Page 117 of Crossed Fates

They willingly gave me their energy first so I wouldn’t absorb any from you,Alaric explained before I could ask how I’d been protected from his need.

Where’s Jude?

In my room,he growled.They’re trying to torture information about E.V.I.E. out of him while making me watch. So far, he’s refused to speak, which is only making Bortex’s man get more creative. He started with fists. Now he’s crushing fingers.

Wolf, hybrid, or vampire?I asked, trying to focus on information and not the image of what was happening to Jude.

Vamp in a suit.

Cuntcake,I guessed.Goes by Todd.

Yeah,he agreed.

Then Bendy and HJ must be in my cell.Or at least nearby. Because I could smell them.We need a distraction so I can free myself from these cuffs.I couldn’t exactly break my thumbs and wiggle myself free while they watched. It’d give away my conscious state.

Not sure I can do that,he admitted, his tone holding a note of lethargy.Bortex is too close.

Have you notified the pack to send reinforcements?I asked.

Yeah… but I have my strongest men here. I told Rick to reach out to E.V.I.E. for backup.

And?I prompted.

And they’re on their way, but it’s a four-hour drive. It only took Bortex thirty minutes to knock out my wolves on-site. I can feel them falling back at main camp now, Mak. I… I can’t keep… pulling their energy.

His hesitation pierced my heart.

Because I understood.

It was him… or them. And an alpha would always choose his pack’s safety over his own.

Shit,I thought, my mind whirring as I fought for an escape route. We definitely needed a distraction, but how could we create one if we were both strapped to chairs?Bortex is waiting to see how long it takes for you to start siphoning energy from me, isn’t he?

Yes, I think so.

Then maybe we need to give him what he wants?I suggested.It’ll distract him from torturing Jude and maybe prolong our stay long enough for reinforcements to arrive?

I’m not fucking taking energy from you after I just brought you back,he snapped.

If I hadn’t been trying to remain utterly still, I would have rolled my eyes.I didn’t mean for you to actually do it. I know how to play the part of a damsel, Alaric. I can put on one hell of a show and really draw it out.

That might encourage him to torture me more, just to test the impact on you,he replied.

True. But I can take…I trailed off as a tapping sound started, the echo one that seemed to make everyone still in the room.

Even Alaric fell silent, his mind assessing.

The rhythmic tick continued in the same pattern.

I focused on it, repeating it in my mind.

Single tap. Single tap. Single tap. Single tap. Single tap. Pause.

Long tap. Long tap. Pause. Single tap. Single tap. Pause. Long tap. Single tap.

Long tap. Long tap. Pause.

Long tap. Single tap. Single tap. Single tap.