Waiting (28 page)

Sam was only doing this because they'd taken her mate, easing my tension a bit, though not a
lot
since I knew I wasn't at the top of her list to save if things got even uglier here. She was still a traitor in my eyes.

“She only smells like fear. Her
skin tastes
better than Georgia's though.” He chuckled as new fear rippled across my features, thinking of the other people they might be holding here for meals. “She looks sexy though.” He pinched my exposed right butt cheek and left without looking back.

Sam was back to playing the part of my evil abductor, leering at me as she led me out of the room, down back into the bas
ement with Gunner
who was laying across the bed before hearing us come back through the door.
 
His eyes widened as I was placed back into the cel
l, then diverted his gaze.
I crossed to the
mattress
and wrapped the thin sheet around my body. He relaxed almost instantly.

“Are you alright? What did they do to you?”

“Nothing. Sam just made me change into this.”

“That means you're going to be p
art of the club scenery tonight, in a cage
.” He cast a worried look at me. “At least that's what I'm hoping. If it's not that, then you'll be one of the meals t
hey pass around the dance floor. Once you’re almost drained
they'll fill you back up and put you back out there.”

I gulped. I
definitely
hoped for the cage thing then. How the hell had this day turned out this way?

It was close to nine o'clock no
w, getting darker by the minute.  N
ot that we could see from our current cage but I caught glimpses while I was topside.

“They let me feed while you were gone
. 
I only to
ok what I needed to stay alert
since I didn't want to harm the girl
any more
than what's already been done to her.”

“Let me guess, Georgia?”

“What?”

“The girls name?”

“Oh, I didn't ask.”

Of course no one cares about where they got their meal from. Or from whom.

“Never mind, it doesn't matter anyways.” I just want to go home and hide under my blankets. “Why would they let you feed? This isn't making any sense.”

“I don't know. The girl came down alone, didn't say a word bu
t put her arm through the cage
 
bars
for me to drink.”

His eyes were
gray,
the silver markings completely erased from his neck and wrist.

Sighing, I moved to my purse and dug out my phone before standing on top of the bed and holding it as high as it would go.

A bar popped up!

Trying not to move an
inch, afraid I'd lose it again,
I used my other hand to scroll down to Parker's number and hit send.

It rang!

“Where are you?” h
e growled into the phone, voice full of hope and frustration.

Instead of letting me answer
Gunner grabbed the phone from my hand and spoke in tones too low for me to hear. His brow was furrowed while listening to the same low whispers coming out of my phone.

The
excitement of my phone being turned back
on quickly depleted into worry
and jealousy, since I had no idea what they were s
aying.
 
It didn't matter
as long as he got us out of here. Gunner's face gave me hope, easing some of my fear. Barely.

“Can I talk now?” I whispered, but Gunner acted
as if I yelled right in his ear.  H
is lips moved a few more times
before
the phone was handed back to me. “Gunner is Ashley
's dad?
Why didn't you tell me? I thought you killed him.”

A frustrated chuckle met my irrational question. That was the least of my concerns right now, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

“You need to hang up the phone and stop talking so loud. I'm surprised they've let the conversation go on this long. The club must be open and the music on, and Sam must've
forgotten
you had your phone.”

“About Sam...”

“I know. That
conniving
, ungrateful bitch
!” Anger exploded into my ear on his growl. “We'll be there soon. I've got friends showing up
shortly
to keep an eye on things. I'm so sorry about all of this.”

“
We'll get her out of this alive,
” Francis' voice cut through Parker's.

“Parker, I...”

“Don't, please. I can't feel any worse. Keep your phone on you if you can. Please, just...when this is all over, please forgive me.”

My breath caught and my eyes immediately started watering.

“Parker, there’s nothing to forgive!
”

Two beeps had me pull the phone away from my head to see that the call had been lost. Great. I hope he heard what I'd said first.

I dropped the sheet and looke
d for a place to keep the phone
and only found the inside of my boot to be a safe fit. Placing it inside, it rested against the back of my calf and didn't bulge out enough to be
noticeable
.

“What did he say
to you
?”
I asked.

“He said he'll be here soon and he's got backup.
” Duh. I already heard that.
“
They're coming for you in a few minutes.” He shook his head and looked down at his feet. “You need to make sure you get out of here alive. I have one request if there's no time for me. Please make sure my family is kept safe. I know Parker's already doing that, but if I'm not around...please.” His eyes swirled with
a silver, smoky color
, revealing his depth of emotion.

“Of course. But we aren't leaving without you.”

“Shh.” He pressed his lips to my ear as the door to the stairs flew open again. “Take care of yourself.” He pulled back and half smiled, stepping away from the doors when Quinn approached, signaling for me to follow him.

“Follow me.”

Once again my body had no choice but to obey, following him up the stairs and past the other prisoners, then back out to the same room Sam brought me to earlier.

Loud music blasted through the air, shaking the walls. Club goers were filling up space, starting out their evening as if nothing wrong was going on here.

Sam sat on a plaid ottoman, tapping the other end to indicate I join her. Not wanting Quinn's voice to
make
me, I moved of my own free accord to join her, crossing my legs but turning my face to look directly at her.

