Tall, Dark & Furious (Pyte/Sentinel 6)

When she was done, Indie walked around the bed and did the same for her other hostage, wrapping his left wrist in gauze, and when she was done, she reached into her pocket and-

“What the hell are you doing?” Jacob demanded as she fastened the titanium handcuffs dipped in silver that she’d been forced to sleep in yesterday around his wrist before she quickly attached it to Ethan’s wrist as he watched her every move.

“Get this off me!” Jacob demanded, moving to raise his arm in demand only to rethink it and leave it where it was.

“No,” Indie said as she debated on whether or not she should keep her word, but in the end decided that it would be a good idea to keep her promise as a gesture of good faith. Besides, she could always stick him again, Indie decided as she made her way back around the bed, careful of the large man that looked really angry, not that she could blame him, and reached behind him and-

Oh, no…

There was a drop of blood.

Closing her eyes, she took a shaky breath and told herself that the warm liquid currently coating her fingers was just water, she carefully pulled the pin out and-

Gagged.

-took a step back as she opened her eyes only to rethink that decision when she saw red and decided that this was the perfect time to check out the bathroom

Decision made, Indie quickly made her way into the bathroom, careful to avoid looking down out of fear that she would see that thing that she was pretending wasn’t coating her fingers right now and quickly scrubbed her hands.

“Do you have any fucking idea what will happen if I try to shift with this on?” Jacob demanded from the other room where he was no doubt doing his best to avoid his skin coming into contact with the cuff wrap

ped around his wrist.

“Your hand will be sliced off and it will never grow back,” Indie said, trying to sound casual as she did her best to block out the memories of the blood-curdling screams that had been used to terrify her into behaving even as the memory of all that blood had her head spinning faster.

Needing a moment, she slapped her trembling hands on the counter and took a shaky breath and-

She did it.

She actually did it, Indie realized unable to help but smile as she thought of everything she’d accomplished today. She’d managed to turn the tables on her captor, with a tiny bit of help from the shifter, who she’d also taken hostage, used the shifter’s phone to rent a hotel room for the night with the help of a YouTube video, and checked them in without anyone seeing them. And now…

Now, she was going to savor the moment.

Chapter 18

Westdrom, Maine

“Go away,” Samantha mumbled weakly into her pillow as the horrible dog that seemed to take great joy in making her life a living hell continued pushing her towards the edge of the bed.

Determined to ignore him, she rolled over onto her stomach, snuggled closer to her pillow and-

Found herself shoved off the bed.

She really hated that dog, Samantha thought as she grabbed hold of the bed and moved to pull herself up only to tighten her hold on the comforter when she saw Trace watching her through bright red eyes. Releasing a shaky breath, she licked her lips nervously, absently noting that her head still hurt as she moved to put a little space between them only to decide that she was good where she was when he growled.

Clearing her throat, because she honestly had no idea what she was supposed to do, she pulled her legs closer as she took in the large man sitting in the corner watching her. He looked exhausted, Samantha thought, shifting to get more comfortable only to pause mid-shift when his eyes narrowed on her. Deciding that it would be in her best interest to wait for him to stop glaring, she resigned herself to sitting there only to realize that she really needed to use the bathroom.

“So, I’m just going to use the bathroom now,” Samantha said, gesturing weakly towards what she really hoped was the bathroom door.

When he didn’t say anything, she mumbled, “Okay then,” to herself, nodded and stood up only to realize that he planned on joining her when he also stood up.

Clearing her throat, she said, “I’ll just be a few minutes.”

When he continued standing there, glaring at her, she glanced around the room and sighed with relief when she spotted the television on the wall. Deciding to buy herself a little time, she grabbed the remote off the nightstand and-

Realized that she probably should have warned him that she was going to do that when he released a vicious growl that had her fumbling with the remote control, trying to shut the television off and frantically yelling, “It’s not real! It’s not real! Oh, my god! It’s not real!”

When it wouldn’t shut off, and god, why wouldn’t it shut off? She threw the remote aside, dropped to the ground, wrapped her arms over her head, squeezed her eyes shut, and-