Chapter 561 Chapter 561
Her head was pounding. Had she taken a hit? She didn’t remember fighting. Why did it feel like she was sleeping in a moving car? She never slept in a vehicle, too many things could go wrong if you weren’t alert all the time. Stretching her arm, she froze when it touched cold metal. Opening her eyes, she blinked, it was pitch black. She squeezed them shut again so she could tap into her cat and use her vision in the dark. “What the—” She turned her head to see Griffin beside her, almost on top of her, and he was out cold.
He had fallen on the ground… “Shit.” Someone had gotten the drop on them. Her, mostly her. It was her job to keep him safe, and she’d failed. She reached over and checked his pulse. It was strong enough. “Griffin.” She shook his shoulder, “come on, fight through it.” How did tranqs affect half-breeds? His bear should be burning it off fast like her cat was. She closed her eyes to check on her animal. Oh yeah, she was there and very much looking forward to finding the soon-to-be-dead person that had tranq’d her. Blaise checked and confirmed that her guns and knives were gone. “Shit.”
“Blaise? She should be awake by now.”
They hadn’t taken her comm. Probably thought they were just out for a stroll. Alliance teams were always on guard. Pushing the comm, she swallowed the bile down, “I’m here.”
“Took you long enough.” It was Tripp Carson. “We’re following the tracks.”
We? “The prince?”
“Is back at the hotel with Blair and two others.”
“Kay.” Her mouth was so dry.
Griffin jolted awake and tried to sit up. Whatever they had them in wasn’t big enough for much movement. He dropped back down and held his hand over his forehead. “Where are we?” He groaned.
“Metal can.” She had no answers for him other than that.
“We’re moving.”
“Tripp is tracking us.”
“Good. Tell him to hurry. As soon as I don’t want to puke, I’m going to freak out. I don’t do small, dark spaces.”
“Talk to your bear, Griffin. Shifting could crush Blaise.”
He lowered his hand, “how do I—” he pointed to his ear.
“They can hear you through mine because we’re mushed in here so close.”
“I don’t know how to talk to my bear, Noah, or I’d already have communicated we need to get out of here.”
“Just breathe through any thought of rage,” Noah advised.
“Yeah,” Griffin didn’t sound pleased, “I’ll work on that.”
“We’ve stopped.” Blaise put her hand against the metal to check for vibrations. There weren’t any.
“We’re still miles behind you. It took us a few to scramble to come after you.”
Blaise grimaced at that news, “move fast if they—”
“Shh, I’m trying to hear.”
She looked at Griffin, “shifter hearing is good, but—”
“I know. I’ve always had it.” Was his response.
Blaise closed her eyes and held her breath, trying to see if she could hear anything. She couldn’t. “I don’t—”
“Tripp, can you hear me?” Griffin glared at her as he spoke.
“Uh, yeah.”
“Okay.” He turned his head, “so she can as well.”
Someone chuckled into the comms.
“There’s nothing to hear.” She seriously doubted he could hear something if she couldn’t. All she could hear was their breathing.
“As much as I love your voice, you need to refrain from using it for a moment. They’re talking about whether to leave us until the others arrive or let us out, and I’d like to know the outcome of the discussion.”
Blaise frowned and looked at him. Did all bear clans have hearing like this? Who did she know that was one? She had questions.
“Best refrain, Blaise.” Tripp sounded too amused. Being mated had given him a sick sense of humor or something.
“They’re leaving us in here.” Griffin’s voice was much deeper than it had been. “How much room do you have?”
“Uh,” she attempted to turn and couldn’t, “I’m almost curled into a ball.”
“Make yourself as compact as possible. I am not staying in this.” There was a low growl in his voice.
She pulled her legs up and watched him run his hands along the corner of the box. Shifting he pulled off his boot and then awkwardly reached the other and took it off too. With each movement, she felt like she was pinned against the cold surface.
“Griffin…”
“I have to get out of here.” He growled. “I can’t deal with small spaces. Darkness closes in on me and then the memories swamp me. And every time I breathe you in, I want to slay dragons and kill something.”
Blaise was stunned, she had no words. It may have been the nicest and most bizarre thing anyone had said to her.
“Would you slay dragons for me?” A female’s voice came through the comms.
“Unicorns too, babe, but focus on driving, we need to get there, or we’ll miss the bloody parts,” Tripp answered. The woman had to be Amari.
Griffin’s breathing became louder and then she heard the metal creaking against the pressure from his legs.
She pressed her back into the metal, giving him more room to move. She wasn’t sure if he was able to do it. Her cat sure as hell couldn’t get them out of this, but from the sounds of the box, his bear was determined.
“I can hear what he’s doing to the metal from here. Go team bear.” Tripp said, “give it all you’ve got before they hear you.”
A low growl came from Griffin, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand up. A shiver went through her and Blaise realized it was her cat responding to his bear. How messed up was her world?