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Pain splinters through my head. Either I was drugged or knocked out. I don’t know why they didn’t just kill me on the spot, but they must have their reasons. Part of me doesn’t want to wake up.
We failed.
We failed the pack.
We failed Quinn.
The house was burning, and we were trying to put it out. It will be nothing but smoking cinders now, along with her father’s body. She lost her family once, and I saw her pain when she spoke about it, so to lose her family again?
I cannot even begin to think about how she will go on—if she’s even alive.
That makes my eyes open. I have to slam them shut instantly because the pain turns to agony, which turns my stomach andhas me gagging. Breathing through it, I count slowly until it becomes a dull ache, and then I slowly flutter my eyes open once more. My vision is blurry at first, but it slowly comes back.
All I see is scarred grey concrete.
I’m lying on it, my body shivering from the cold, my side aching from lying still for too long. Blinking once more to clear my vision, I roll my eyes up to see bars—cell bars.
A cage?
Prison?
My mind can’t seem to work it out. With a groan, I push myself upright, my arms shaking until I’m on my knees. I reach back and run my fingers over my head, wincing when I prod a huge lump. I wasn’t drugged. I was knocked out.
Motherfucker.
Lifting my gaze, I glance around, trying to figure out where we are. It’s not somewhere I have ever seen before. It smells damp and old, and there isn’t much light. It’s almost fully dark except for some candles spread around the room. There are partially fallen wooden beams, and moss and rot are growing everywhere. It’s cold, with a hole in an outside wall letting the wet breeze in.
It’s still dark, which surprises me.
My eyes land on a cage opposite me, and my jaw drops.
Jai lies with his back to me, unmoving. Climbing to unsteady feet, I wrap my arms around the bars. “Jai,” I rasp, my voice hoarse. He doesn’t move, so I try again. “Jai!” He groans, and I sag in relief.
The cage is huge, big enough for at least ten grown men, and when I glance to the side, I see an unmoving Vale. My heart stops.
“Brother.” I grip the bars harder. “Brother!”
He rolls over, his arm covering his face. “It’s too early, and it hurts. Shush.”
Pressing my head to the bars, I grin. “I bet. Wake up, you’re not hungover. We’re in trouble.” That gets him upright, and he blinks like I did. There’s a bloody gash on his forehead, and he winces, but his eyes widen as he looks around before his gaze stops slightly to the left.
“Quinn.”
I whirl around, spotting a cage attached to mine like Vale’s is to Jai’s.
She’s slumped against the bars, her arms and legs lying at funny angles, as if she were thrown inside without care. Her hair is dry but matted and falling through the bars. Her eyes are shut, and her mouth is slightly parted as if she’s asleep, and for a moment, I watch her chest rise and fall, thankful she’s alive.
Blood covers nearly every inch of her naked body, as does mud, and I don’t know what’s hers and what isn’t.
“You think she’s okay?” Jai asks, and I glance over to see them both standing.
“She’s breathing,” I murmur.
“That’s the best we can hope for,” Vale mutters, tugging at the bars. “Jai, look for a way out. You too, Lucien. We need to get out of here and fast. I don’t like this.”
“You think it’s hunters?”
“They took her too, so I’m betting so,” Vale replies. “I don’t know why they didn’t just kill us. They probably want answers, so we need to get out of here before they return.”
