Page 50 of Steve's Barmaid
“You start ahead of us because it is your space. We follow behind. It will create a dense, sweet-smelling smoke. Start with the attic, and we will follow and start on the main floor. Take the smoke into each corner of the room.” He pushed the small of my back toward the door.
Joey and I looked at each other uncertainly but stepped inside. Joey took the fire starter and struck the flint, creating a spark. It lit the dried herbs immediately. Joey tucked the fire starter away, and we headed upstairs together, holding the torch. As the herbs continued to burn, a thick smoke emanated from the torch. It smelled sickly sweet, like rotten fruit. We took the torch from corner to corner in the attic until the whole room was filled with hazy smoke.
As we breathed in the smell, I started to feel a bit lightheaded. I hadn’t thought to ask if the smoke was safe for humans. Starting to get nervous, I looked at Joey just in time to see her eyes roll back in her head and her whole body start to sag, only being held up by the arm linked with mine.
“Joey?” I cried, dropping the torch to catch her as she fell to the floor. It went out almost immediately.
I was on my knees, holding her crumpled body. I checked to see if she was still breathing and was going to cry out for help when my vision narrowed to pinpoints, then went out entirely.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
BILLIE
Iwas dreaming that Steve was carrying me back to my room. His strong arms held me up as we walked, and I nestled into his chest. Only his chest didn’t smell like him at all. It smelled of some other man’s musk. I tried to cry out in my dream but couldn’t make any noise. I couldn’t lift my arms or legs. Was this what sleep paralysis felt like,or was this part of the dream? My brain was too foggy to answer this question, and I drifted back into darkness. I was at the mercy of whoever was carrying me.
It felt as if no time had passed when I groggily opened my eyes. My whole body felt stiff and sore. I couldn’t see anything around me. I blinked again, trying to get my eyes to adjust to the low light.
I was on my side on an earthen floor with Joey knocked out next to me. I moved slightly, trying to look around. We were in a cave, and a small fire was lit at the entrance, with Tyr and Berit sitting there. What in the actual fuck?
I shifted quietly and nudged Joey’s shoulder. Tyr and Berit weren’t looking at us but out looking out the cave opening, whispering. I shook Joey harder, and she finally opened her eyes. She blinked rapidly and assessed the situation much quicker than I had.
“I knew those bastards were up to something,” she whispered, squinting at Tyr and Berit.
“Well then, why the fuck didn’t you say anything to me?” I whispered back.
“I didn’t want you to think I disliked your man’s friends. But whatever. They hadn’t thought through their kidnapping plan very carefully. You’ll notice that neither of us is tied up?” She nodded to my wrists, which weren’t bound.
I hadn’t thought of that. Neither of us was restrained in any way. Did they expect us to wake up and go along with their half-cocked plan, whatever it was? I was in Joey’s hands. She would be in charge of whatever we did in this situation. She had military training. She squinted at the two orcs.
“I surprise one, no problem. The question is whether or not we can get the second one down once he realizes what’s going on. Do you have anything we could tie him with?” she asked.
As if I had methods of restraining giant orcs on my person. “Uh, no, do you?”
Tyr shifted and looked back at us. We instantly went motionless, eyes closed, and stayed that way until we heard Tyr and Berit pick up their conversation again.
I opened my eyes to find Joey unlacing her boots very quietly.Why are we taking our shoes off at a time like this?Had Joey completely lost her mind?
She pulled up her laces and showed them to me.Oh, okay, restraints, got it. Check.
I quietly held my knees to my chest, keeping my eyes on Tyr and Berit while I pulled the laces out of my boots.
I had never even punched a person before. There was no way I could restrain a nearly seven-foot orc. But Joey had already silently rolled into a crouched cat-like position. She jerked her head toward Tyr and then tapped her chest. Okay, she was on Tyr, and I was on Berit. She stalked up behind them with graceful, silent movements, and I followed behind, trying to tell myself we could pull this off. As she got up to Tyr and Berit, she stood, swung around, and did a full roundhouse kick to Tyr’s chest, knocking him to the ground, then tying his wrists and ankles before he was even aware of what had happened.
I gaped at her, shoelaces in hand. Berit was also entirely surprised and hadn’t jumped into action yet. Joey didn’t pause. She descended on Berit, hands outstretched to detain him. Berit hesitated momentarily before going to his side, where he must have had a weapon. I finally got over my shock and jumped into action. As Joey went after his arms, I went for his hair. In a frantic tussle, we were shockingly able to get Berit to the ground. Joey was tying his arms behind his back with shoelaces, and I still had a firm grip on his hair.
“What can I do?” I asked.
“Gimme your laces. I want to make sure his hands are firmly bound.” Joey didn’t even look up from the knots she was tying. I handed her my laces, and she added them to the bindings already around Berit’s wrists. Berit seemed to be in shock.
“But you’re so… tiny.” He looked from my face to Joey’s.
“Yeah, in all those times we worked at the bar together, you never asked me what I didbeforeI was abducted.I was a soldier. That right there was just basic training. You two are fucking idiots.” She kicked him in the shin to add insult to injury.
I wasn’t sure if Joey was mad about having to take out giant orcs or being underestimated. Probably both.
“Well, what are you going to do with us?” Berit asked, unable to contain his fear.
“I don’t know. It depends on what you planned on doing with us!” I did not want to be the recipient of Joey’s look at Berit and Tyr as they sat utterly bound.