“This'll just take a minute.”

She picked up a brush and black eyeliner and soon her hands were zooming across my face, doing God knows what since I couldn't see. She kept lifting the thick bangs
of my wig
then laying them back down.

Was she painting my
forehead
?

“All set.” She sat back and fluffed the long length of the wig, winking flirtatiously at me with a giggle. “Beautiful.”

She flew around the room, putting everything away before sitting down next to me a few seconds later.

“Now. I'm going to put you in a dance cage and you'll need to dance until I tell you to stop.” She leaned in to whisper in my ear again. “If Parker and Francis get you free of the cage, you can stop dancing and do of your own free will. If you get the chance, take some of Quinn's blood, it'll break his hold over you.”

She leaned back with the same wicked grin as before. Withdrawing deep red lipstick, she applied it heavily to my lips before taking my hand and standing me up, twirling me as if to inspect her doll.

I don't want to do this!

I placed my hand against the wall to stay upright, afraid I'd fall face first from the lack of oxygen my panic attack was dishing out.

A woman in her forties with tan skin and huge olive eyes came in and tilted her head to the side, waiting to be fed from. Sam's fangs immediately shot out before she licked her skin and sank her teeth in. The woman moaned, enjoying it as much as Sam did. She fed for a few minutes, the woman obviously growing weak from the lack of blood
before collapsing altogether.  Sam propped
h
er up against the ottoman,
licking her lips and turning back to face me.

“Alrighty. Let's get this over with.” Her tone was business like now, as if about to close a deal.

She took my hand and led me through the crowd of dozens, then up on top of the bar where a white
metal
cage hung a few feet above. T
he bars were skinny but sturdy
so they'd be able to watch my every m
ove. Lifting me in with one arm
then shutting the cage door with her other, she sighed worriedly before returning to her happy, scary face.

“Dance like them.” She held my gaze and pointed to a group of three cages
by the far left wall
where women were gyrating and dancing as if naked and horny.

My body obeyed, quickly learning the rhythm and popping and swaying at all the right times. A few of the patrons laughed, liking that I had no choice in the matter.
I’m sure I looked like a crack head, my body moving in ways that were foreign and forced. Not a good combination.

Sam disappeared and every time my eyes locked onto someone watching me, I shuddered, a sickening feeling creeping into my stomach and staying there. I really wish I'd been given permission to cry, to let out this yucky feeling, but I couldn't.

My instructions were to dance and stay in the cage until Parker
and
Francis touch me.

I left my face a blank slate, swaying and bending to the music, popping my hips, grasping the bars to keep my balance.

Cl
osing my eyes I pictured Parker.  J
ust the two of us. No
one else. No creepy, prying eyes staring at me in this degrading, humiliating cage. I pictured Parker's face loving the way I move, reaching out to touch me, but holding back, not wanting me to stop my show.

A loud scuffle brought my head up to search for the source of the yells. Quinn pushed a man off him before turning on his heel and exiting the club area. The unknown man also turned, heading straight for the bar.

Turning my back to the crowd, facing a wall of bottles filled with red liquid, different liquids mixed with blood, I closed my eyes again and focused on Parker's face.

The music continued to blare while the bodies disappeared, leaving me once again, in a room just with Parker.
 
I leaned forward and felt my butt hit the bars, though I
pretended it was Parker's hands
gently touching my exposed skin and enticing me to move more, loving the fact that he was getting excited.

A gentle tap on my hip and the call of my name pulled me from my comfort zone as my eyes snapped open to come face to face with someone I'd never seen before.
No I did recognize him. He’s the man who’d just fought with Quinn. 
His eyes were black, skin a
natural dark tan with thick
black hair and a look of determination. He wore black leather pants and a
crisscross
of metal
suspenders
across his rock hard abs that glistened with moisture, though I was sure it wasn't sweat since vampires don't sweat.

His hand held up a
glass
that he handed through the bars, wanting me to drink. The thin martini glass held blood, that much I was sure of. I turned and faced the opposite direction, trying to covertly tell him I wasn't interested.

He appeared in front of my face before I had time to blink, shoving the drink into my hand with a look of determination.

My third mistake, or possible the smartest thing I'd done all day: I looked into his eyes.

“Drink this.”

My hand grabbed the stem of the glass and downed the
awkwardly thick
contents before it dropped to the cage floor and shattered.

It's hard to explain
but I felt a jolt of release, as if I'd been reawakened, cut loose from an invisible tie holding me down, though my body continued to dance.

What was that?

The man disappeared from view, leaving me with questions and no
one to answer them.  M
y gaze continued to skim the crowd that quadrupled since I'd been thrown in. I glanced at a clock behind the bar and saw that it was almost midnight. I hadn't just been dancing for a few minutes, but for a few hours.

The muscles in my thighs
would be incredibly sore tomorrow.  My
sweat slicked across most of my skin, the wig sticking to my back as if I'd just taken a shower. I moved both arms above my head, then both hands beneath the heavy hair and pulled it off my damp skin, holding it inches above while twirling and trying to cool and dry my neck and back off.