His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 15

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1:06 pm

Abby

I didn’t know how long had been there.

Hours.

Chapter 15

A day.

Longer.

Time had stopped meaning anything after the first injection.

I remembered the forest in fragments.

Running.

A hand catching the back of my coat.

Silver snapping around my wrists.

The needle entering my neck.

Then being carried somewhere while trees moved above me in broken flashes.

After that, darkness.

Whenever I woke, I was in the same place.

Cold stone beneath my body.

Damp air.

A low ceiling I could barely make out when the lantern was nearby

And pain.

My wrists were cuffed behind me.

Silver.

The metal burned constantly, but every movement made it worse. The skin beneath the cuffs felt raw and swollen. Dried blood had stiffened around the edges.

My ankles were tied.

Tape covered my mouth.

I lay still for several minutes, listening.

1:06 pm

No luotsteps.

No voices.

Only water dripping somewhere deeper in the cave.

I tested the cuff around my right wrist.

Slowly.

Carefully.

Pain flared immediately.

I stopped breathing through it.

Then tried again.

If I could turn my hand sideways, maybe I could force it through,

The cuff shifted less than an inch.

Silver bit deeper.

I clenched my teeth against the tape and twisted harder.

My wrist screamed.

Nothing.

I rested my forehead against the stone.

Think.

There had to be something.

A sharp edge.

A loose knot.

Anything.

I moved my bound ankles, feeling around blindly with the heels of my shoes.

Stone.

More stone.

The wall.

1:06 pm

I tried rubbing the rape against-the rough floor.

Unce.

Twice.

The movement dragged my cuffs across my wrists.

Pain shot up both arms.

I stopped.

My breathing came too fast.

Panic would waste strength.

Daphne had told patients that often enough.

Slow breaths.

Count them.

One.

Two.

Three.

I closed my eyes.

Diana?

Nothing answered.

My chest tightened.

Diana.

For several seconds, there was only silence.

Then something faint stirred inside me.

Abby.

Relief hit so hard that tears filled my eyes.

You’re here.

Barely.

Her voice sounded far away, as if she were speaking through water.

Can you shift?

I already knew the answer.

No.

The silver alone might have stopped us. Whatever wolfsbane remained in my blood made reaching her difficult enough.

Are you hurt?

A weak irritation brushed through me.

You are hurt.

Even now, she sounded offended by the question.

I almost laughed.

It came out as a small breath against the tape.

Liam must be looking.

He is.

I swallowed.

How do you know?

A pause.

Jasper.

Of course.

Jasper would never stop.

Neither would Liam.

I reached for him.

Liam?

Nothing.

I tried again.

Liam.

Silence.

1:06 pm

The unind-link felt impossibly far away.

He can’t hear us, Diana whispered.

I promised I’d answer him.

He knows.

I wanted to believe that.

The morning before everything happened returned in pieces.

Liam telling me he had a council meeting.

Me insisting I could go to the clinic by myself.

His reluctant agreement.

His promise not to check on me every five minutes.

I had been annoyed.

Now I would have given anything to hear his voice in my head.

He’ll find us, I told Diana.

She was quiet.

Then:

Yes.

Neither of us sounded completely certain.

Footsteps scraped against stone.

Diana vanished beneath the fog almost immediately.

My body stiffened.

Weak light appeared in the passage.

The rogue entered carrying a lantern.

I had only seen pieces of his face in the forest.

Now I could see him clearly.

Heavy beard.

1:06 pm

Dark hair.

Broad shoulders.

Three healing scratches across one cheek.

Mine.

A weak flicker of satisfaction moved through me.

His eyes dropped to my wrists.

“For Goddess’ sake.”

He put the lantern down.

I tried to move farther back against the wall.

There was nowhere to go.

He crouched and grabbed one cuff.

I kicked him.

My heel struck his thigh.

He swore.

I kicked again.

This time he caught my ankle.

“I was told this would be an easy job.”

My attention sharpened.

He shoved my legs back down.

“Grab the girl. Keep her quiet. Get paid.”

His fingers brushed the scratches on his cheek.

“No one mentioned you were going to fight like a wildcat.”

Good.

I hoped they hurt.

He seemed to read the thought in my face.

His mouth tightened.

1:06 pm

Then he ripped the tape from my mouth.

Pain burned across my lips.

I sucked in air.

“How long?”

He ignored me and reached for a bottle beside the lantern.

“How long have I been here?”

“Drink.”

He held the bottle toward me.

I turned my face away.

“No.”

“You’re dehydrated.”

“Then untie me.”

He laughed.

“Drink.”

My throat felt like sandpaper.

I hated that he knew I needed it.

Finally, I leaned forward.

The first swallow hurt.

The second felt almost painfully good.

He let me drink only a little before pulling the bottle away.

“More.”

“Later.”

“Who hired you?”

His eyes moved to mine.

“No.”

“No what?”

“No questions.”

“You kidnapped me

“And?”

“And I think that gives me questions.”

His mouth twitched.

“Doesn’t give you answers.”

“What are you waiting for?”

He screwed the cap onto the bottle.

“Instructions.”

“From who?”

He stood.

“Still asking.”

My pulse increased.

Someone was supposed to contact him.

Someone had planned this.

“Why me?”

He shrugged.

“Wasn’t told.”

“You took me without knowing why?”

“I knew what I was getting paid.”

That answer frightened me more than if he had hated me.

There was nothing personal in his face.

He had put silver around my wrists and dragged me into a cave because someone offered enough money.

“What happens when they give you instructions?”

“That depends on the instructions.”

1:06 pm

stared at him.

He smiled without humor,

“You really should stop asking questions you don’t want answered.”

I pulled against the cuffs again.

Pain tore through my wrists.

His gaze dropped.

“Don’t.”

I twisted harder.

For one second, I thought my hand moved.

Hope surged.

Then he crossed the space between us.

“Enough.”

He caught my arm.

I kicked.

My heel connected with his knee.

He swore and almost lost his balance.

I kicked again.

“Damn it.”

He grabbed both my ankles.

I twisted, trying to get my hands beneath me.

Silver cut deeper.

I cried out.

“Stop fighting.”

“No.”

He stared at me.

1:06 pm

I didn’t know where the strength came from. I jerked one leg free and kicked his chest.

He stumbled backward.

For one glorious second, I thought I had bought enough time to move.

Then his hand went inside his coat.

My stomach dropped..

The syringe.