Page 18 of Vicious Luna
My brows shoot up. “As if yours aren’t?”
She shrugs, looking smug as fuck. “We’ll see.”
Even though I’m the one with all the power here, that wicked expression is fucking unnerving. It has me questioning everything I know, wondering if I’m missing something.
I’m nowhere near sober enough for these mind games.
Downing the rest of my beer, I flip her the bird and turn to head for the stairs. BecauseIcan leave, andshecan’t.I’mthe one in control.
Before ascending the steps, I pause to look back toward Luna’s cell, finding her watching after me.
“You’d better be ready to share something tomorrow,” I say with a sharp edge of threat to my tone. “You haven’t even begun to suffer, but if you keep pushing me, you will.”
Her plush lips twist in a scowl, but I start up the stairs before she has a chance to respond, an aching hollowness taking root inside me with every step of retreat.
10
Three days.
That’s how long I’ve been trapped in this cell, and the realization alone makes me want to scream.
I thought for sure that someone would’ve come for me by now. Or if not, I thought I’d find my own way out of here. Instead, I’ve spent three days in forced confinement, cycling between depression and desperation and blinding rage, uselessly pleading with fate for some way to escape this nightmare.
Alive and unharmed, preferably.
To add insult to injury, I’m still completely cut off from my inner wolf. I haven’t felt her stir at all since I’ve been here. Her absence is haunting me- it feels like I’m missing an integral piece of my soul without her; part of what makes me,me. I’m starting to worry she’ll never come back.
Wolfsbane can’t be permanent, can it?I haven’t been injected with the stuff in days, so the fact that my wolf’s still dormant is concerning, to say the least.Could they be dosing me some other way?
I grunt in frustration at that thought as I continue doing push-ups, irritated that my muscles feel so damn weakright now. My biceps burn with every rep, but I’m not content to just sit in here and do nothing all day, so I’ve been filling the time with circuit training. The range of exercises I can do is limited by the small space I’m confined to, but at least working out keeps me busy and gives me some sense of purpose. Though it’s also frustrating since I’m not used to feeling my muscles fatigue so quickly or the noticeable decrease in stamina.
I don’t think I’ve ever truly realized how much I rely on my wolf until now. I’m still physically strong, but without the capability to rapidly heal, I tire out easily. And my strength is just…less. It’s hard to explain, but I feel my wolf’s absence in every aspect of my being.
I’ll never take her for granted again. And you know what else I now realize I took for granted?Hair ties.My long strands keep getting in the way of my workout, to the point where I wish I could just lob it all off. My hair’s a damn mess, and even though I’ve finger-combed my tresses too many times to count, they’re hopelessly tangled. When I get out of here, I’m definitely treating myself to a deep conditioning hair masque and as many hair ties as I can get my hands on.
Rolling over onto my back with a heavy sigh, I tuck my hands behind my head and start doing crunches, eyeing the tray near the cell door each time I curl up. My sexy tattooed warden dropped off the food earlier, but I figured I’d work up an appetite before indulging. Although, if I haven’t been injected with wolfsbane again, then maybe they’re using the food to dose me…
I curl up to sit as I mull over that possibility, chewing on my lower lip while staring intently at the grey plastic tray.Shit, what if I’ve been dosing myself by eating the food?I rock forward and crawl over to the tray, pulling it onto my lap as I sit back with my legs folded underneath me.
If they’ve put wolfsbane in the food, then all I have to do is narrow down which one it’s in and avoid eating it. More andmore food has been offered to me with each meal, and while a lot of it has varied, one thing has remained consistent since the beginning: the stack of crackers.
If it’s in the food, it has to be the crackers.
I’m almost giddy at the realization, clinging to that thread of hope as I start scarfing down everything else on the tray. I need my strength, so I can’t exactly go on a hunger strike, but I can leave those chalky crackers the fuck alone. I’m being given enough other food that I won’t miss the calories.
After polishing off the fruit and cheese on my tray, I wash it down with a drink from my gallon jug of water. That new addition came yesterday, and I’m thankful I’ve got constant access to water now. I really didn’t want to resort to drinking from the toilet to keep hydrated. The back is welded on, so I’d have to drink straight from the bowl, andugh…no thanks.
With my luck, Cam would catch me doing it and make a dickish remark about me being a dog or something. He’s such a goddamn prick. As nice as the man is to look at, every time he opens his mouth, I just want to punch him in it. In fact, next time I have the opportunity, I think that’s exactly what I’ll do.
Maybe if I can get my wolf back, I’ll be able to overpower him and get the hell out of here.
Leaving the crackers on my tray, I return it to the floor near the cell door and resume my workout with a renewed sense of purpose. I need to stay in fighting shape for when my wolf returns. The coded door at the top of the stairs may present a challenge, but perhaps I can force Cam to cooperate if I get the upper hand.
He’s a mystery, my captor. The things he says are at odds with the way he looks at me. While his words have been harsh and unforgiving, I swear I’ve caught glimpses of other emotions in his eyes. Sympathy. Excitement.Desire. It’d sure be fucking helpful if I could harness that last one, becausethere’s no better time to get the jump on someone than when they’ve got their pants down.
I haven’t had much of a chance to lay any more groundwork for that, though. He’d said he was going to interrogate me yesterday, but both times he dropped off my food, he didn’t stick around to chat. Not that I’d tell him shit anyways. I’d rather cut off one of my own limbs than put anyone I love at risk of being harmed by these lunatics, but if I could at least get to know him more, I’d be able to identify his weaknesses to use against him.
I’m doing jumping jacks when I hear the now-familiar beep of the door at the top of the stairs unlocking, followed by the lights flicking on overhead. Not pausing my workout, I continue jumping as I glance over toward the stairs, and sure enough, Cam comes into view as he reaches the bottom, his gaze pinging to my bouncing tits.