I slammed my foot into his nuts.
He howled, stumbling backward. Before he could get too far away, I wrapped the chain around his neck, pulling it tight.
He gagged, flailing as he tried to swipe at me. I kept the chain taut, darting out of the way of his attacks, which grew weaker the longer we went. In any other circumstance, this might not have worked. But I’d managed to catch him off-guard, putting him on the wrong foot. Eventually, he dropped to his knees, then collapsed to the ground, still breathing but motionless, his eyes closed.
I waited for a moment to make sure it wasn’t a trick. The second I was certain he was truly unconscious, I patted him down, looking for the keys. The instant I found them, I fumbled with them, searching for one that might unlock the collar.
Finally, I found one that worked. I jerked the collar off, sighing with relief as air brushed against my bare neck. Before he could start moving again, I snapped the collar around his neck, grabbed his gun, and ran out of the cage, slamming and locking it shut behind me.
My legs wobbled with relief and disbelief. I’d done it. Giving a shaky smile, I hurried to the steps, then slowed, lookingat the row of cages, already a quarter full. I couldn’t leave the girls down here.
I knew what I was risking, knew that there was a chance I was risking my own freedom. But I couldn’t just let them stay here. Once they found out I had escaped, there was no telling what they would do to the others.
Knowing it was a risk and knowing I had to do it, anyway, I rushed to the nearest cage, fumbling with the keys, hurriedly opening all the doors.
When I had freed all the girls, I motioned for them to follow me upstairs. We hurried through the halls. I kept the gun clutched in my hand, ready to use it if it became necessary.
We didn’t meet anyone as we hurried to the front door. For a wild moment, I thought we might actually get out of this alive. I thought there was a chance I could get to Tannen and tell him what I’d found out, to admit to him how I really felt.
I ushered all the girls out the door, muttering to the first few to gather everyone in the woods when they all got out. I gave them directions to Brixton, just in case.
The final girl ran out. Just as I was about to follow them, footsteps thundered behind us. My stomach lurched as I spun around, just in time for Damien to clamp his hand around my throat and slam me against the wall. His eyes blazed with hatred and anger. I tried and failed to pry his fingers from my throat to no avail, and I could only watch as he kicked the door closed and locked it. He was so furious that he seemed not to care about any of the other girls, at least at the moment.
Clasping me by the throat, he dragged me into what looked like a sitting room. I gaped as his grip constricted my breathing, and I fumbled for the gun, raising it and trying to aim it at him.
“You little snake,” he hissed, jerking the pistol out of my grasp with ease. “You’re lucky I need you right now, because if I didn’t, you’d be dead already.”
He threw me down onto a sofa. Rage and hatred radiated off him in waves as he glowered down at me. He pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his pocket and tossed them to me.
“Put them on,” he ordered, brandishing the gun at me. I obeyed, feeling the cold metal clamp around my wrists.
“The instant that Silver Wolf of yours is dead, I’m going to kill you next,” he hissed. “And I’m going to take my time and really savor the moment.”
I kept my face blank, knowing that if he found out Tannen wasn’t coming, the odds of my getting out of this became slim to none. The longer I got him to wait, the better a chance I had at finding a way out of this. So I kept my mouth shut, sitting on the sofa, waiting for Tannen even though I knew he most likely wouldn’t come.
Damien waited in another seat, gun trained on me. Neither of us spoke. After some time, he got up, beginning to pace. He peered out the window.
“Where the hell is he?” he grumbled to himself.
I couldn’t help it. I started laughing, the sound bouncing through the room, echoing and harmonizing with itself. Damien frowned as he turned from the window to look at me.
“The claiming bond didn’t stick,” I said, still keeping my eyes locked on the gun. “Guess he won’t be coming after all. So you might as well go ahead and kill me now.”
His eyes widened with shock and confusion, then narrowed in disgust. “You’re lying,” he snarled.
I couldn’t stop laughing. He probably thought I’d gone insane, but the whole thing was just so absurd that I couldn’t help it. All his leverage had been thrown out the window. I could tell by the desperation in his eyes.
He jerked back my collar, and his face paled as he saw bare skin.
“I don’t know about you,” I said, “but I’m pretty sure a claiming bond isn’t supposed to look like that.”
His eyes burned as they turned wolf, and his hand lashed out and gripped my neck again. His fingers dug into my throat. Warm trails of blood trickled from where his claws pierced the skin. I kept laughing, even as they turned more into wheezes as his grip on my throat tightened.
“If that’s the case,” he snarled, “then there’s really no reason for me to keep you alive, is there?”
The gun pressed against my temple.
I met his gaze evenly, with no fear or hesitation. “Nope,” I said.