told him, “I kept your secret—you owe me.”
“Don’t bullshit me, Vice. I’m not the only one keeping secrets around this place,” Rogue said, stared at him for a long moment and Vice fought the urge not to meet his gaze because suddenly it was like Rogue had these mind-bending—or at least reading—abilities and he didn’t want anyone in his noggin. Especially not now.
Chapter 6
Gillian dragged herself up through the water into the light, drew a deep gasping breath and sat up, hearing the familiar rip of the restraints as she did so. Lights danced in front of her eyes and she blinked to clear them, shook her head as the now familiar rustling clogged her ears.
When everything finally settled, she took in the cinder-block walls, the soft lighting, the nonantiseptic smell.
She remembered Jinx, but she knew instinctively he was no longer here.
It was only then she realized she was surrounded by giant males. She stilled, letting her eyes wander over all of them, one by one. Warriors, yes, but none of them were
She would play possum, the way she always had at the hospital. If they thought she was weak, they would let their guard down, and that’s when she would escape. Here, she would have to strike, to fight.
She had no idea where these urges came from, but she did know she would fight them all.
“She ripped those restraints like they were paper,” she heard one of them murmur in a language she shouldn’t have understood. She glanced down at the metal cuffs that were attached to the table.
“She understands,” another one said.
“Gillian, I’m Gwen. We’re Jinx’s family, and you’re safe here.” The tall blond woman didn’t seem particularly afraid of her, smiled kindly.
“You’re a doctor?” she asked and the blonde didn’t seem to know what to say to that.
“She is,” the tall, dark male said in a gruff voice.
“Really. The IV is just to get the drugs out of your system.”
It took Gillian several tense moments to believe her. She ripped the needle out of her arm, even as Gwen explained about drug withdrawal and the like.
“That’s never happened,” she assured the tall, cool blonde. “I need a weapon.”
“No, you don’t. These . . . men . . . they’re all part of Jinx’s family too. They just . . . wanted to meet you. But they’ll leave now,” Gwen said and they all did as she asked.
“You have power over them,” Gillian noted.
Gwen laughed a little. “Some, I guess.”
Gwen had pointed to the pile of clothing and Gillian didn’t argue, slipped into the comfortable T-shirt and leggings reluctantly. As always, the clothing chafed her skin.
She thought about the big man they called Rifter, the one who told Gwen to keep her in the basement. The cinder blocks and lack of windows blocked the moon but she could sense it, and walked around the room as if she could somehow find a way outside.
She always found a way.
“I think I like this place,” Gillian murmured in spite of her need to escape, the contrast maddeningly odd, more to herself than to Gwen as she moved around.
“It’s nice here,” Gwen agreed. “You’re safe—I meant that. No one’s going to drug you.”
“But I can’t go outside.”
“For now, it’s better for you to stay here. I promise you’ll understand why soon enough.”
“Where’s the warrior?”
“Do you mean . . . Jinx?”
“Yes.”
“He had to go to work. I could ask him to come back.”
Gillian didn’t answer that, instead asked, “Does anyone else know I’m here?”
“No one from the hospital.”
“My parents?”
“We don’t know who they are.”
“At this point, neither do I,” she murmured. Maybe she’d never really known them. There were always others taking care of her because they traveled a lot. Thinking back, there were always a lot of doctors and tests and she wondered if they’d always known she would need to go into some kind of hospital, if they were testing her early so they’d know.
But know what? That she liked to run naked through the woods? Other than that, she seemed to be able to function normally in society. She was polite, didn’t eat with her hands, was well read. She’d finished all her schooling, graduating early. And she would’ve moved on to college if she hadn’t been forced into the hospital.
How much had Jinx told them about her past? How much did he actually know? They’d barely had time to talk before she’d been sedated.
Her back ached. It had been hurting, as if she’d bruised it, for the past several weeks. She lifted the shirt and turned to look over her shoulder in the mirror at her naked skin, noted that Gwen was watching her too.
“I must’ve bumped it the last time I”—she was about to say
Gwen moved closer and her tone was a little off when she said, “It looks like it’s going to be just fine.”
“You’re the doctor.” She tugged at the neck of the T-shirt. The clothing was soft, but it still chafed. And Gwen hadn’t seemed bothered by her nudity, but still, she knew walking around the house with all the men wasn’t appropriate.
“Are you hungry?”
“Actually, starving,” she said. Gwen went out the door and pulled in a table on wheels with a big tray of covered food dishes.
“That smells great.”
“Here—sit and get started. I’ll be right back, okay?”
Gillian couldn’t think of anything but food at that moment. At first, it was only that way after they’d sedated her and lately it was that way all the time. There was never enough food, except on the days she ran. Then, it was like her body shut down to everything but the air and the moon.
It was all delicious—lots of stew meat and potatoes and bread. She sat and ate for what seemed like hours. Finally, when her stomach stopped complaining, she looked around and noted that there didn’t appear to be any cameras in this room, although they could be well hidden. She took a few more bites and couldn’t shake the fact that she was alone.
They trusted her, just like they made the mistake of doing time and time again at the hospital. Gillian always took full advantage of their mistake and she’d do it here.
Really, she had to. The moon, the air, Jinx—all called to her as surely as they felt her pain of being held captive.
Her bare feet padded across the cold floor, but her blood ran hot. Her fingers nestled in the seams of the cinder-block wall, looking for any kind of weakness, a secret passage.
Nothing.
She went into the small bathroom and looked up at the vent. It was small, but it had to lead outside. She lifted the cover and smelled earth. But she’d never liked enclosed places, so she was torn.
Jinx had left her. She’d ask him why when she saw him again.
She went to the door and found it opened easily. She went to the next door and found herself inside a maze of cars and motorcycles. There was a big window about seven feet up and she climbed onto the roof of a truck and pushed it open and looked down.
