Page 86 of Destined for Shadows
Chapter 26
Cori
It was so dark Cori couldn’t see anything around her. How much time had passed since she’d woken, she didn’t know, but it felt like hours. Her head throbbed, and a cut on her knuckles burned. As best as she could tell, she was underground. The floor she sat on was made of dirt, and when she’d scooted as far as the chain around her ankle would let her go, she’d bumped into a cool cement wall. The men who had grabbed her had handcuffed her wrists behind her back as well.
Cori had been terrified when she’d first regained consciousness, but now she was just numb. The cold had seeped into her bones until she couldn’t think about anything except getting warm again—and when Griff might come for her. He had to be the one who’d arranged her abduction after all. It was only a matter of time before the sun dipped low enough on the horizon for him to wake up. He definitely wouldn’t wait to see his prize or start punishing her.
She wished she could see so that she could at least form some kind of plan. It was hard to do much when she didn’t even know where the exit was from the room. Her abductors had been smart enough to empty her pockets, so she didn’t have anything to try picking the locks on her cuffs. It made her crazy to sit there as time ticked by slowly while she could do nothing to save herself. The only advantage Cori had was that she hadn’t been hurt too badly in the crash. Other than a headache, a sore neck, and a few cuts, she was alright. She just had to keep her wits about her and find a way out of this.
The floorboard above her squeaked.
She froze and stared upward, though she couldn’t make out anything. This was the first noise she’d heard since waking up. Hard footsteps against a wooden floor continued, moving to a part of the basement she couldn’t reach. A moment later, a door opened from a high point across the room. Soft light flooded inside, half blinding her. She had to squint her eyes for a moment before she could focus again. Cori could just make out the figure of a large, all too familiar man filling the doorway and a set of stairs leading downward.
Terror filled her, and her mouth went dry. Memories of when Griff had controlled her every movement and beaten her if she dared defy him came to mind. Now she was back in his hands. Cori could take a few wild guesses what he might do as punishment for the trouble she’d caused him. Griff had always sworn he’d make her pay for leaving, and she’d added trying to kill him to his vindictive list. Like a fool, Cori had given him a chance for payback.
He began moving downward in slow, halting steps. The creak of each stair sounded like a death knell. She started to shake despite her resolve to be brave. The cold and the fear were getting to her, and it was all Cori could do to hold still. Griff wanted her to be afraid. She couldn’t give that to him, or he would have truly won. He’d won far too many times already.
“Congratulations,” she said, bitterly. “You got me.”
A match struck and the scent of sulfur filled the room. A moment later, a lamp lit up the grungy basement. Griff carried it over to a small wooden table well out of her reach. It provided just enough light that she could make out his features and the hardness in his eyes.
“You have many powerful friends. It wasn’t easy.”
Cori lifted her chin. “They will find me.”
Griff smiled slowly. “I hope they do. I’ve got plans for them as well.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, stiffening. “What could you possibly do against supernaturals who are a hundred times stronger than you with more powers?”
He crouched a few feet away and stared at her for a long minute before answering. “If they’re so powerful, why haven’t they found me yet?”
She’d wondered that more than once herself. No one should have been so good that Melena and the others couldn’t eventually track them down. She’d known her ex-husband was cunning and dangerous, but not enough to thwart her friends.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to explain how you’ve hidden from us all this time?” she asked. Griff was an egomaniac, so there was a real chance he might tell her just to listen to his own voice.
He chuckled. “I’ve got powerful friends, too.”
“It still doesn’t make sense.” Cori shook her head. “I’ve got a friend who can detect…”
“A sensor?” he questioned, lifting a brow.
“Yeah.”
“With angel blood in her.” He shook his index finger at Cori. “That was the key to how she couldn’t detect me, though I know she tried very hard. Came so close a couple of times I could see her blue eyes.”
Cori stared at him confused. “I don’t understand.”
“I imagine you don’t.”
She took a deep breath. “Then why don’t you explain it to me.”
Griff’s expression turned sour. “How about you explain to me how you got that mating mark? It wasn’t there the last time I came near you, but I could feel it upstairs the moment I woke up.”
Shit. She knew this mood with Griff, and it never went well.
“It was a…” Cori’s mind raced. “An accident. We didn’t mean for it to happen.”
He snarled and pushed closer until their noses were almost touching. “Claiming marks areneveraccidents. I’ve spent these past few years learning a lot about the supernatural world from among the best. The mark only works if both sides accept it.”
