to run. That raised a few hairs on my arms. I started to doubt that he was a good man. Maybe the kindness was just a façade, a sweetness meant to lure me in so I would do his bidding without question?
Had I not talked to the sailor on the boat that had brought me here, I might have believed that Victor was the sole leader of the island. This instance proved to me again how valuable information could be.
“Well, the best advice I can give you then, is to head west and try to reach the Santuario sleuth. Those are the only good people left on the island; former wardens and their families.” I remembered the captain’s words. I still had a place to go if I could escape Victor, should things turn south. The Santuario sleuth.
I wouldn’t give up hope. It was too soon to despair. There was still a chance I could be safe and happy and find somewhere to belong. I had already made it this far despite Sander’s rejection and despite my Alpha exiling me. I would continue to run until I found a place where I could stop living in a state of fear and doubt.
But what did Victor really want from me? Why did he kidnap me in the first place?
