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“I can’t give you what I don’t have,” Gio spit out. “When Carter found out Mila was taken, he shifted and ran. I haven’t been able to find him.”

“Fine,” Dave barked, then recited an address.

“We’re in the gray hangar at the far end of the airstrip.

Show yourself at the front." After issuing those instructions, he ended the call.

Mila was still laying on her side, working on breathing through the pain.

Dave grabbed her shirt and hauled her into a sitting position.

She whimpered as blood trickled out of her mouth.

Dave pulled her face to his. “You better hope he shows up. Otherwise, you won’t get a clean death.”

Standing up, he walked off with her phone still clutched in his hand. “Places everyone! He could get here any minute. Some of those fuckers can turn into birds. Be ready!”

The men scrambled into place, and Brad moved to sit in the cab of the truck with the gun mounted in the bed. The man who’d been working on a laptop and eyeing Bec picked up his gun and hustled into a spot at the far end of the hangar.

No one paid any attention to them.

“Oh god, Mila,” Bec said, moving a little so they were face to face.

“I think I’m okay,” Mila said. She could move her jaw and talk, that had to mean it wasn’t broken, right?

“Your face is already swelling,” Bec whispered. She moved her eyes to the silent and pale Barb. “This is all your fault.”

James was passed out on the floor, blood seeping from his nose and his breathing labored.

It was obvious he’d never fully recovered from the flu that turned into something more serious that Andrew had told her about.

His fragile body wasn’t able to handle the stress of Dave’s punch.

Barb sat next to him, looking shell-shocked.

She shook her head at Bec. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I didn’t know. I didn’t know.”

“Bec, that doesn’t help,” Mila said, even though she mostly agreed with her friend. Barb and James weren’t entirely to blame, Brad was guilty too. There were also all the men here ready to causally kill because they wanted money.

A shiny object caught her attention. It was mixed in with the mess of stuff Dave had dumped out of her purse. “Bec, look.”

Bec looked down. Mila could tell the moment Bec spotted the nail clippers. She looked up and around, then started to move as if trying to get closer to Mila.

“It’s going to be okay,” Bec said in a loud whisper. “Please don’t cry.”

Catching up, Mila hunched over and pretended to weep. It wasn’t hard, she was in a lot of pain and scared.

“Got it,” Bec whispered. They were sitting side by side now. “Keep crying, maybe a little louder.”

Mila kept up the sobbing, trying to be loud enough to cover the sound of the nail clippers nibbling through Bec’s zip ties, but not so loud that it would annoy the men and bring them over. Mila could tell when Bec got all the way through because her shoulder jerked.

“I’ll pass them to you,” Bec said.

“I can’t feel my hands,” Mila admitted.

Bec debated, then moved so she was partially behind Mila with their backs to each other. “I know you’re dizzy, lean against me, Mila. It’ll be okay.”

Mila moaned and pretended to slump back against Bec. That put her bound hands against Bec’s free ones.

Bec worked fast and soon Mila felt the zip tie break apart. She winced as blood returned to her hands, making them throb with pain.

Bec didn’t need to tell her not to move and pretend her hands were still bound. They had a slight advantage now. It wasn’t much, but better than being completely helpless. She looked around the hangar for inspiration on what to do, but saw nothing but heavily armed men everywhere.

“Do you think Gio will show up alone?” Bec asked.

“No,” Mila said. “The line about Carter running off was a lie. Carter wouldn’t do that.”

“So it will be at least him and Carter,” Bec said with a nod. “Not good odds.”

Mila thought about all the people she’d become friends with in a short time. “I don’t think it’ll be only them.”

“Unless he brings an army, it won’t matter much," Bec grumbled.

Mila would’ve grinned if her face didn’t hurt so much. “They might have an army. But it’s not going to be like any you’ve ever seen before.”

“What?”

“Dave and those others are crazy,” Mila said. “But not for the reasons you think. Gio is a vampire. Carter is a wolf shifter. They have friends that are vampires, chimera shifters, and bear shifters. That’s all true.”

Bec looked at her with pity. “He hit you really hard. I think you might have a concussion.”

“You don’t need to believe me, but when you start seeing weird stuff, don’t get scared. They’re here to save us,” Mila told her. “The thing we need to figure out is how to help our rescuers.”

Bec nodded her head at a table loaded down with random items. “I might have an idea, but it’s going to be risky.”

Mila rolled her eyes. “Really? We’ve been kidnapped and threatened with all kinds of bodily harm, and you're worried about a risky plan?”

Bec stifled a laugh. “Right, sorry. I’m familiar with the cautious, sane Mila. Not this woman who’s ready to take on a bunch of crazies with only me at her back.”

“Get used to the new me,” Mila said, fighting back her fear. “I have no intention of going back!”