Stealing Fire (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 5) (31 page)

Screw it. Rudeness didn’t matter at this point.
“Can you bust through the walls?”

“They are reinforced with some sort of spell. The brick won’t budge.”

She frowned. “That’s possible? Why would a witch help these assholes?”

“Probably a sorcerer or sorceress. Witch wouldn’t have that kind of power. Who knows why they would help. They could’ve been forced to. They could be evil.”

“Did they make it so you couldn’t teleport out either?”

“Don’t know. Might be the drugs. Might be the spell.”

It was the most words she’d heard Cade speak since they were thrown together.
That had to be progress, right?

The door opened and Ella jumped a good six inches.
So much for not showing fear.

Rok stood in the doorway, not seeming threatened by Cade at all. Though, the way he sat solemnly and stared intently at the floor, a bunny wouldn’t be threatened by Cade.

“Are you ready to be honest with me yet?” asked Rok.

“I can’t tell you what I don’t know.”

“You can stop fucking lying to me.” His voice didn’t seem threatening at all, but the room seemed to vibrate with menace. “Besides, if you don’t know anything, you aren’t useful to me.”

Ella looked to Cade, who still had his head facing firmly down. “You kept him around. What’s his use?”

Rok’s face filled with an evil grin. “That thing? He started out like you. Torture, interrogation. But he was just so much fun to have around. Isn’t that right, buddy?” Rok’s leg shot out and viciously kicked Cade in the face.

Cade flew halfway across the room, landing in a heap on the floor.

Ella ran to him. “What the fuck?” she shouted.

Once she reached Cade, she was hesitant to touch him.
Was this the gentle friend she remembered who needed comforting or was this a feral animal who would lash out?

She bit her lip and ran her hand along his back. “Hey, buddy,” she whispered.

To her relief, he didn’t jerk around to punch her in the face, but he didn’t seem happy at the touch. His muscles coiled, as though prepared to spring at any moment.

She wanted to whisper words of comfort and reassurance like she would when Clara had a nightmare, but couldn’t bring herself to speak. She refused to lie to him. Not when he’d been stuck there for three whole years.

How could she possibly tell him everything would be okay after that?

“I’m here,” was all she said.

But Rok wasn’t done. “Dog. Grab the girl and bring her to me.”

Obediently, Cade pushed himself up, blood now dripping from an open gash on his forehead. His face was completely blank as he gripped Ella’s arm and brought her to stand a foot from the vampire.

His grip was painful even though she didn’t resist. She knew they would both get hurt if he disobeyed.

Rok ran a hand over her bloodstained hair. “Last chance of the night. Tell me what makes you special to Lucian.”

Ella met Rok’s brown eyes with her own. “He loves me.”

Rok scoffed. “There has to be more to it than that.”

“There’s a lot more. But the main reason he’s going to kill you is because you hurt something he loves. That’s what this all boils down to.”

“Is that your final answer?”

“That’s the only answer.”

Rok’s lips tightened but he didn’t say anything. Unable to take his gaze any longer, Ella squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to imagine her punishment.

She didn’t have to wait long.

She registered the sound of something snapping before the pain in her wrist registered. She bit her tongue as she tried to hold back a scream, but a second later she couldn’t stop the gasping moans from escaping.

Her breaths came in quick pants as she tried to focus on anything but her unnaturally bent arm.

She glanced at the strange angle of her wrist and quickly looked away. Her stomach clenched and her throat constricted. The lack of food and water left her with only dry heaves, but every twitch was agonizing.

Her knees gave out; Cade put his other arm around her waist to hold her up.

“I’ll give you some more time to think about it. I’ll be back in a few days, probably. If you don’t have a better answer the next time I see you, I’m not playing any more games. You won’t be as amusing to me as he is.”

She would’ve told him where to stick it if she wasn’t so busy trying to keep herself from crying. Her eyes were still closed when the door shut behind Rok and she was left alone with Cade again.

His arm tightened around her waist and he lifted her just off the ground, carrying her to the closest corner. She leaned her head back against his shoulder and focused on controlling her breathing.

Clara. Focus on Clara. Your daughter is safe with Lucian. He’ll keep her safe.

“Clara,” she whispered under her breath, the physical word giving her strength.

“Who?” asked Cade.

Ella opened her eyes and stared straight into the bright light. “No one.”

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C
lara stared at Grandpa’s TV but didn’t care what the cartoon dog was saying.

She wanted Mommy. Where was Lucian? He said he’d bring her back. It was almost night again. Did the monsters have her all day?

She rubbed her nose, but it already hurt from too much rubbing.
Had she ever cried enough to hurt her nose?

She pushed herself off Grandpa’s couch, keeping her stuffed dog, Reno Jr., tucked tightly under her arm. “Grandpa!”

He poked his head in, brow furrowed in concern. “Are you doing okay?”

“I want Mommy.”

