Chapter 48: Escaping
I'd dressed in a soft pair of jeans and flat, leather, thigh-high boots with multiple buckles covering the top of the leather, curving and hugging my calves. The jacket I'd chosen was army green, with soft fur lining that heated against my arms. Tugging the jacket up tighter, I zipped it while walking the perimeter of the courtyard with Phenrys, my unlucky babysitter for the day.
He was silent and vigilant as we moved through the mostly empty yard. I paused, inhaling the crisp air that threatened snow as it stung against my nose and cheeks. "It's cold as shit out here," he grumbled, rubbing his hands together while studying the way I moved. "We're going back inside momentarily because I'm over the cold."
"I need to light the candles inside my mother's crypt. They've been ne- glected, and I'd like to do so before we go back inside."
Phenrys dropped his head, rolling it back to look at me before sliding his gaze to the crypt that sat a few yards away from the newly built ad-on. Nodding, he started toward it as I trailed silently behind him, my heartbeat increasing, which caused him to turn, eyeing me with a suspicious glare.
Stopping at the entrance, he peered inside before stepping back, allowing me to enter as he leaned against the rock doorway. I moved to the large cande. labra with multiple candles in an ancient brass holder. Withdrawing the lighter, I lit the candles as they swayed in the wind that drifted through the tomb.
The wind outside was picking up, and I knew that was a sign that time was dwindling from us. Stepping back, I saw something silver moving through the air, and Phenrys turned, intending to shout a warning. It never came. Toralei smiled as he slumped to the floor, unconscious from the blow to his head.
"About time," she stated, stepping to the wall where my mother's memorial was written on the slate surface. She opened the hidden passage, and I followed her inside, grabbing a torch to light our path.
The passageway led to a small tunnel, big enough for one person to move through easily. Douglas leaned against the end of the tunnel where it split into different directions that led out of the mountain. Not wasting time, knowing Phenrys wouldn't stay down for long, we shuffled toward where Douglas waited. "Hey, beautiful. Finally wanting to escape this place?" Douglas smirked as his eyes slid over my body.
"Yeah, it's time," I answered, watching as his large form struggled to turn around to lead us out of the smaller section. It took a while to travel through the narrow tunnel, and when he turned right toward a light source, I frowned. Ducking into the bigger, wider passageway, I sucked my lip between my teeth, peering around.
This tunnel was a lot larger, with small cages that lined the wall. Silently, I examined them, noting that they looked like holding pens. Had they'd been used to hide the people that were sold? It was plausible. The scent of mold and decaying earth smothered the space, along with a light scent of cayenne paper.
"How often have you used these tunnels, Douglas?" Suspicion was coursing through me because these tunnels looked like they had been used for traf- ficking. "Not for a long while," Looking around the chamber, Douglas shook his head. "The last time I used these tunnels, it was to smuggle goods in for your mom. After she passed, there wasn't much use for them. Had I known they had used them to hold or harm anyone, I would have gotten word to Tora. I promise you that."
Nodding, we walked forward in silence as I continued to take in more evi- dence of my father's crimes. My father had spent so much time at my mother's tomb, and part of me had hoped he was sorry for how he had treated her and that his guilt would somehow change him. But all this time, he was using her grave to hide his crimes and as a place of torture.
Clearing his throat, clearly uncomfortable with what we're seeing, Douglas diverted our attention and changed the subject, quickening his pace away from the chamber. "I was surprised when I got the call from Tora that you wanted to leave. You always struck me as someone who would always stay with the pack, no matter what. Glad to see I was wrong about you, Braelyn." Douglas's soft hazel eyes met mine briefly before he undid the straps on his back and pulled out a large container of cayenne pepper, handing one to me before removing two more from his bag. "Start scattering it so no one can track our scent. There's a shitload of tunnels we're about to go through. If we can buy time, it will help. My guys are at the bottom with the four-wheelers waiting for us, but it will be a few hours before reaching them. We'll be backpacking up through the moun- tains once the trees get too thick to move through with the quads." "How many days in the woods, do you think?" Tora asked, watching me as I fought past the panic consuming me.
"Three, but I brought an extra tent for you to share. We won't be making fires, but I grabbed extra equipment for you to use. Your bags are already hooked to the quads, and we should make it through the worst patches before the snow hits tonight. My guys are waiting over the border to take you the rest of the way north."
"Thank you," I muttered, fighting the panic attack at the thought of leaving the pack behind.
"Just breathe, Braelyn. You're going to be okay," he said comfortingly. watching the way my features pinched. "You don't deserve what is happening to you. I know that, and you don't have anything to worry about from my people. I've known you my entire life, and what they're saying tells me they don't know you at all. They assumed you helped your father, but those close to you know you hated him as much as the pack did."
We walked past a fork in the tunnel, entering another large chamber of dark mouths that led to different exits. Douglas paused, sprinkling the pepper over where we'd walked. He turned once he'd finished, nodding to Tora, who dug out the nightgown I'd worn for the last several nights.
A shadow moved, and my heart sank until I realized it was one of Douglas's men I'd met on one of his trips up the mountain to deliver Canadian whiskey. He nodded at me, his green eyes sliding to Tora with interest burning within them. Holding out his hand, Douglas placed the scented nightgown in his but didn't let go.