Page 46 of Gavin

“What the hell was that?”

“A person wearing a cloak that perfectly mimicked the forest floor,” Ryan said. He gave the tablet to Gavin to rewatch the scene where his mate was taken from him when she came to his rescue. “I’ve never seen anything like it, frankly.”

“It has to be Hawthorne,” Gavin said. He rewound the footage for a third time and watched it in slow motion. “We were told he’s the best shifter hunter in the world. Who else could get through all our security systems and not only abduct Sadie but get her back out of our territory without triggering any other alarms?”

“I’m sorry, Gavin,” Ryan said. “Our team is with Midas trying to figure out how to find her. They’re in the conference room.”

His mom hugged him. “Maybe we should call Aeryn?”

“Why?” his dad asked.

“Well, the vampires have resources we don’t. They might be able to help find Sadie.”

“I’m willing to try anything,” Gavin said. “Call her.”

His mom smiled at him and lifted her phone from her pocket. He and his dad left the family room and headed toward the conference room.

“There you are!” Vaughn said as he came out of the conference room, cheeks flushed and eyes bright. “I’ve got a lead.”

Sadie wokeup with a raging headache, a pain in her neck, and her fingers numb. She couldn’t remember anything for a longmoment as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight that streamed from above somewhere.

Once her eyes adjusted, she saw she was in a room that appeared to be mid-construction and was tied with a rough rope to a support beam in the center. The floor was concrete and covered with debris.

She tilted her head up and could see that the ceiling of the room was missing and letting in the sunlight, and she was able to see another floor above her in what appeared to be some kind of high-rise building. She had no idea where she was though. There weren’t any buildings like this in Whisper Creek.

She didn’t have to think too hard to know who took her: Victor Hawthorne, the shifter hunter.

An image popped into her mind of Gavin lying in blood with a head wound.

Her eyes stung with tears. Was he okay? He was a strong male, surely he’d survived. She concentrated on her wolf for a moment, thinking about how much she cared about Gavin and how happy he made her. He was the most important person in the world to her, and she didn’t want anything to happen to him.

She felt the connection to him and breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. Hopeful that since she was able to feel him still, it meant he was alive.

Testing the rope that bound her wrists, she felt the scratch of the material but couldn’t pull her hands free. As she pulled a little harder on the rope, she heard the sound of men talking and she froze, focusing on listening.

“Absolutely no one touches her,” a male said, his voice ringing with annoyance. “She’s my property until I secure a client for her.”

“If they’re going to kill her anyway, what does it matter if we have a little fun first?” another male asked. There were sounds of others agreeing with him.

Sadie’s skin prickled in wariness. They were talking about hurting her? For fun? What the hell!

Looking around frantically at the debris strewn in the room, she saw pieces of wood, plastic, and cardboard, and piles of bricks.

“I said no,” the first male said. “Anyone touches her, and I’ll have another hide to add to my collection.”

“The payday better be fucking amazing,” another male said.

“Don’t worry about that,” the first one said. “She’s an albino. They’re incredibly rare. Oh, speaking of clients, here’s one calling now. Yes, Mr. Oslow, it’s nice to hear from you. I have the most incredible, rare trophy.”

Sadie listened to who she suspected was Victor telling his client all about her beautiful white coat and how she’d make a stunning addition to his collection. She wanted to scream for help, but she knew if she made any noise, someone could come check on her and then she’d be in even more trouble than she currently was. At least she was alone for the moment.

And she didn’t need to waste a single second of it.

She wiggled the rope down the support beam by pushing down with her hands, and then she angled her legs out and carefully moved a pile of wood. Something dark among the light pieces of wood appeared and she wiggled herself along the steel beam until she could touch it with her shoes. She managed to support herself on her elbows, grasp the dark object between her feet, and bring it to herself by bending her knees. As the object was pulled free, a few pieces of wood cascaded down to the floor and she froze, worried it had made too much noise.

When she didn’t hear footsteps coming her way, she wiggled to a seated position and inspected the dark object. It was a jagged piece of rebar about an inch in diameter and a foot wide. It had been cut haphazardly, leaving it rough on one side.

Would this work? Could she use the jagged side to cut the rope tying her to the beam?

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