Moonlight's Ambassador (Aileen Travers Book 3)(82)

Caught and strung up like a deer carcass. My head pounded from whatever he'd used to make me unconscious. "This is really becoming an unwelcome habit," I muttered.

"You often wake up in the secret lairs of your enemies?" Caroline asked in a tired voice from a few feet away.

I craned my neck, twisting so I could look over my shoulder at her, surprised to find someone else sharing the murder shack with me. A thin, ragged-looking Caroline glared back, a worn and weary expression on her face. Locked in a cage just big enough that she could sit upright, but not stand, she looked like she'd gone a few days without sleep or a bath. She was curled in a ball, her naked limbs wrapped around herself, protecting her modesty.

"What're you doing here?" I asked.

She made a small noise of disbelief. "Same as you I'd imagine. Our lovely hosts captured me, stuffed me in this cage, then showed up with you half an hour ago."

My shoulder throbbed where she'd bitten me as if the wound knew its maker was near. "How did they get you? Theo's human, and last I saw, you were more than a match for any human."

Caroline's laugh was raw and tired sounding. "You'd think so. Werewolves tend to fall unconscious after a shift—even demon-tainted ones. He knew where to look. I never had a chance. Next thing I knew, I woke up naked in this cage."

I nodded. I supposed it made sense. Expending that much energy on shifting every muscle, bone and fiber in your body would put anyone in need of a little nap.

"Did he hurt you?"

My body tensed for the answer. There wasn't much I could do right now if he had. It would have been better to leave such things until after we'd escaped, but I had to know.

She shook her head. "No, he's mostly stayed away except when he brought you in."

My muscles relaxed as I counted one piece of good news in this. It occurred to me she might be lying, but if she was, it was something we would have to deal with once we were safe.

Caroline slid me a sidelong look through the bars of her cage. "Sorry about the shoulder and leg, by the way."

I nodded again. There really wasn't much to say to that. She'd almost killed me—but she hadn't. I don't think harming me had been her intent either. Unfortunately, apologies weren't a one-size-fit-all band aid. Even if I could accept it, I doubted Brax or the vampires would.

"I did try to turn you into the wolves," I said.

She laughed, the sound closer to the real thing. "Yeah, you did. Did you really think I killed those people?"

I grimaced. It was all I could manage hanging from the ceiling, my hands numb and my shoulders protesting their abuse. "They had very convincing evidence. Your scent. The demon taint on the bodies. Then there was the fact you almost killed me."

"Still."

"Yeah," I said in a soft voice. "Still."

We were silent for a long moment, giving me time to look around. I revised my earlier opinion of the space. This was definitely a shack or maybe a shed. Not that I knew the difference between the two. It had been stripped of anything that could be used as a weapon or tool to escape. Smart. Doubly smart when you considered the likelihood of either of us getting free of our bonds.

The shack smelled musty and damp, and the faint sound of furtive movements convinced me we had company of the rodent variety. A cat would take care of that. I craned my head back, looking up at the wooden beams above me, noticing the holes in the ceiling that let in the first rays of the morning sun.

Great. I was strung up in what looked like a serial killer’s hideout, and the sun was coming up. Just what I needed.

I twisted my hands, trying to pull them loose or at least ease the strain in my arms. No such luck. Worse, I was pretty sure the stinging in my wrists was from silver, making my predicament that much more painful.

"Can you break your cage?" I asked, trying to distract myself from the discomfort.

"I tried already," Caroline said from where she huddled in the corner of it, careful not to let any more of her skin than necessary brush against the wires. "This thing is silver; even attacking it in my werewolf form didn’t do anything."

I looked over at her, noticing the way she was crouched and the barely veiled pain in her eyes. "All of it?"

Caroline's grim look was all the answer I needed. If the bottom was silver as well, it meant her naked skin was lying unprotected against what was essentially poison to both of our kinds.

"Shit." I yanked hard on my arms, growling when my shoulders screamed in protest before giving up for the moment.

"Such a way with words," Caroline said in a dry voice. She made a soft sound of pain as she shifted, and a new patch of skin came into contact with the silver.

"We're going to get out of this," I said, trying to project conviction in my voice.

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" she asked.

"This isn't the first time I've been locked up awaiting death," I said.

"Oh? And how did you get out last time?"

I grimaced. "I didn't really. That came later."

She aimed a dour look my way. "Not helpful, Aileen."

I gave her a jaunty smile, or as jaunty as I could manage in these circumstances. I didn't want to be a downer, but our situation was not good. Even for me.

To my othersight, my chains as well as Caroline's cage had a slight aura to them—one that made me think it was more than silver keeping us here. Talk about overkill. Silver by itself would have been more than enough to keep both of us put. Some type of spell on top of that? Our odds just kept getting worse and worse.