Page 4 of Out of the Darkness

She heard a door open, then she was deposited none too gently onto a cold tile floor. The blindfold and gag were removed and she blinked rapidly, attempting to adjust her gaze to the brilliance of the lights. She squinted, lifting her hand to shield her eyes, only one thing on her mind at the moment.

“I have to pee.”

Strong hands circled her upper arms and directed her to a closed door across the room. “There.”

Disoriented, she worked her way toward the door. After blissfully relieving herself, she surveyed her surroundings, searching for an escape route.

Nothing. Not even a damn window in here. Were they in the basement? The elevator had risen, not descended, or at least she thought so. By the time they’d gotten on it her legs were shaking and her mind was occupied with emptying her bladder. She was way beyond the ground floor so no hope for escape from this room. She glared at herself in the mirror above the sink, forcing her brain to work. She was a government trained employee for God’s sake…she had a decent working mind and had taken all the terrorism and capture classes. She’d even paid attention, though she doubted at the time she’d ever have to utilize the skills taught her. Surely she could figure a way out of here.

Dropping the lid down over the toilet, she sat and contemplated, racking her brain trying to remember everything she could from the brief glimpse she’d been given into the building she now occupied. The bathroom was across the hall from two huge double doors that led to…where? If she could slip out of here and make a mad dash for the door, maybe she could get lost and make her escape.

The element of surprise always worked in the movies and had been a critical part of her training. She’d wager they wouldn’t expect her to run. Her best advantage right now was hoping they had underestimated her diminutive size, because she was a long-distance runner and could outpace just about anyone once she got going. If only she had clothes and shoes. Running barefoot and naked with only a blanket for clothing hindered her more than she cared to admit. But hell, she’d run into the nearest convenience store or pound on the nearest residence buck naked if it brought the police.

Ear pressed against the door, she listened for sounds of movements outside. Nothing. Squinting, she carefully turned the knob and pulled the door open an inch, quickly scanning the hall. No one stood between her and the front door. This was her chance. She tucked the blanket edges between her breasts, lifted it off the floor and tiptoed onto the tile, sucking in a deep breath.

She’d reached the handle and began to turn it when strong fingers clamped down around her wrist. Her gaze shot up to a pair of deep brown eyes as a man with salt-and-pepper hair shook his head.

“I don’t think so,” he said in slow, clipped tones, jerking her hand away from the handle and pulling her against his chest.

Goddamit! Her one and only chance to escape and she’d missed it. She blinked away the tears threatening to fall, refusing to show these people any weakness they could use against her.

They entered a room on the other side of the hall. Another man was in there. Broad, with brown hair and intense turquoise eyes that caught and held her gaze.

The one holding her nudged her toward the center of the room. She stumbled against the tail of the blanket but quickly caught her balance.

Okay, time to start figuring out how she’d get out of here. Deciding to encourage them to let down their guard, she moved to the fireplace and tried to calm the tension in her body enough that she wouldn’t look like she was poised for flight. Let them think she was resigned to her predicament. As soon as they relaxed a bit, she’d get the hell out of here.

Wherever “here” was.

“What is this place?”

“You’re at the Dark Moon headquarters.”

“And what’s that?” She’d never heard of it.

“It’s the joint venture for the integration of vampire and werewolf nations.”

Holy shit! Smack dab in the middle of enemy territory! And why the hell were they revealing their corporation name to her? Or their faces? Didn’t they know who she worked for? Confusion made her frown. Why tell her this, unless they planned to kill her now?

“Okay, none of this makes any sense. You wake me up, blindfold me, kidnap me then bring me here and tell me where I am? You’re either the worst kidnappers in the world or you’re going to kill me. And if you’re going to kill me, why the hell didn’t you do it at my house?”

“We’re not going to kill you,” the lean one said, looking at her as if she were an idiot. “And we blindfolded you to disorient you, to make it easier to subdue you.”

“Not that you made it easy. And that’s all you get to know right now,” the other one said.

Some of that actually made sense. Not all of it, but some of it.

Harlee surveyed the area she could see, still confused but rather excited to be given an inside view of the vampire/lycan headquarters. The government had been after the whereabouts of these creatures for as long as she’d been working for them. The vampires and lycans were still a mystery to humans. A very dangerous mystery that her government intended to uncover, then eliminate. The stories she’d heard of the atrocities committed by these creatures made the hair on the nape of her neck prickle. Did she have anything to fear from them? Would they do to her what she’d heard they did to their captives?

Casting a wary eye around her, she became more determined than ever to find a way of escape. Though the man indicated they were in an office environment, this place looked like a home. The foyer was huge, the walls decorated with dark paneling, reflecting lights that were only marginally lit throughout the room. Expensive marble flooring decorated the foyer, leading her to believe that whoever lived in this house of horrors had some serious money. The whole place was huge if this library-sized room was any indication.

Heavy double doors led outside, but they were now guarded by two men who hadn’t been present earlier. And if she thought the two in the room with her were imposing, they had nothing on the gargoyles dressed in dark camouflage guarding the doorway to her freedom.

“Who are you and why am I here?” she asked. Answers might help just a little.

“I’m Duncan,” the broad one with the dark hair and blue eyes said, then added, inclining his head toward the older one, “He is Adrian.”

“And?”

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