Page 40 of Fight (Kitsune #2)

T he pain woke me. I didn't hurt just a little or in one spot, I hurt everywhere.

I slowly became aware that I was lying mostly on my stomach, but my arms were pinned together under my body as I lay in an uncomfortable position on my stomach that didn't account for all the pain.

I opened my eyes slightly, and moving only my eyes, I looked around, I could tell that I was lying in the back of a full sized van, my head turned toward the rear door.

The rhythmic movements told me the van was in motion.

I tried to move, to roll off my arms, and into a less painful position only to realize that my wrists were cuffed together and somehow tied to the floor. I couldn't go anywhere.

Something was wrong, very wrong. I was groggy but I tried to remember how I'd gotten here.

The last thing I remember was leaving the hotel with Alexis to get coffee.

I struggled to remember, did we even make it to the coffee shop?

Where was Alexis? I could only hope she was safe and that she could get back to Devon and Caden.

I knew I couldn't wait to be rescued, how would they know where to find me?

Logic told me I must have been drugged in order to have been taken, bound like this, and not remember it.

My thoughts were cloudy and sluggish but I kept pushing.

I struggled to think, to use the senses that had become almost second nature to me in the time since my first shift.

I realized I was pushing too hard and tried to calm myself, if just enough to think, to rationally evaluate my situation.

I took a deep breath and noticed the scent of salt.

I was still near the ocean or the bay. I also caught the scents of at least four different humans.

I concentrated. I could hear the sound of the engine, and the voices of men in the front seat talking.

I didn't try to make out what they were saying, it wasn't important.

Figuring out how to get free was. I knew from the fact that they weren't burning my skin that the cuffs holding me weren't silver, which meant that whatever attached them to the floor likely wasn't either.

The scents of excitement and eagerness were in the air, something told me that these men didn't know what they'd gotten themselves into.

I opened my eyes again and didn't see anyone. I shifted my body slightly, hoping no one would see it.

"Looks like she's waking up." an unfamiliar voice came from behind me. I felt a sharp blow to my side as someone kicked me. "You awake, Bitch?" The same voice asked.

I tried not to react. I wanted more time to figure out what was going on. The foot hit me again, harder this time and just a little lower, hitting me just above my kidney. I couldn't hold back a whimper of pain.

"Yeah, she's coming out of it." The voice spoke again. "What should we do?"

"Just let her be. She's not going anywhere for a while." Another voice said, farther away and muffled as if he was facing another direction.

"You sure?" The first voice asked. "I could have a little fun with her before we get where we're going." He kicked me again, not as hard but still enough to hurt.

"Leave her alone. We were paid to take her and deliver her untouched. A few bruises will be forgiven, but you're not going to screw it up for a little fun you can get from any hooker for a fraction of what we're making. And stop kicking her, you'll damage the merchandise."

The first voice grumbled but the kicking stopped, leaving me relieved but wary it would start again.

Still trying to push past the fog still clouding my mind, I tried to figure out how to get out of here.

I laid on the carpeted floor of the van, my head turned so that my face was no longer buried in the stale smelling rug.

I flexed my fingers, trying to work out the pins and needles that were the first signs of restored circulation.

At the same time, I unobtrusively brushed my skin against the chain locking my cuffs to a metal loop in the floor where a seat would normally attach.

There was no burn, no sting to indicate silver in the chain, which meant two things.

The first was I could probably break the chain, it might take a few tries but I was sure I could snap it and free my hands, at least from the floor.

And second, that it was another clue that these humans had no idea what I am.

They weren't prepared for what someone with my strength or abilities could do.

Something suddenly popped into my head. If I lowered the shields that had become second nature to me over the last few months, I should be able to hear what the men who'd taken me were thinking. I might be able to figure out who had paid them to kidnap me, or where they were taking me.

I closed my eyes and pictured a small window opening in the bubble of my shields, instantly I heard a rush of voices. I struggled to make my still sluggish mind function, as I needed. I fought to focus on a single voice, but I couldn't make my mind cooperate.

The road beneath the van was getting progressively worse and I was tossed into the air repeatedly as the tires bumped in and out of pot holes.

Money, it's for the money. I heard before another voice cut it off.

One nice piece of ass, I don't see why I can't take a taste.

Just finish this job & take the cash , Came a third voice.

I couldn't make my mind narrow onto one person's thoughts. They all bombarded me and I could only catch bits and pieces here and there.

I gave up and closed my shields tightly again. I took several moments to breathe and center myself again before I sprang into action.

I jerked my hands hard against the cuffs.

Yanking them away from the floor of the van several times before the chain holding the cuffs to the floor snapped.

Pain shot through both arms but I ignored it.

Getting away was more important than nursing my wounds.

My hands were still bound to each other but I was free from the floor, able to move around as I wanted.

As soon as my hands were loose I spun my body around to confront the man in the cargo space with me, the one who was close enough to kick me, close enough to stop me from escaping.

He was already trying to kick me again, his foot in motion toward where my body had been.

"What the hell?" he cried.

I caught the foot he swung in my direction in both hands and twisted hard.

He screamed and I fisted my hands together and swung them hard at his head, hitting him once.

He slumped against the side of the van, and I spun back to the rear doors.

Dropping onto my back, I bent both legs to my chest and kicked hard into the seam of the door, right in the middle where the latch should be.

I kicked once, twice and the doors flew open, hitting the limit of the hinges and bouncing back.

I waited until the doors swung open a second time, and rolled out the rear of the van.

I grunted as I hit the ground rolling, trying to minimize the impact.

I rolled to a stop and made it to my feet as quickly as I could, glancing back at the van I'd left once, before I took off in the opposite direction, running hard.

I had no idea where I was, only the concept that my kidnappers were taking me away from help, so if I ran in the direction we had come from, I should be able to find someone to help me.

I ran as hard as I could, pushing past the burning in my lungs, the aching in my thighs.

I ignored the burning pain in my still cuffed wrists and kept running, searching for someone, anyone who might be able to help me.

I couldn't stop for fear they'd turn the van around and catch up, capture me again.

I ran, unknowing and uncaring where I was going as long I got farther from them.

Them, the humans who had drugged and kidnapped me, who'd kicked and abused an unconscious woman they'd been paid to take.

Every muscle in my body ached, they burned from injuries that I couldn't take the time to worry about, and from over use, but I couldn't stop, not until I knew I was safe.

I saw a car turn onto the street ahead of me, I had no idea who was in the car but it had to be better than what I'd left behind. I didn't know what I looked like, but it couldn't be good. I waived my still bound arms over my head, flagging down the car as it approached.

The car slowed, pulling over to the side of the narrow road. I approached, ready to beg for help if I had to, but when the door opened it was Devon who climbed out. I ran to him, relieved he'd found me and collapsed against him

"Nickie?" I heard the concern in his voice as darkness closed in on me again.