Chapter 94 Hidden Strength
ELOISE.
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The narrow country road felt like it was closing in. On either side, the weeds grew tall and jagged, like the teeth of some giant beast waiting to swallow my car whole. My hands were barely steady on the steering wheel, but my inner wolf was pacing, her hackles raised. The air inside the car had changed; it no longer smelled like the sweet, carthy scents of the herbs in the front seat. It smelled like copper, sweat and deception.
And who better to know the way feelings smell than I?
The little girl was still huddled in the back seat, looking like a frightened rabbit. But her scent was so wrong. I couldn’t smell fear on her, and someone being chased by debt collectors should definitely have that fear, but her scent was calm. Too calm. I remembered the wag my instinct told me to run, have I made a mistake?
“Is this the place?” I asked in a calm, almost bored voice. I didn’t want her to know that I suspected anything, plus there might be nothing to suspect.
“A little further,” the girl whispered. Her voice had lost the tremor it had when I saw her on the road; now it was flat and cerily calm. “Just around the corner, but the old oak.”
I didn’t wait to see the oak.
BANG!
A loud explosion jolted the car; the steering wheel jerked violently to the side as the tyres. shredded. Fuckkkk.
“Oh no,” I said, my voice dripping with concern. “Ot seems like we have a flat tyre,”
I unbuckled my seatbelt, ready to check the extent of the damage. But my ears were twitching, catching the sound of fabric rustling next to me. Out of the silver of my eye, I saw a sliver glint.
The girl was no longer a victim; she moved with a speed that showed she had been trained for this–such a little girl. A syringe slipped from her oversized sleeve, the needle gleaming with thick, yellowish liquid. And I recognised it immediately. Wolfsbane. Even a small dose would paralyse a regular wolf, leaving them unconscious and unable to move a muscle–Talk less of the effect on an omega.
She lunged at my neck, her face twisted into a mask of professional malice.
In a heartbeat, the gentle Eloise disappeared. My werewolf reflexes took over. I didn’t even
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16:43 Tue, May 5
Chapter 94 Hidden Strength
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have to shift to beat her. I twisted my body sideways, the needle whistling past my ear. Before she could recover, I grabbed her wrist in a grip of iron.
“Ah,” she gasped, her bones creaking under a strength where I didn’t know where it came from.
I slammed her hand down against the centre of the console. The stringenflee from her fingers, clattering onto the floor mat, its deadly contents soaking into the carpet. With my other hand, I grabbed her throat, pinning her against the back seat.
Her eyes widened, and she looked shocked as if she didn’t expect that I could do what I just did.
“Who sent you?” I asked, my voice wasn’t loud, but it held the weight of a mountain.
The girl’s lips caught into a defiant, twisted
look. She realised the game was up. “You caught me–big deal. You’re still a dead woman walking, Eloise. Go ahead, do what you want. I’m not saying a word.”
I let out a low, dark laugh that seemed to vibrate in the small space of the car. “Is that so? You think because you’re a child, I’ll be soft? You’ve clearly been misinformed about who I am.”
I reached into the hidden pocket of my jacket and pulled out a small and translucent blue pill. It was a concentrated extract of silver leaf and shadow root. A concoction I had developed. without even knowing I did. It didn’t kill, but it made the nerves feel like they were on fire until they spoke the truth.
I squeezed her jaw, forcing her mouth
open. She thrashed, her small boots kicking at the dashboard. I dropped the pill into her mouth and clamped her jaw shut, stroking her throat
until I felt her swallow.
“W–what did you make me take?” she stammered, her face turning a sickly shade of grey.
I let go of her and leaned back. Calmly brushed a stray hair from my sleeve. “Something that makes lying very, very painful.”
Almost instantly, the girl doubled over. She let out a choked scream, clutching her stomach as if she’d been stabbed. Sweat began to bead on her forehead, and her breathing came in ragged.
gasps.
“It burns, make it stop, please,” she shrieked.
I let her scream and groan in pain for some moments. I wasn’t going to go easy on her, even if she was a small girl. I’m sure she’s been trained; these are the child assassins I’ve heard of. I didn’t know we had them in the Autumn pack. I’d have to let Damon know this. Shit.
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