"He'll rip her spine out," Caroline said before Lisa could, her voice close to a growl. "He dislikes traitors."
"And you working to frame Caroline could be constituted as betrayal," I said as if just realizing the truth.
"That's not what happened," Lisa said.
"I don't think Brax is going to believe that. Do you, Caroline?" I said.
The amused noise Caroline made sounded odd coming from a throat half transformed to that of a wolf. It was a thing out of nightmares, your darkest fears given voice. "Not a chance in hell."
"Ah, well, it's been nice knowing you," I told Lisa with fake sympathy.
"There's no way he's going to find out," Lisa said, her voice defensive. I kept my inner smile to myself, seeing the chink in her walls.
"Isn't he, though?" I asked. "He's a very bright man. I'm sure your photo on Theo's descendant wall is going to be a very big clue, and when Nathan wakes up to identify Theo as his attacker, that'll be another glaring arrow pointing right at you."
"Your enforcer friend is dead," she snarled.
I kept my worry to myself, not letting her see how her words affected me. I prayed he survived. As many personal issues as I had with the vampires, I wouldn't wish most of them harm. Nathan, especially. He'd grown on me over the past few days—kind of like fungus.
"Are you sure?" I asked, sowing the seeds of doubt. "Do you really think your human could kill a vampire? We're pretty hardy, you know. Hell, I've survived a hole in the stomach and kept going, and he's way older than me. It'd take a lot to put him down."
Her mouth tightened, letting me know I'd scored. Good. Let her think on that. I wasn't bluffing either. I had no idea how much a vampire of Nathan's age could take, but I was banking that Theo's little magic charm didn't have enough juice to kill him.
Before she could respond, Theo appeared behind her. "What are you doing here?"
She whirled. "You! What is this?"
She waved at Caroline and me. Theo's face tightened as his eyes went to the two of us. He strode in, grabbing his sister's arm and yanking her out.
"We talked about this. You're supposed to keep your distance and let me know if the wolves make any suspicious moves."
"That was before you kidnapped the vampire's bitch. They're involved now and Brax is beginning to ask questions." She lowered her voice. "Dangerous questions."
"I don't care," Theo snapped, sounding nothing like the well-mannered man I'd met in the mansion. "He's your problem. Your presence here could jeopardize everything. Go home."
She yanked out of his grip and spun on him, the skin on her face rippling as if the beast inside was fighting to get free. "We're not done talking about this."
He made a frustrated sound. "Fine, but not here."
She jerked her shoulder and preceded him out of the shack. Theo paused before following her, his face turning slightly towards me. "I'll deal with you later."
I bared my fangs at him. "I look forward to it."
He made a derisive sound of amusement, walking over to the wall where there was a switch. He gave me a smile before flipping it. I jerked and screamed as pain darted down my arms, my feet dancing across the bare dirt in a painful arc.
Caroline shouted at him to stop, throwing herself against her cage again and again.
He watched us with a nasty little smile before he flipped the switch again. My unwilling jerking came to a stop, and I stilled, an agonized moan escaping me.
"Next time you back-talk, I'll leave this on while I attend to my business," he told me.
I didn't have time to answer, my breathing painful as I struggled to gain my strength back. He sauntered to the door, pulling it shut behind him. My ears picked up the faint rattling of the chain as he locked the padlock.
"Aileen, are you okay? Aileen?" Caroline's voice rose in panic as I failed to answer.
I managed to say, "I'm fine." My head sagged forward. What was that? Electricity? Whatever it was had made itself felt. My nerves still fired with remembered pain.
"You're not fine," she snapped.
"I'm close enough," I told her, forcing my head back up. She needed me to be strong. I could at least pretend at it to keep her calm.
She sat back and let out a breath of relief, my response having convinced her I wasn't about to kick the bucket right then and there. "We need to get out of here."
"I know. I'm working on it," I assured her.
"No, you don't." She looked at me directly, desperation on her face. The wolf so close to the surface that it felt like there were two beings present in one body. To my other sight, I saw the burnt umber and black that I associated with the wolf flickering around her body like a halo. "Tonight's the full moon. If we're not out of here by then, I won't be able to control myself during the change."
I stilled, memories of the last time her wolf had attacked me rising in my mind. Fear coated my tongue and it took effort to control my breathing. If it was that close to a full moon, she didn't need my panic contributing to her lack of control.
"We're going to get out of here," I promised. Hopefully, before her wolf ate me.
"I hope you're right," she said, leaning her head against her drawn up knees. "Otherwise, I very much fear you're going to have to kill me."
I felt an instant denial form—one that originated from the very core of who I was. In no realm or timeline, not even a parallel one with an evil version of myself, would I ever consider such an act. "That's not happening."
"It will if you have even an ounce of caring left for me," she said. "If I turn, I won't be me. I'll be a monster intent on your flesh. If that's the case, the kindest thing you can do for me is put me out of my misery."
"It's not going to come to that," I said. "We're going to get out of here."
She didn't respond, her silence letting me know just how hopeless she felt.
We were each quiet, consumed by our thoughts as the day deepened and the morning wore on. I fought sleep with every ounce of my being, drawing on the strength of Liam and Thomas’s blood to stay awake. Knowing what tonight might bring, I didn't want to chance falling unconscious, knowing the next time I woke might be to the jaws of Caroline's wolf ripping out my throat. So good to know my fate once again would be decided based on my susceptibility to the sun.
Before long, the shack door opened to reveal Theo. He strolled inside, his face fixed in that affable geniality that had fooled me before. He didn't look like a murderer or a back-stabbing bastard. He appeared to be a regular guy—perhaps a little bland-looking and definitely too nice for his own good. Too bad this nice guy happened to have kidnapped two women and was planning their grisly deaths.
"Have to tell you, I expected you to be out for the day already," Theo said, coming to a stop in front of me. "I'll talk to that charm-maker. She promised that it would keep a vampire of your strength out for an extended period."