Ice Cold

Chapter Twenty-Three

          I heard footsteps coming and I bit down on the gag to keep it in place and positioned my hands and feet so they would still look bounded. When the door opened I let my eyes adjust to the blinding white light. I squeezed the nail in my hand as the rogue got closer. When I saw the young rogue in my presence again I tried to keep the look of disgust off my face.

          I shot up, releasing the gag from my mouth and holding up the nail. I tried to ignore my dizziness as I moved quicker than I should have. I stabbed the rogue in the face and pulled the nail down until it was almost to the base of his neck in one swift movement. He growled and lunged out and grabbed me.

          "You little─," he started but I interrupted him.

          "Let go of me!" I shouted, my throat feeling raw.

          The rogue tightened his grip around my shoulders as he wrapped his arms around me to restrain me. Using my old ropes, he bound my hands and feet again in two blurs of speed. I was about speak, but the rogue put my gag back in before I could.

          "You have an hour before we get to end your pathetic life," the rogue said kicking me once before leaving.

          There was an exploding pain in my rib where he'd kicked me. I repositioned myself so that I was in a mostly comfortable position. The pain was so excruciating that I couldn't get away from it. I leaned my head down on top of my knees as my entire right side of my body was pressed against the cold wall.

          Sometime later the door opened again. I didn't flinch this time as I looked into the bright light. Someone yanked me to my feet and I screamed against the gag in my mouth as pain coursed through my body. After a moment's hesitation while the rogue untied my feet, I was being pushed up the stairs.

          "Looks like you didn't mean as much to them as we had anticipated, your time is up," the older rogue said and I started to panic.

          I was out of the basement now and walking past several rogues. "Don't think about trying to escape or we'll just kill you on the spot," a rogue to the left of me said.

          Escape routes were running through my head. Almost all of them were useless since they had vampire speed. The most I could do if I got free was run as fast as I could for my house. I would find Hayden's dagger there if Hayden and Connor were nowhere to be found.

          I had wished they wouldn't rescue me to save their own lives and their territory and it seemed like they were doing just that. What if they had already been killed in an attempt to save me? I shook my head as countless possibilities raced through my mind. I was shoved out the front door and down the steps.

          There were more than ten rogues surrounding me now as we walked. One rogued shoved me, telling me to walk faster, and I fell to my knees. I stayed there for a moment as the jarring pain flared up. I screamed as the rogue yanked me back to my feet again, not caring that I was in pain.

          Eventually, we reached a place in the woods where there was a break in the trees and moonlight flooded in. I was placed on a rock near the middle of the clearing and all the rogues filled in around me. The older rogue stepped up behind me and I declared him the leader of this portion of rogues.

          I was ungagged but they left the tie around my wrists on. It was colder out here now than it was in the basement. My teeth were chattering, not just with the result of being cold. I looked around for any way to escape but the rogues had enclosed me in a circle made up of their own bodies.