I'd never heard him so unsure of himself.
"Not your fault," Milo rasped out. He rolled onto his back, then sat up. His face was still red and he looked like he wanted to vomit. "I know you won't tell them anything. You can't."
"He'll kill you."
"Maybe." Something sad passed across Milo's face. Sad and determined. "But the future of your people is more important than me. More important than any of us."
Marcus's hands clenched into fists. He looked like he wanted to disagree. He didn't, though, because Milo was right.
"Can you tell how many Felia are in the building?" Baylor asked. Leave it to Cerberus to get us back on point.
"I can detect three distinct scents, including Vale and Peck." Peck must equal Goon. "Both have been in contact with Truman recently too, because I caught his scent on them."
Which really meant nothing—they could have killed Wyatt as easily as locked him up somewhere in the building.
"Anything useful about our location?" Baylor asked.
"Not much," Marcus said. "No traffic sounds, so we aren't near a highway. There are odors of rot and disuse, but nothing distinctive."
"This is some kind of lockup area," I said. "Wyatt and I were held here once before."
"You were?"
I explained it for Marcus's benefit, as much as Milo and Baylor, who had some idea of this part of my past. I'd been on the run from the Triads at the time, during what seemed like a different life altogether. "Are there any old jails or precincts that this could be?" I asked Baylor.
"Several, actually," he replied. "Depends on what part of town we're in. I'm surprised you never went looking for this place."
"It never seemed important, what with everything else going on." Vale's earlier animosity toward Marcus came back. "Marcus, why does Vale hate you so much? It seemed more personal than Riley."
Marcus growled, low and deep. "It is personal. Prentiss? The Bengal who kidnapped Keenan?"
"And was executed by the Assembly. Yeah, I remember him."
"Prentiss was Vale's brother."
Fantastic. A whole family full of crazy, treasonous tigers.
"So this is revenge?" Baylor asked.
"In all likelihood. Vale's personal revenge is tangled up with his fanatical need to unseat my family from our position of power within the Pride."
"That's comforting." Even Baylor could be sarcastic once in a while.
"Sooner or later, our absences will be noticed. Our friends will search for us."
"Who else knew about the message under the bridge?" I asked.
"Gina and Astrid knew," Baylor replied. "But Vale isn't completely stupid. He won't leave any clues behind, and scents are difficult to detect there with the river and highway so close."
"But they'll start looking."
"For five people in a city of half a million?"
I didn't answer. I had to stay optimistic about our chances of escaping alive, and Marcus beating down each argument wasn't going to help. Let him be Mr. Negativity. I had to find Wyatt and make sure he was okay. I had to know what Vale did with the elf scroll and the medicine pouch. Most importantly, I had to get that cure to the vampires as soon as possible. None of that could be accomplished while dead.
Somehow we all had to stay alive.
#
With no way to measure the passage of time, I could only guess at how many hours I stood at the end of my taut chain while Milo was tortured. I couldn't do anything but remain present—checking out or turning away felt like abandoning him. I wouldn't do it. Baylor and Marcus didn't either, even though the silver collar around his neck was making Marcus feverish and unsteady.
The first time Vale and Peck came back, they cuffed Milo's hands behind his back and then choked him unconscious. Before they left, Vale asked Marcus for the security codes. Marcus told him to fuck off. Not long after Milo woke up, they were back with a wooden cane.
Each sharp thwack of the wood against the backs of Milo's legs echoed in my brain like shrill whistles—harsh and painful. Stretched by his neck onto his tiptoes, Milo
"Not your fault," Milo rasped out. He rolled onto his back, then sat up. His face was still red and he looked like he wanted to vomit. "I know you won't tell them anything. You can't."
"He'll kill you."
"Maybe." Something sad passed across Milo's face. Sad and determined. "But the future of your people is more important than me. More important than any of us."
Marcus's hands clenched into fists. He looked like he wanted to disagree. He didn't, though, because Milo was right.
"Can you tell how many Felia are in the building?" Baylor asked. Leave it to Cerberus to get us back on point.
"I can detect three distinct scents, including Vale and Peck." Peck must equal Goon. "Both have been in contact with Truman recently too, because I caught his scent on them."
Which really meant nothing—they could have killed Wyatt as easily as locked him up somewhere in the building.
"Anything useful about our location?" Baylor asked.
"Not much," Marcus said. "No traffic sounds, so we aren't near a highway. There are odors of rot and disuse, but nothing distinctive."
"This is some kind of lockup area," I said. "Wyatt and I were held here once before."
"You were?"
I explained it for Marcus's benefit, as much as Milo and Baylor, who had some idea of this part of my past. I'd been on the run from the Triads at the time, during what seemed like a different life altogether. "Are there any old jails or precincts that this could be?" I asked Baylor.
"Several, actually," he replied. "Depends on what part of town we're in. I'm surprised you never went looking for this place."
"It never seemed important, what with everything else going on." Vale's earlier animosity toward Marcus came back. "Marcus, why does Vale hate you so much? It seemed more personal than Riley."
Marcus growled, low and deep. "It is personal. Prentiss? The Bengal who kidnapped Keenan?"
"And was executed by the Assembly. Yeah, I remember him."
"Prentiss was Vale's brother."
Fantastic. A whole family full of crazy, treasonous tigers.
"So this is revenge?" Baylor asked.
"In all likelihood. Vale's personal revenge is tangled up with his fanatical need to unseat my family from our position of power within the Pride."
"That's comforting." Even Baylor could be sarcastic once in a while.
"Sooner or later, our absences will be noticed. Our friends will search for us."
"Who else knew about the message under the bridge?" I asked.
"Gina and Astrid knew," Baylor replied. "But Vale isn't completely stupid. He won't leave any clues behind, and scents are difficult to detect there with the river and highway so close."
"But they'll start looking."
"For five people in a city of half a million?"
I didn't answer. I had to stay optimistic about our chances of escaping alive, and Marcus beating down each argument wasn't going to help. Let him be Mr. Negativity. I had to find Wyatt and make sure he was okay. I had to know what Vale did with the elf scroll and the medicine pouch. Most importantly, I had to get that cure to the vampires as soon as possible. None of that could be accomplished while dead.
Somehow we all had to stay alive.
#
With no way to measure the passage of time, I could only guess at how many hours I stood at the end of my taut chain while Milo was tortured. I couldn't do anything but remain present—checking out or turning away felt like abandoning him. I wouldn't do it. Baylor and Marcus didn't either, even though the silver collar around his neck was making Marcus feverish and unsteady.
The first time Vale and Peck came back, they cuffed Milo's hands behind his back and then choked him unconscious. Before they left, Vale asked Marcus for the security codes. Marcus told him to fuck off. Not long after Milo woke up, they were back with a wooden cane.
Each sharp thwack of the wood against the backs of Milo's legs echoed in my brain like shrill whistles—harsh and painful. Stretched by his neck onto his tiptoes, Milo
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