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CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED & SIX
Talia’s POV
There was a loud knock.
At first, I thought I misheard it and then there was another knock.
Viki had stopped moving at the first knock. The tip of the dagger was barely touching my face. When the second knock came, her eyes narrowed.
“Perfect timing,” she cursed.
Someone was here. Someone had found this place. There was a chance for me to be rescued.
As if she saw what I was thinking, Viki grabbed my jaw and shoved a gag into my mouth.
The cloth tasted like it had been stored in dirt. I jerked my head away, but she was stronger, and my body did not respond the way I wanted it to. She tied the gag behind my head and yanked the knot tight enough to make my eyes water.
“You sit there and be quiet,” Viki ordered. She exited the room quickly but left the door open. I could hear male voices.
“Ma’am,” a voice said. I recognized it so clearly. It was Marco.
I tried to call out, but the gag muffled my voice. I twisted in the chair and yanked my wrists against the ropes, but the ropes didn’t budge.
I tried the pack link. I reached for it the way I always did when I needed Solon or Father. No one answered. There was only silence.
“The sedatives are blocking us,” my wolf warned. “We won’t be able to reach out until it’s out of our system.”
I refused to accept that. I refused to just wait and allow Viki to torture me.
Marco was here. That meant Nolan had to be close by. I had to alert him somehow.
I twisted again. This time I focused on my legs. The ropes around my ankles were not as tight as my wrists.
I dragged my heel along the chair leg and forced the rope to rub against the rough wood. My ankle burned. I kept going.
Upstairs, Marco spoke again. “We are collecting statements. We need to know if you saw Luna Talia tonight, or if you noticed anything unusual during the ceremony.”
How did he not know he was talking to Viki?
I had to alert him.
I flailed hard and the ropes gave way around my ankles. The chair rattled on the stone floor. The sound echoed in the basement, but I could not tell if I was making enough noise. I slammed both heels down into the stone repeatedly, trying to make the noise as ugly and obvious as possible.
Please hear me!
Please!
“I saw nothing,” Viki said smoothly. “I stayed in my cabin. I heard the celebration from a distance, but I was not there. I felt sick that night.”
Marco’s tone stayed polite. “Then we will need your name and residence recorded. There is an effort to track who was present and who was not.”
There was a pause.
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Had he heard that?
Marco said, “Thank you. We appreciate your cooperation.”
No.
The footsteps moved away.
A few seconds later, Viki came back down the stairs. Her expression was smug, like she had just watched me lose a game she had already rigged.
“Did you enjoy that?” Viki asked softly. “Did you think he would save you?”
I tried to spit at her. The gag made it impossible. All I managed was a choked sound.
Viki laughed. “Nolan’s Beta found this place,” she said, as if she was sharing something amusing. “And he did nothing. Do you know why? Because he was too stupid to suspect anything. Being a rogue has its perk. He couldn’t even tell it was me. Idiot.”
My eyes narrowed. Rage pushed through the sedative in small bursts.
Viki made a mock sympathetic expression. “Doesn’t seem like Nolan really cares about you. He couldn’t even be bothered to
inform his Beta to conduct a search.”
Viki stepped back toward the stairs. “I am going to pass a message to Nolan, so he thinks he is getting closer.”
I flailed against the restraints. My wolf snarled inside me and said, ‘I am doing the best that I can, Talia. I will get this sedative out of our system and then we will maul her.’
Viki watched me struggle and looked pleased. “Do not rush,” she said. “Both of you will die in due time.”
She reached toward the table and picked up the dagger again, turning it in her fingers like she was deciding whether to use it before leaving.
Then she paused and looked toward the far wall.
“But first, I need to provide information to help Alpha Nolan. He’s not as clever as I thought. Don’t worry. I won’t leave you alone,” she said, “I arranged something for you.”
Viki crossed the basement to the darkest corner. I had assumed there was only one way to enter the basement. I was wrong.
Viki crouched and pressed her fingers along a seam. A hidden side door opened with a quiet scrape.
Viki stood and looked back at me, a satisfied smile on her face. “I wanted to make sure you weren’t lonely.”
Viki lifted two fingers to her mouth and whistled. Three rogues crawled in through the hidden door. They moved low, like animals. Their clothes were filthy. Their hair was matted. One of them smiled when he saw me, and his eyes dragged over my body.
Panic rose up in me as I had flashbacks of the last time I encountered rogues due to Viki.
Viki pointed toward me. “Keep her company, my friends,” she said, voice casual. “Oh, but don’t kill her.”
Viki shut the hidden door and exited the basement without a second look.
I struggled against the ropes again and finally, I felt them loosen around my wrists. I glared at the rogues while my claws lengthened and then they lunged.
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