Page 70 of Wind with a Chance of Wolfsbane

“I know, but it sounded cooler than volunteering for the night,” she replied flippantly.

“Yes, but what am I supposed to tell them when they ask how my date went?” I asked.

She smiled wider and tugged at her damp shirt. “Tell them it involved you getting chained up, and that made you wet.”

I shook my head. “No way. Emily will demand the dirty details, and I’ll be left trying to invent some guy who never existed. Plus, I’m guessing Stevie will see right through the lie. I swear that girl doesn’t miss much.”

Mina snorted. “I know, right? It’s like her last name being Holmes was taken to heart.”

Confused, I tilted my head slightly. “What do you mean?”

“Holmes,” she stressed, her expression strained as if I should know what she meant. “Sherlock.”

It hit me then, and a laugh bubbled up from me. “Never thought of that, but you’re right.”

Mina laughed but then stopped quickly, her gaze darting to the mouth of the cave. She tipped her head slightly as if to hear better.

I touched her arm. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” she confessed. “Do you hear anything weird?”

I concentrated, hoping my wolf side might lend a hand with my hearing. My wolf was apparently as miffed as I was about not getting coffee because it was of no help. “I hear the waterfall and something scurrying over the floor in here. Do not tell me what it is. I don’t want to know.”

“Nothing else?” she asked as she continued to stare at the entrance of the cave.

I tried again but couldn’t pick up anything alarming. “Nothing. Want to tell me what vibe you’re getting?”

She swallowed hard. “I have a really strong urge to get back to campus.”

“Is this a slayer thing?” I asked. “I don’t hear anything amiss and I’m not sensing anything.”

Just then, an ominous feeling blossomed in my gut.

Mina’s shoulders stiffened as her gaze whipped back to the entrance of the cave.

“Go,” I said.

“No. I need to help you get chained first,” she stressed.

I shook my head. “Go. I’ll handle it. I’ll secure myself as much as I can. You go check on things, and I’ll be here when you get back.”

She bit at her inner cheek.

I hurried to the wall and yanked my outer shirt off, tossing it aside, already knowing there was a chance I’d lose control tonight. I removed my shoes and pants next, leaving me in a bra and panties.

It was sad how many sets of undergarments I now went through every month. I grabbed for the iron collar that was hanging from one of the secured chains. I popped the pin out, opened it, and put it around my neck before closing it and putting the lock pin back in place. It would hold me if I shifted fully, and since I didn’t have fingers in wolf form, there was no chance I could get the pin out myself.

I nodded at the shackles for my wrists and then at my sister. “Hurry up. Shackle me so you don’t worry about me.”

She grabbed the chains and went to work securing my wrists. When she was done, she went to grab another chain but stopped. “Willa, something is happening out there.”

“Go,” I said.

“I’m not done securing you,” she returned.

“Go! I’m fine.”

She started for the cave’s entrance but stopped and glanced over her shoulder at me. “You sure you’re okay here?”

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