Waiting (26 page)

“Maybe. Francis just tried to ring her and she didn't pick up.”

“She told me she didn't have her phone on her when I asked to borrow hers.” I heard urgent whispers but couldn't make out what they were saying.

“We'll be back in an hour. Go straight home and wait for me.”

The line went dead.

I'm glad I called them.  S
omething was obviously wrong. When I got home I was going to call my phone carrier and get this straightened out right away. Talk about inconvenience.

I quickly left and started back to my apartment with my head down, trying t
o think everything through. If S
am was in trouble, I'd feel horrible if something happened to her. I should've stayed longer with her, or insisted she come back to my place.

I was halfway across the street when I heard my name called out. Looking around, I couldn't see anybody waving or looking at me, so I continued on. When I stepped onto the sidewalk, I heard it again.

“Piper.”

This time it was loud and clear.

I glanced up and saw a tall figure leaning against the side of the building with a dark cowboy hat, arms crossed and looking
to not have a care in the world.  Red eyes glared
into mine, lips twitching once he knew I recognized him.

My first mistake: making eye contact with him.

He pulled me in with his stare and held me there. I was unable to move though all I wanted to do was scream and run away. People continued to push past us without noticing the incredible danger playing out right in front of them.

“Don't scream, follow me
as if nothing is wrong
.” His tone was deadly.

I had no choice but to obey as he turned and started down the sidewalk the opposite direction from my building.

Shit, shit, shit
. I recognized him almost instantly as Quinn, the beast that bit my leg while being chained to Francis' bed. Had he come for revenge? Did he nab Sam too?

My feet continued to follow his massive form through the crowded sidewalk, then down into an alley with a white
, unmarked
van parked in it.

No! I did
not
want to get into that van. If I did, I just knew I wouldn't come out of this situation alive. My gaze darted around for anything
useful
against a vampire, but of course came up empty.

“Please! Please don't do this.” My v
oice was barely above a whisper.
I was
thankful
he left me with the ability to speak at all. “Parker has first rights.”

He just chuckled and opened the van door.

“Get in.” Though I no longer made eye contact with him, he still held his power over me. “We're going to go for a ride.”

The back of the van was empty, just metal flooring and a blanket. How thoughtful. I unwillingl
y stepped into the back, trying
to fight my own body the entire time.

When I turned to face him after taking a seat, two figures appeared behind him. Sam and Gunner. Relief flooded through my veins at the mere thought of getting out of this horrible situation.

Gunner grabbed Quinn by the
throat and pulled him backwards.
Sam
,
however,
 
turned on him and pulled a piece of silver out of Quinn's front pocket with a gloved hand before wrapping it around Gunner's neck, his hold on Quinn relinquishing immediately.

No!

What was she doing?

“Thank you, Sam. Now I have two.”

The sickening smile they shared before Gunner was thrown in next to me made me want to puke. Sam was in on this? I s
hot daggers at her with my eyes
but she couldn't possible have cared less as she slammed the sliding door before climbing into the passenger seat, Quinn in the
driver’s
seat.

I closed my eyes and counted to ten.

This is not happening, this is not happening.

I reached up to fiddle with my pearl necklace, my security blanket, but all my fingers found was skin. I’d forgotten my necklace. I never forgot my necklace. Panic rose higher as I fought back tears.

The sound of
Gunner's skin sizzling beneath the silver
sickened me.  His body was held ridged
as
he tried
with all his might to not move at all in fear the silver would touch a new piece of him. He'd grown pale
r
within seconds and seemed to be going
downhill
fast.

“That was easy.”

They laughed in the front before Sam looked back at me with a sneer
and
shut the black drapes to cut off her view
of us. The windows were tinted
so no
one could see me mouthing
'help'
if I tried.

Instead, I slowly inched my fingers closer to Gunner's throat, hoping to be able to rid him of the necklace to give us a fighting chance of surviving this. My heart was pounding in my chest, sweat beading down my forehead as I silently thanked God Quinn hadn't restricted my moving abilities.

My fingers found the chain while I was still looking ahead, acting as if
I
wasn't moving at all.
 
Not wanting to hurt him, I finally turned my head to face him while lifti
ng the chain. It made an eerie
 
suction noise as
I
pulled i
t off.  P
ulling it in one
long
movement would make the least amount of noise, which I'm sure they could both hear over the conversation they were having.

Gunner's eyes were huge, silently thanking me when I got the first loop off. Giving up on hiding any noise at all, I turned my whole body to face him and ripped the strip completely off of his skin, then waited for him to move, do anything that would give me a smidge of hope we might live through this.

How could Sam do this? Parker trusted her!

“It's about time.”

Sam was sitting next to me as I felt a cuff slam over my wrist. She left the other dangling, moving back to her seat upfront as I took a sw
ing at her. Her laughter cut
through me like a knife in butter as the hatred inside me grew.

“Take the other piece and put it over his wrist, then hand me the silver chain.”

