In
Deeper
He
shifted in the chair, readjusting his bound hands in an effort to keep the
circulation going. He’d been tied up like this, arms behind his back, secured
to the back legs of the wooden chair. His feet had been tied to the front legs.
The weres had made sure he wouldn’t be able to even attempt to help Carly the
night they’d decided to take her away. First by knocking him into near
unconsciousness. Then by finding the simplest chair in the house and attaching
him to it.
As soon
as they’d left with her, Ben had begun beating him. What started out as nothing
more than a hot-headed tantrum had turned into a nightly routine. Matt knew it
by heart now. Ben woke, ate, and came looking for him. Why he thought beating
the woman’s brother he claimed to love more than life itself would help him win
her heart any was anybody’s guess. Then again, Ben wasn’t one to think
logically. He’d seen that for himself on more than one occasion.
Nobody
was safe here. Not the help. Not the people Ben claimed were his friends and
certainly not women. From what he could tell, Ben used them, abused them,
drained them and then moved onto he next. He treated them like an
all-you-can-eat buffet. Matt had counted no less than twenty since the night
he’d been here. They all walked in, but none had ever walked out.
A noise
outside the window made him force his eyes open. Nobody ever came around here
during the day. As he focused on the welcome figure in the window, he tried his
best to get his hands loose. It was a feeble attempt, but seeing Carly again
had given him a reason to try.
“Get
still,” a gruff voice mumbled from behind him. He stopped struggling and let
the man cut the ropes. “Can you walk?”
“Hell if
I know, “ Matt said, rubbing his bloody wrists. “I haven’t tried to move my
feet in days.”
“Humans,”
the man sighed. He tossed Matt’s body over his shoulder and tromped back
outside to the van waiting in the driveway. Carly jumped in just as her escort
dumped Matt in the back. He shook his head at her and slammed the back doors
shut. Climbing into the driver’s side, he looked into the back and motioned to
the blanket in the corner. “It’s not much, but it’ll keep him warm. Knowing
that Vamp’s temper, he’s more than likely got a lot of healing to do and unless
he’s a were and doesn’t know it, he’s got a fever.” He shook his head again and
put the van in drive. “Why you want average is beyond me.”
“Average
is safe,” Carly shot back at him. “Average doesn’t use me. Average doesn’t
expect me to read minds and manipulate their rivals. Average loves me for me.
Not what I can do for him.”
“Whatever
floats your boat, sugar,” he snorted. “Your loss.” As he turned onto the road,
he turned up the radio, determined not to listen to the sappy reunion that was
sure to come.
“How did
you-”
Carly
put her hand over his mouth and gestured toward the driver. “As much as I want
to fall in your arms right now and have you tell me everything will be okay, I
can’t. They respect strength. I need you to muster up as much as you can.” She
looked at his battered body and smiled. “I’ll take care of you behind closed
doors, but in front of them, you have to stand on your own two feet. I know
it’s a lot to ask, but it’s critical.”
“To
who?” he asked. He wasn’t mad, he just needed to know who’s tail was on the
line if he screwed up. “You or me?”
“Both of
us.” Carly laid the blanket over him and laid his head in her lap. “I told them
I wouldn’t tell them another thing unless they agreed to go after you. They
resisted at first, but when Alana sent her cop friend to check them out, they
figured it was better to at least try to get on her good side.”
“Cop
friend? Alana?”
“Chris,”
she answered. “Apparently he knows where she is. He’s trying to get her away
from Nicholas, but I’m not sure he’ll have much luck. She’s torn, Matt. She
loves him, but she can’t wrap her mind around what he is. What he has to do to
live.”
“He
hasn’t turned her then?” Relief washed over him when Carly shook her head.
Nicholas was a nice guy, but he wasn’t so sure he wanted Alana with him if it
meant she had to change. “Where are they?”
“Chris
won’t say. He’s afraid Ben will find out somehow and go after her.”
“So
what’s the plan? How do we get out of this alive? All of us.”
“We deal
with the weres first.” She glanced at the driver to make sure he wasn’t
listening and leaned down to whisper in Matt’s ear. “Chris has agreed to turn a
blind eye so they can have their little war with the understanding that the
winning side help eradicate Ben altogether. They want him gone anyway so that
wasn’t a hard sale.”
“What
else?” He could hear worry in her voice.
“They
want Nicholas gone too.”
Matt sat
up, maybe too quickly. He shook off the dizziness and grabbed Carly’s wrist.
“Dead gone or out of town gone?” Either way he stood to lose his little sister.
“Either.
They want this territory to themselves.”
“Does
Alana know?”
“No.”
Her eyes met his. There was far more to this plan than she wanted to tell him
now. “Chris is handling that. He’s planning to talk to Nicholas about it
tonight. Alana doesn’t know that either.”
“She
will when he shows up.”
“No, she
won’t.” Carly cleared her throat as the van came to a stop. She couldn’t risk
the driver overhearing any part of Chris’s plan.
“Just
tell me she’s okay.”
“I
can’t.” The truth was, Nicholas had blocked her from entering his mind. The
last memory she’d seen was of him feeding off Alana while she slept.
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