Page 105 of Silver Secrets

“Gage?” She croaked out his name. “Hey, Superman… Can you hear me? You have to wake u-up. You have to c-come back to me.” The words burned in her throat.

She couldn’t make out the rise and fall of his chest, but if she listened closely, and held her breath, she could hear the gentle in and out of his rhythmic breathing. Her eyes slipped closed, and her head flopped forward to rest on her arms. She was dizzy, and exhausted, and her toes and fingers were already going numb. Nothing about her mind was right. Every thought was a million miles away, and reaching for one felt like running through a field of fog.

How the hell was she going to get them out of there?

A whimper pulled her out of her spiraling thoughts. Oh god, Gage was finally coming around. Tears stung the raw skin on her face.

“Sloane…” he groaned as she tried to cover herself. There was a chance he might not be able to see her with how dark everything was, but she still wanted to cover up the evidence of what had already happened to her.

“I’m here. I’m here, Gage. It’s g-going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.” Her damn teeth chattered and she hated that even if he couldn’t see her, he’d be able to hear that in her voice.

She listened as he started moving around. And then she heard it. His leg pulled on the chain that was holding him in place. He was shackled just like she was.

“Am I blind or are we just someplace really dark?” he asked.

“I couldn’t really see anything either, at first.”

She watched him, the room no longer spinning, as he pushed himself to a seated position. The way his breathing turned sharp scared her.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“My head,” he groaned. “I’ll be fine.” She knew he meant for it to sound reassuring, but his pain bled into his words. “Are you…tied up?”

“I have something metal like a shackle around my ankle,” she admitted. “T-There’s nothing within my reach to use as a tool. I can’t get it off my leg.”

“Shit. Me too. Okay. God, my fucking head is pounding. I hate that I can’t see a goddamn thing.”

“Give it some time. I think… whatever I was drugged with is probably in your system too. But my eyes adjusted, and so will yours.”

She reached her hand out towards him.

“Can you come over here? I think we might be close enough that we could touch our hands together.”

“Fuck, my body feels like it went ten rounds with Hawk when he’s in a mood. Did you see what happened?”

“I don’t think so. The last thing I can remember is being in the truck with you and Nash, on our way to the shelter.” She hated the way her voice shook. She needed to bury all her emotions except rage. Rage that she was back in the same situation. Rage that he’d taken Gage and was subjecting him to the same torture. She needed to remember that she trained for years, knowing it might happen. All the things that Kimi taught her in the weeks and months following her escape, all the things Gage and Stone and Hawk and Gunner and Nash had practiced with her, she could use to protect herself. Maybe even get both of them out. She had to believe that there was no way he was going to win this time.

“Red?”

“Do you think he hurt Courtney and Nash?”

“I don’t know. I don’t really remember what was going on.”

Maybe it wasn’t just the drugs. Gage’s injuries could be more severe than what she was thinking. “I’m worried about you. Can you tell me what hurts?”

“Everything.” He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “But mostly my head.”

She hissed. “Can you try and come over here, please? Maybe if we’re closer together I can see enough to check you out. If you have a concussion, it’s going to slow us down.”

“I’m fine. I need to know some things, though, and I need you to be completely honest with me.”

“Okay.”

“Did he touch you?”

She paused, not wanting to pay too close of attention to how her body felt. “I-I don’t remember anything.”

“Does it feel… I mean, can you feel anything…”

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