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Then the sound of someone being thrown against the door.
Please don’t open please don’t open please don’t open
I chanted the words like a prayer as I watched a fight I couldn’t see, listening for clues about what had happened to me. About where I was, about what the fight meant for me.
The fight got worse. I could hear blows, shouting, the sound of bodies being thrown against the wall.
And then…nothing.
The door wasn’t opening.
Footsteps receded. Even though there was no way for me to be sure, I thought I was probably alone.
My eyes closed, despite everything in me fighting against it. And the last thing I thought was,wow, this is a stupid way to die.
***
I wasn’t dead. When I woke up, again, I was still in the chair, this time pushed against a wall. I knew that because I could feel dampness against me, and my head was flush against something firm.
There were voices, too. Male voices. This time, I could understand what they were saying.
”You aren’t supposed to bring anyone here,” the first voice said. He sounded irritated, but there was clear amusement in his voice. I blinked the tears away from my face as he came into focus. Even in the shadows, I could see that he was striking. He was raw-boned, tall, lithe. He took a step toward me, leaning down to look into my eyes. ”Hi.”
I swallowed. ”Hi?” I replied.
He was even more striking up close, with pronounced cheekbones and hazel eyes that looked golden in the backlit room. He sighed, waving around dramatically. ”Okay, I promise you won’t get in trouble,” he said. ”Just tell me which one of these clowns brought you here.”
I tried to look past him, at the people he was referring to.
I couldn’t see anything. They were all huge. Tall enough to tower over me, particularly when I was bound like this.
Four terrifying men. Me, bound to a chair.
Not a statistician, but those were not great odds.
I tried to swallow down my fear. ”I don’t know,” I said.
He sighed, slapping his knees as he stood upright. He’d been crouching to look into my eyes. The amusement faded from his expression. ”You don’t know?” he asked. ”Let’s start with something a little more simple. How did you end up here?”
I let out a deep breath. I briefly considered lying, but I didn’t think there was any point. Despite how tough he seemed, I thought he was genuinely confused. ”Someone broke into my apartment,” I replied. ”I don’t know who it was. I couldn’t tell. But they attacked me, and then when I woke up, I was here.”
The man considered this for a second. ”And do you know where here is?”
I looked around, then shook my head. ”No. Maybe, like, a storage facility?”
The man frowned, glancing around the room, his eyes sliding over the three men he was with. ”We’re not–” he said, and paused. ”We’re not in a storage facility.”
They all chuckled. As if there was anything funny about this.
”Grayson?” the man asked.
”Never seen her before in my life,” Grayson said. ”And I was busy all day. Also, I would never punch a woman.”
The rest of the men grumbled in agreement.
”You’d know if I’d brought someone here, Teo,” the next man said.
Teo nodded. ”Yeah, you aren’t quiet. Jace?”