My body didn't feel the
need to do what Sam instructed
so I whipped up the chain and was about to wrap it around her skin when a booming voice inside my head had me halt, the chain falling limply at my side.

“Do it!”

There was
no questioning Quinn's voice.  My hand quickly slammed
the other cuff over Gunner's
wrist
, which was obviously made of silver since that same grotesque sizzling noise started, and placed the silver chain neatly in Sam's outreached, gloved hand.

“If you obey orders
your time with us won't be as horrible as
you can imagine
.”

“So, you're not planning on killing us, or betraying Parker and Francis, or torturing us?” I wasn't an idiot, they captured me for a reason. “You lured them to be captured before didn't you?”

I hate this woman. There’
s
no going back now. She’s the devil. Oh how Parker will
be devastated.

Francis! He must've caught on to Sam's betrayal and that's what he was leaving town to find more information on. He said Parker would be devastated if he was right.
 
Bless Francis for not giving over first rights to Brian, or else it would've been the two of us in this van, I'm sure.

“That wasn't in my plans at all, but then they showed up. Don't blame that one on
me honey.
I'm the one who free
d them. If it weren't for me they'd be a pile of ash and bone by now.”

“But they wouldn't have even been there if it weren't for you. You can play innocent all you want, tell yourself whatever, but you're just a
soulless
, manipulating,
conniving
little bitch! You'll get what's coming to you. They already know you're the traitor.”

Nothing like spitting in the face of the person who pretty much holds your fate in their hands, but what did I care at this point? My chances of living were slim to none as we started leaving the city at speeds that would put
even
Francis' heart on edge.

“I'm counting on them coming for you. You see. They have something that will get me what I want. You're the only one who will pass as collateral damage if all goes to plan.” She shared a wicked intense smirk with Quinn before turning back to face me. “It'll all be over soon. Don't worry.”
 
She shut the black drape again, laughing with her partner in crime as I turned my attention back to Gunner.

His color was getting better.  T
he chain prints across his neck were hea
ling, but very slowly. Too slow.  He needs
blood. I lifted his hand to lay across his chest and tried my best to keep the silver cuff from touching his skin before I lifted my other arm over his mouth and silently invited him to bite me.

He moved so fast, sitting upright against the side of the van, I fell over as he tugged on our connecting arms.

The black curtain slowly inched away to reveal Sam with a questioning look. She assessed us then threw the curtain back, not finding anything we were doing to be a threat.

I sat up, eyeing Gunner while mouthing
'do it!',
but he
shook his head. Was he scared of what Parker would do? This was kind of a life or death situation here and I knew he'd be understanding.

“Do it!”
He still wouldn't budge.
“You'd rather watch me die?”

Kind of a low blow
.  H
e paled even more before shaking his head again.

I didn't get it. He wasn't in on it with them, so why wouldn't he fight for our lives?

Fine. If he wouldn't, then I would. Leaning forward, I bit into his shoulder and swallowed a good mouthful of his blood, which tasted nothing like Parker's, before I was yanked away, slamming
into the other side of the van.  My shoulder dislocated
from the yank since
Gunner barely moved.

Instantly a whole new world opened up for me. Colors were brighter and my muscles felt stronger, invincible really. A thirst for revenge laid heavily in my mind as I reeled with the new power flowing through my body.

Sam sat over my legs, straddling me with an evil glare as I continued to lick the remaining drops of blood spilled over my lips. My shoulder popped back into place, the blood tingling through my veins as it started to work
its
magic.

“I didn't know you knew about our blood, I'll have to be more careful now.” The wicked gleam in her eye only egged me on.

I threw up my hand with the silver cuff and hit her across her temple, dragging Gunner along with me. It seems that was all I had in me
as my strength quickly depleted.  Sam cussed
at me as she held me down
firmer
.  Quinn chuckled
at how infuriated I made Sam.

“Watch it, Piper! You just earned an hour of torture by none other than me, the queen of bitches. I would've left you alone, for Parkers sake, but you blew it.”

The cut across her forehead quickly healed itself.

She clamped down on my wrists, showing me a fraction of her strength as I
whimpered
. It was worth it. Messing up her pretty little face was worth whatever she was going to dish out.

“Can you imagine the effect we'd have on Francis right now, me straddling you in this sex
y little position?” She giggled.
I was not amused. “Oh, he'd cum just from the sight.” She bent down slowly, pressing her bulging breasts against mine while watching Gunner's gaze. “It's pretty hot, don't you think?”

Gunner didn't answer
but continued glaring at her. Did he never speak?

“Get off me, skank!” She pressed down harder, pulling my arms above my head.

“Not until I know the blood has worn off in your system.”

She remained on top of me for a few more minutes until I heard the tires turn onto gravel, the van slowing substantially. Trees brushed the side of the
van until we came to a clearing.
Sam and I held a glare at each
other the whole way.

“We're he
eee
re,
” Sam san
g
in a creepy voice, finally releasing her hold on me when the van door slid open.

She was outside the van before I had time to pull on her gorgeous locks of hair.