His face got sad and she knew what he was going to say before he started. “Your mommy isn’t back yet.”

“Then I want Lucian. I mean, I want Daddy.”

His face wasn’t sad anymore. “That man isn’t your ‘daddy.’”

“Mommy said he was.”

“Lucian is dangerous. You and your mother need to stay away from him.”

“I know he’s scary. That’s how he’s getting Mommy back. He’s scarier than the monsters.”

Grandpa shook his head. “Help is on the way. You just sit tight and we’ll have your mother back in no time.”

Clara hugged Reno Jr. tighter.
How was Grandpa supposed to fight the monsters?

She sat in the middle of the floor, folding her legs underneath her. She tightly clenched her eyes.
Maybe if she wished really, really hard, she could bring Mommy home.

She thought of Mommy’s smile. The way she’d tuck her in at night. The stories she told about monsters and how she promised to always protect her.

She thought of walking with her and Reno. Eating hot dogs in front of the TV. She thought of the last time she’d been hugged before Mommy tucked her in and turned on the nightlight.

She thought of the second she realized Mommy was taken.

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E
lla opened her eyes, once again confronted with the bright light. It wasn’t the pain in her head that she noticed first.

Her arm was still front and center. Looking down, she saw it was back in its normal position, though still swollen to twice its normal size.

“I set it.” Cade’s voice rumbled against her back and she realized he still held her.

“I didn’t wake up?”

“You did. Then you passed out.”

Great. She was already repressing memories.
Whatever he’d done, her arm felt much better. Still hurt like a bitch, but it wasn’t the same screaming agony from the night before. Or day before? It was so hard to mark the passage of time with no windows or other technology.

“Your neck looks good,” he said.

After he said it, she realized it felt better too. Or maybe her wrist distracted her from feeling the pain. She’d take any relief she could at the moment. “How long was I out for?”

“Most of the day. Maybe ten to twelve hours. What month is it?”

Ella sighed. “November.”

“Probably twelve hours then.”

His bony chest was hardly the most comfortable seat and he obviously hadn’t bathed in a good long while, but his warmth was a bit relaxing. “Thanks for staying with me.”

“There’s nowhere for me to go,” he pointed out.

Ella gestured to the opposite wall. “You could be over there.” She looked up to see whether he had any reaction and wanted to pump a fist in the air when she saw the corner of his mouth tick up.

“Think Lucian will be mad when he finds out I slept with his girl?”

“You’re good. I think Lucian will be too distracted being pissed off at everything else that’s happened.”

She got another small smile from Cade, but neither spoke after that. She was becoming more comfortable with the silence. Talking was too depressing. Everything came back to the things they missed and might never have again or the shitty situation they were in.

At some point, she fell back into unconsciousness. Suddenly, Cade’s entire body went stiff against her. She opened her eyes to see what changed, but quickly realized she was dreaming.

Clara was there. Her eyes were tightly closed and she wore her cupcake pajamas and held her favorite stuffed dog that looked like Reno. She’d given it to Dad last Christmas because she’d felt sad he didn’t have a Reno of his own.

Ella smiled at the dream mirage, happy to take any image of Clara she could. “Hey, baby.”

Clara’s eyes snapped open. For a second, they just stared at each other, Clara with shock and Ella with relaxed joy. Then Clara ran like a bullet into Ella’s arms, jerking Ella’s broken wrist and holding her neck tightly. She bent forward and inhaled Clara’s scent. The familiar smell of her daughter brought tears to her eyes.

Clara shifted, hitting Ella’s arm again. The sting jolted Ella.
Was she supposed to feel pain in a dream?

Ella shot up, her good elbow pushing into Cade and causing him to grunt. “Go home,” she whispered as sternly as possible.

Clara looked up at Ella, blue eyes wide. “Mommy, I—”

“No. No talking. You need to go home. You understand me?” Ella could easily read the confusion in Clara’s face. She didn’t have a mirror, but she knew she looked a wreck. Dried blood was all over her hair and neck. Dirt from the floor had gotten all over her clothes and face. She just hoped Clara hadn’t noticed the arm, even though the swelling had already gone down quite a bit.

Clara’s gaze moved to Cade and she backed away a few inches. “Did he hurt you, Mommy?” she whispered.

Ella shook her head. “He is a friend of Lucian’s. He’s protecting me.”

Cade leaned forward. “She needs to leave. They can’t find out.” Of course he knew who Clara was. She looked like a mini version of Lucian and had teleported into the room.

Ella glared over her shoulder at him.
What exactly did he think she was trying to do?

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L
ucian stared at the computer screen, looking over the video footage on fast-forward for any hint of where the black Mustang had gone.

Not that he really expected to find anything. Dean pulled every security camera footage hooked into a wireless network within a twenty-mile radius of the gas station. He had five other guys trying to get a hold of any footage Dean couldn’t get through a computer.