AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Winona shook her head in an attempt to clear it.Dammit.Maybe she had acted a little hastily in leaving the safe house.
Ya think?
Well hindsight is most certainly always twenty-twenty.That’s for sure.He was planning on replacing her though, right? Except, she could have waited, maybe talked to him about it?Again with the hindsight, Win.
Now it was too late to go back. What ifs weren’t going to save her.
“So, you at least have some brains to go along with your precious figure,” he said as he looked her up and down.
Gross, she thought as she watched his eyes crawl over her and her mind scrambled to come up with an escape plan.
“Unfortunately for you, your brains won’t help. But I can see why he fell for you. He always seems to get what he wants, doesn’t he? Rollo always was lucky. My whole family was so damned lucky, you know? I mean, at least until I came along, right?” He leered at them.
“What are you talking about?” she practically yelled, as she searched her immediate area. She tried to play for time.What does he want?
Winona knew she needed to stay calm, for herself and for her friend. But competing with rising panic, another feeling was growing. She really wanted to rip this guy’s face off. What there was of it at least. He’d left little Bucky and little Jaye without their mother and father. He’d hurt Rollo. He was now here to hurt her, but she wanted to find a way to fight back. She was no easy prey.
“What do you want here, Frederick? What do you want with Rollo and his family?
He laughed again. “Ah, wouldn’t you like to know?” He paused for a moment, considering before continuing. “Actually, it is pretty simple. I want to see him suffer. I want him to feel fear. I want him to feel alone. Just like I did. Just like I do…”
She shivered in spite of herself. Jules reached for her and grabbed her hand. At first, she thought it was just out of base fear. But then, she felt her pressing her phone into her hand.Right.She had left it on the far side of the couch to recharge since it had died. Somehow, Julie had retrieved it for her. Hopefully, it had some juice.
“But I haven’t done anything to you!” she yelled, in her best desperately outraged voice. Meanwhile, she struggled to orient the phone in her hand behind her back. If she could just get a call to Rollo. It must be charged up enough by now.Whatever happened between us, and whatever his feelings may be, he’ll come.One thing you could count on with shifters was their code. Then this guy would be toast.
Frederick let out his biggest laugh yet. “Ahh, how many times do us bad guys hear that one? ‘I’m innocent!’” He spat on the rug.
Dammit.If she was going to be able to call Rollo, she was going to need to look at her phone. For a moment, she bemoaned technology. There were no buttons to feel with her fingers or thumb.
“You all make me sick. Do you know what it’s like watching everyone get what they want? Seeing it just handed to them? Love? Career? A place in the world? Family! Fuck you and your innocence. And none of you wants to be bothered or inconvenienced by the pain all around you. Well, what about my pain?” He was full on ranting now, pacing, his arms flying all over the place. “No one ever wanted to hear about my pain. Only he did.”
Now was the moment, with him lost in his delusional speech, but he still had his eyes locked on them. As if reading her mind, Jules elbowed her just then as she simultaneously threw the wine bottle straight at his head. Although his eyes grew large for a moment, he easily sidestepped the throw and actually turned and watched as it flew straight through the open door and out into the night.
This was just the moment she needed as she quickly pulled her phone around to the front to unlock it and call Rollo. She was feeling pretty slick as she managed to get the phone back behind her as he once again rested his leering eyes on them.
“You’ll never get away with this, Frederick!” she yelled as loudly as she could.
Her words were once again met with laughter. “Oh my, you’re funny! Just give it here,” he said, holding out his hand mockingly.
“What are you talking about?” she said, “Let my friend Julie go!”
Again, he just laughed. “Well, aren’t you going to read out the address too? Yes, Rollo, please come right away to save her! And bring all your little friends!”
She just stared at him, shocked but determined.
“Yes, dear, I want him to come. Why do you think I came? No sense killing you without him witnessing it. Now, give me that phone, will you?”
He reached out, and taking it, he inspected it, apparently verifying that she had indeed called Rollo. Now speaking into it, “Yes, as I was saying, what fun would that be? Where’s the suffering in that? No, no, no. That wouldn’t do. What is this, the Mission Estates apartments, right? It’s easy to find by the way. Oh, and by the way, thanks, ‘Jules,’ for making this little party even possible in the first place! Without your constant social media updates, I wouldn’t have even known where to find Rollo’s special friend, so vulnerable and unprotected. And yes, deary,” he added looking at Winona, it was easy enough to get your info and link you two from your apartment. Why use magic when I have the internet? Anyhow, Rollo, time to come save her, I’d say.”
With that, he threw the phone back to her and began to step toward them menacingly.
“Let’s make ourselves comfortable, shall we? He pointed to the couch. The threat in his eyes was unspoken. Disfigured or not, he was still a powerful man and could easily snap either of their necks.
Frederick kept giggling as he pointed more emphatically. “Sit down, sit down. Come on, make yourselves comfy, guys. We’ll just wait for Rollo, that’s all. You just sit quiet. It’ll all be over soon, I guarantee you that. You might not like it, but it’ll be over. Finally, he’ll feel like I’ve always felt.”
She was amazed at how calm she was. It was strange the clarity that came in the face of danger. All she wanted was for Rollo and the Pack to swoop down on this place and make it all better. But she couldn’t fight off the doubt. Why hadn’t she just said it?I love you Rollo.The realization had come like a lightning bolt. She tried her best to send the feeling through the ethers to him. She could only hope she would be able to tell him in person.I love you.Maybe it was too late already. But maybe not. Despite everything, she couldn’t help having a sense that he would not let any harm come to her. It was not quite a knowing, but it was damn close. Rollo was on the way, and Frederick was about to pay holy hell for what he had done.
CHAPTER24
