Damsel[ed]: No Rescue Required

Chapter 25: A Loss for Angelos

Angelos

The van thumps over a pothole, throwing me against the vehicle's side. My ribs pound, the blindfold only adding to the sickness. I'm half tempted to throw up, but I swallow back the queasiness and stare into the white fabric.

CRUNCH! Something heavy crashes on my ankle, and I howl, earning me an annoyed hiss.

I hope this kidnapping is my last. They've become so mundane that riding blindfolded for hours in the back of someone's van isn't even terrifying. More or less just unsettling.

Actually, a successful kidnapping is kind of overdue. Even my 'luck' shouldn't have held out this long. And hey! At least I'll learn why 'Snare' wants me so bad. Then I'll use my boss skills to pull an epic escape and foil their plans of world domination.

Or fail and end up a part of their schemes.

I shiver at the thought, half-asleep. I'm so weak the henchmen didn't even bother binding me, just threw me flailing into the van's back. That obsidian stuff really takes its toll.

"How are you two holding up?" Poison asks, yawning. Ching. Ching. Ching. Smack! I guess Gal and I are so boring that even he has to break out the Flappy Bird. Frankly, I don't blame him. It's a strain for me to talk, and the first time he asked Galaxy how she felt she spewed a cocktail of Confucius quotes so venomously he shut up. They're like his freaking kryptonite. I almost wish I paid more attention to Tumblr.

My thoughts wander to Heaven. How will she hold up without Gats and me? One-third of the Hev-Gats-Ang clan is a major blow, but two...

Two-thirds. I doubt that's what Cat meant in her note, but the thought still sends me reeling. Because of her and her stupid plans I'm trapped with someone worse, headed towards someone infinitely worse.

"Go climb a tree!" Gal says, her hand wrapped around mine in a last-ditch attempt of regaining strength. Her pulse feels cold, the beat of my heart a constant throb.

Ching. Ching. Ching. Silence. The villain curses quietly, and I shrink back against the van's side. His phone must've died. Great.

"You seem awfully less angry, dear. Is it possible you're falling for me?"

"No," she growls, but there's a hint of shakiness in her voice. Man! Why does this feel like some good-girl-bad-boy story? It shouldn't. Galaxy's too strong. She can't slip into his trap. But...it's his power, making women love him. No matter how strong Galaxy is, can she compete with that?

"Admit it, pet. You're in love with me."

Pet? Who is this guy? Cruella DeVille? I squeeze Galaxy's hand, hoping with all the hope in my jet black heart she'll find a way to unleash a can of kick-butt on this manipulative jerk.

"Am not," she says, "your powers can't do anything to me!"

"Come on, darling. Give in now and you won't have to deal with the suffering. You'll fall anyway, don't torture yourself." I bite my cheek, shudders of hate rippling through me.

"Shut up," she says, so softly I raise an eyebrow beneath my blindfold.

"Admit it," he says with a purr.

"Shut up!"

"Say the words, princess."

"You have pretty eyes," Galaxy says, and I squeeze her hand so tight if my superstrength returned I'd crush it. No! She can't like this person. Not with the torture he put her through under that stupid spell. Galaxy can't fall in love with him, power or no power.

And darn! How do these guy's powers even work? Pheromones? Through eye contact? This guy must be magic. I bet he's an evil shape-shifting pegasus ripped straight from Hasbro's darkest corners. That would explain a lot.