A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(91)
Elias nodded to Shane, who punched Chloe in the stomach. She stepped back, but didn’t fall to her knees like he’d intended. “Again.”
The second blow was harder and caused Chloe to exhale all at once as she dropped to all fours, coughing and spluttering.
“Do you understand what your role is here?” Elias asked Layla, whose expression had darkened. He wondered if he’d finally get her full cooperation, or if he’d have to get Shane to break some of Chloe’s fingers.
“My role is to give you everything you want, everything you need, and everything you deserve. The drenik inside of me took over for a while there, but I have it back under control. Please stop hurting my friend.”
Elias nodded toward Shane, who took Chloe by the arm and dragged her out of the cabin.
“Thank you. If you get me a phone, I’ll contact the prison. I know it’ll be early there, but I’m sure I can get hold of someone. I want to try.”
Elias wasn’t convinced and wondered exactly what the plan was, but even if Layla did manage to escape, where would she go? There were miles of nothing all around them, and it wouldn’t take long for the blood elves or the ogre to track her down. Besides, she wasn’t about to put Chloe at risk, and Elias only needed a reason to finally kill her and gain vengeance for Dara. He glanced out of the open door at Chloe and clenched his fists. He could feel his blood boil inside, feel the need to give Chloe everything she deserved, to kill her slowly and painfully. But he pushed it aside. He could not allow those baser instincts to drive him forward.
“Stay here,” he told Layla, closing and locking the door. He turned to Shane. “You keep her occupied. I don’t want Chloe and Layla to communicate. At all. Understand?”
Shane nodded. “Won’t be a problem.”
Elias left them alone and went back into the house, grabbing a phone from his bedroom. He’d just stepped back into the hallway when there was an explosion downstairs, followed by shouting, as all hell broke loose.
33
Layla had waited until Elias had closed the door and walked away before setting her plan in motion. Originally, she’d hoped that Elias would have just sent Reyes or some other crony to come and quiet her, but then she realized that if she’d used that moment to escape, she’d have no idea where Chloe actually was, and by the time she got to her, it might already be too late.
But they’d brought Chloe to her. Okay, it had been to use as a punch bag so that Layla behaved, but still, Chloe was right outside the door with Shane. If Layla could only get the door open, she’d have a good shot at stopping Shane and keeping Chloe safe. It had made her furious that Chloe had been hit, that she’d been attacked and humiliated. Layla wasn’t going to do anything in Chloe’s name; she was going to help Chloe get free so that she could do it in her own name.
“You bonded with us all, now what?” Rosa asked after appearing on the bed. “You don’t have long.”
“There are no lights in this cabin, no electric cables either, but there are speakers in the ceiling. They contain metal. I can feel it.” She concentrated and began to pull small wires out of the ceiling, snaking them down toward her, then wrapping them around her hands and wrists. She didn’t care about the camera because by the time she was done, it would be too late for anyone watching to do anything. She hoped.
“There’s not a lot of metal there,” Rosa told her.
“It’ll be enough,” Layla explained as the end of one of the wires snapped around her wrist, while the others hung down, like a dozen thin whips. She flicked them toward the door, hardening the metal in them as they punched through the wood. A flick of her hand, and the thin metal wire tore the door in half, allowing her to step outside, where she found a terrified Shane standing behind Chloe.
“You take her,” Shane said. “Just don’t kill me. I’m not a fighter, I’m just here to help out.”
“Are you okay?” Layla asked Chloe, ignoring Shane. “Stupid question, I know.”
“I’m fine,” Chloe told her. “A little bruised, but my powers are healing me quickly enough. What do you plan on doing with the dipshit behind me?”
“He’s all yours.”
From a kneeling position, Chloe spun up and toward Shane, planting an uppercut just under his chin that lifted him from his feet and dumped him on the ground.
Chloe bounced up and down on the spot for a few seconds, before stopping and walking over to Shane. She picked him up and threw him against the cabin wall, causing a cracking sound as his ribs broke from the impact.
Chloe didn’t even pause and sprinted flat-out toward Shane, driving her knee into his face as he tried to get back to his feet. She rained down punch after punch onto his face, and Layla had to look away as the sound of fists breaking bone became too much.
“Chloe,” Layla almost whispered, “I think he’s done.” She risked a look back at her friend, who was covered in Shane’s blood.
Chloe got to her feet and staggered a little, before kneeling beside Shane and placing a hand on the side of his head, moving it so he could look at her through his one good eye. “Can you hear me in there?” she asked Shane, who could only murmur a response. “Right now, I could kill you. And there’s every chance that one day I will, but I’m not going to do that today. There’s going to be enough killing soon, and Tommy is going to want someone to talk to about Nergal and Elias. I’m volunteering you.” She punched him in the face with enough power to knock him out, and he went still.