THUNK.
Janet"s eyes fluttered open, only to close again. Was someone here? No... she"d dropped her shoe.
Her weapon.
She struggled to wake up as the realization sunk in: they must have drugged the water too. She felt as if she were moving through mola.s.ses as she reached for her stiletto heel. She nearly tipped over but after three tries she had it firmly gripped in her palm.
There was something happening out side the dark room, the cage that had become her world. Loud voices, a gunshot, screams. Through her haze she merely acknowledged that there was a new development.
She forced her wayward mind to focus briefly. Maybe... maybe she could use the diversion to escape.
The darkest part of her asked where she would go... there wasn"t anyone who wanted her around. Kaylie was a friend but she still lived at home. Janet tried to think of a place to run to. The only place she could think of was the clubhouse.
That"s where Jack would be. Maybe he would know a place. If he could pull himself off of the sleazy blond he"d been with.
The fury that thought engendered snapped her out of her stupor. She still felt slow, she still felt weak, but she was fighting it.
And she was winning.
Jack stared into the terrified eyes of the woman at the front desk. She looked like an aging stripper. He didn"t respond to her chirpy greeting and offer for him to peruse the menu of options. He simply said one word. Well, two.
"redhead."
The woman blanched and reached for a hidden b.u.t.ton. Jack was on her in a second, lifting her in the air by her neck. He"d never hurt a woman, but right now he wanted to tear this b.i.t.c.h"s head off.
"WHERE. IS. THE. REDHEAD.".
The woman"s eyes darted to the hallway behind him. He lowered her and released her throat just enough to allow her to gasp in some air.
"She"s- in- the- back. Down the stairs and to the left."
He cursed. The bas.e.m.e.nt. It sounded like a death trap. Once he got her, how the h.e.l.l was he supposed to get her back out?
"What you need bro?"
He turned to see Dev and eight of the Sp.a.w.n"s behind him. He almost smiled at them, he was so G.o.d d.a.m.ned relieved to see them.
"They have Janet. She"s in the bas.e.m.e.nt. Make sure everyone stays quiet."
Dev nodded and gestured to Mike, the prospect. He stepped forward and started tying up the hostess. Jack sneered at her as he pa.s.sed. What kind of woman did this to her own kind?
She was a f.u.c.king cannibal.
He stormed down the hallway, leaving it to Dev and the other Sp.a.w.n"s to watch his back. He didn"t care one way or the other. He just had to find her.
He pushed open door after door until he came to the stairwell at the end of the hallway. He couldn"t hold it back any longer. He screamed.
"JANET!!!".
Everybody stopped at the guttural bellow that emanated from his gut. For a long moment everything seemed to be frozen in time while they all waited expectantly to hear her reply. It was completely silent in the low lit hallway.
Until the world exploded.
Vipers seemed to be coming out of the walls. They had guns. They had knives. They had fists.
But they never got the chance to use them.
The Viking was in full effect.
Janet heard the commotion upstairs. She forced herself into a state of readiness. Or almost readiness.
However ready you could be when someone had slipped you a mickey.
She swayed on her haunches, clutching a shoe in each fist. She wasn"t going down without a fight. Her eyes closed sleepily and she forced them open again.
Footsteps. Heavy, loud. Running down the stairs. Toward her.
She lifted her body, ready to spring.
The doork.n.o.b turned without opening. Someone cursed outside the door. Then it was quiet.
"Get back!"
Was someone telling her to get back? She almost giggled. That didn"t make a lot of sense.
BAM.
BAM.
BAM.
The door burst inward with tremendous force, shattering the lock. Splintered wood flew everywhere but Janet didn"t notice. She only knew that they"d come for her. It was time. She leapt onto the intruders back and started slamming her heel into his shoulders.
Except she couldn"t seem to stab him with it. The heels kept sliding off the leather.
The leather jacket.
The motorcycle jacket.
"Jesus woman!"
She slid off him onto rubbery legs. The world started spinning as he turned to look at her. "Janet baby? Are you alright?"
It was Jack.
She wasn"t sure if she was dreaming or not but either way she was extremely glad to see him. She smiled at him wobbly as she slid to the floor.
"Hi Jack."
He cursed and lifted her up.
"Are you on something Jan?"
"Oh yes. Lots of things. Water."
She was babbling as he carried her out of the place. She saw familiar faces in the periphery. There were Sp.a.w.ns everywhere. But none of her attackers. She let her head fall back onto his shoulder.
"Did they hurt you?"
"No. But if they tried I was going to stab them with my shoe."
He glanced down at her, clearly remembering that she"d attacked with the same shoe.
"Yeah, I noticed that."
She giggled at the disgruntled expression on his face.
"I still want to stab them for making me wear this trashy lingerie."
She closed her eyes and dozed off. But not before she caught the startled expression on his face as he finally took in what she was wearing.
9.
Out. They were out. She was okay. h.e.l.l, she was better than okay. They must have given her some sort of happy pill. She sure did look glad to see him though.
He raised an eyebrow as he stared down at her body in that get up.
Trashy maybe. Hot? Definitely.
He realized they had an audience and he hastily tried to cover her up with his jacket. He had to put her down to get it off though. So far, she wasn"t cooperating with his plan.
"Can you stand?"
She opened one eye and looked at him.
"No."
She closed her eye again, snuggling into his chest. Perfect.
Dev came over and slapped his shoulder.
"We better get out of here man. She okay?"
Jack nodded and wondered how the h.e.l.l he was going to get her out of here. Then in a flash of pure brilliance he figured it out.
"Dev, I need the cabin."
Devlin looked surprised but he answered without hesitation.
"No problem, man. It"s yours."
"And your car."
Dev c.o.c.ked an eyebrow and him.
"Can"t ride with her in this state."
Dev grinned and chucked him the keys. Jack managed to catch them without dropping Janet.
"Actually, could you open the door for me? I kind of have my hands full."
He gestured to the pa.s.sed out woman in his arms. Devlin grinned and took the keys back, opening the pa.s.senger side door. Jack carefully placed Janet in the seat and strapped her in.
He turned to see 8 different Sp.a.w.n"s staring at him with identical expressions of shock. He frowned at them fiercely and they all scattered, hoping on their bikes.
But he wasn"t really mad. He was elated.
She was okay.
They hadn"t hurt her.
She was safe.
Devlin smiled and shook his head, climbing onto Jack"s bike.
"Always wanted to ride this thing man. Have fun at the cabin."
Janet"s eyes fluttered open. She was in an unfamiliar place. Not the bas.e.m.e.nt anymore.
Where?
Sunlight came streaming in through a window. She could see tall trees outside and hear the tinkling chorus of song birds.
Birds?