Bet on Me (21 page)

I didn’t consider the option long.

I couldn’t crush her like that.

Instead I chose option two. The strength of my desire to follow through and protect what I considered mine overwhelmed me, shocking me with its intensity.

Crowley and Ryder were dead men.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Alaya

My eyelids began to twitch and my senses started to return. I could once again feel my limbs, and as I curled my fingers and toes they responded—albeit sluggishly. The victory seemed inconsequential though because I couldn’t will anything bigger to move. My arms still refused to cooperate and so did my legs. There were also a million questions circling in my head and I couldn’t bring myself to open my eyes to try and find the answers.

A sour taste filled my mouth and the dryness of my tongue made it hard to shift. No matter how much I attempted to swallow, I couldn’t conjure enough saliva to get rid of the scratchy feeling at the back of my throat.

A firm surface pressed into my right cheek hard enough to leave an impression. With a small groan, I managed to tilt my head and allowed the momentum to take over so it rolled limply. Cracking an eye slowly, only the orange streetlights passing over me repeatedly provided a source of light against the blackness as an engine purred beneath me. I summoned the courage to glance up and a part of me felt glad I couldn’t will my body to move, otherwise I’d have had a hard job stopping myself from bailing out of the car. Instead, I could only stare at Ryder’s angular jaw, the harsh shadows coating his face making him seem even crueller. He focused on the road, paying little attention to me. No doubt he knew I couldn’t do anything. He’d trapped me inside my own body and imprisoned me inside my mind.

My palms started to sweat at the thought and my breaths came so quickly I believed I would hyperventilate in the confined space of the car. I didn’t know where I was, where he planned to take me, what Ryder wanted, or what he intended to do to me. I shut my eyes, trying to calm my racing pulse. Allowing my body to succumb to the lethargic wave crashing over me, I slipped back into the dark abyss.

* * *

Darkness still shrouded us the next time I awoke, I still had cotton mouth, and my body lacked its usual energy. However, my limbs no longer felt like leaden add-ons I had no control over.

Wanting to clear my eyes, I lifted my right hand. When my left hand moved with it, I glanced down in confusion to find my wrists bound together with cable ties. The sharp bite of plastic eating into my skin hadn’t even registered previously, yet now it was all I could focus on. I slid my wrists against each other, testing the boundaries. There was almost no room for me to move, and the harder I tried the more the cable chafed.

All the while I kept Ryder in my vision, eyeing him with the caution of a hunted animal. His jaw remained tense, his gaze hard in concentration. Every so often he threw me a glance and his expression tightened even further, but he never said a word as he continued to drive.

Outside gave me no clues as to where we were going, not that I’d have been able to recognise anything. I assumed we were still in Europe. At least I hoped we were. If not, I was out a lot longer than I first thought.

Oh God, where is he taking me?

I glanced around the car, trying to find something to free myself with but only found a half empty bottle of water on the floor. The liquid sloshed around under the movements of the car and the sight made me realise I had the sudden urge to pee.

Not wanting to anger my captor or break the silence, I willed myself to hold it despite the burning in my bladder and my need for answers. I didn’t know anything about Ryder except for what Cole had told me, so I tried to direct my thoughts at anything other than the water near my feet.

It wasn’t hard to find another subject with everything going on, though what the future held for me seemed like an equally bad choice. Every time I went near the unanswered questions sweat began to bead on my forehead, frosty waves crashed over me, and I trembled with nerves.

Screwing my eyes tightly shut, I took a deep, shaky breath. I pictured Cole in my mind, him skating, canoeing … no canoeing was a bad idea.

Raising my leg in an attempt to cross them, another cable tie bit into my ankles through my jeans and prevented me from moving even an inch.

How did I not notice that?
I glanced across at Ryder, wondering when he had bound me. I presumed I’d been free the last time I awoke, but then again I wasn’t able to move.

The speed of the car began to decrease. An orange light flashed out of the window nearest to me as Ryder indicated and switched lanes. Pulling off the motorway—at least I assumed it was a motorway—he slowed the car as he drove along a stretch of winding road before bright white light from a building lit up the darkness in front of us.

Hope started to flare within me. Warm and comforting, it overpowered every other feeling. I tried to dampen it—not allowing myself to dream—but desperation to get away from Ryder fuelled it. If I came across one person they could help alert the authorities.

Pulling into the car park, Ryder stopped the engine. He cut the headlights so only the light from the service station surrounded us, yet he refused to look at me … just sat there staring at the building with his hands clutched on the steering wheel.

I glanced from him to the door handle, then around the car park.

Only a few cars filled the mass of empty spaces.

I looked from my hands, to my feet, to the handle once more. It wasn’t worth the risk. If I had any hope of escaping I needed people around otherwise I wouldn’t get far. I had to talk myself into it because all of my instincts told me to get out of the car even with my bound limbs.

Finally, Ryder turned to me, the movement causing my stomach to churn.

“Here’s how this is going to go.” His voice remained calm and held a deadly undertone. The implied threat he felt no need to speak filled his words and involuntarily I shrank back against the door. I didn’t want to share the same space or air as him.

“I’m going to cut you free and we’re going to walk inside. I will escort you to the toilets and then we’re going to pick up some food. At all times you will keep your gaze lowered. You will not speak or make any kind of contact with anyone. You will make no attempt to escape unless you want to remain sedated for the rest of the journey.”

My bottom lip quivered.

I wanted to run.

I had to at least try, surely.

I couldn’t allow him to take me now I had control back over my body.

“Do you understand?”

I nodded. I needed the cables cut and that would only happen if I appeared to play along.

When he slipped a flip knife from inside his jacket and flicked the blade out so the light danced on the metal I gasped. Flinching back against the door with wide eyes, my back hit the plastic interior, and a line of sweat formed on my forehead. Ryder leaned over the centre console, holding the blade out in front of him. I had nowhere to go.

I held my breath when he took hold of my wrists.

One wrong move and he could kill me.

As if sensing my thoughts, Ryder trailed the cool metal over the inside of my wrist. The blade traced up my arm and then back down, following the line of my vein until Ryder paused over my pulse point and looked up at me with a sadistic smile. I gulped, only focused on the quick thumping of blood pounding in my skull and through my wrists.

Ryder slid the knife under the cable tie slowly, making sure I felt every inch of the blade. When he pulled up, the cruel edges of the plastic cut into my skin even more and caused me to wince. The knife abruptly cut through my bonds and the tie fell into my lap.

I rubbed my wrist, trying to ease the pain and rub away the red marks.

“Pull your sleeves down and make sure they stay that way,” he ordered and I complied within seconds as he reached down to my feet. “Once I’ve cut this you will stay in the car until I meet you at your door. Understand?”

I nodded again, not able to form a single word.

“This knife stays on me at all times. Remember that.” He cut the tie at my ankles, my feet falling on to their sides when they were no longer held together. I rotated them a few times to ease the stiffness while I waited for Ryder to meet me at the door.

Soon he pulled it open sharply and thrust his hand out in front of him for me to take. I spun round on the seat, easing my legs out of the car, and ignored his hand. My legs shook under the full weight of my body as I stood, forcing me to clutch on to the roof of the car for support while I gained my balance.

Satisfied I wasn’t going to fall face first on to the gritty tarmac, I pressed off the car hesitantly. I only managed one step when Ryder threw his arm around my shoulders. He draped it casually, his hand hovering over my left breast like a boyfriend would. When I recoiled his hold tightened. Crushing me against him, the power in his arm frightened me. I could feel his muscles tensing with his grip and I sensed he wasn’t even using his whole strength.

“Did you really think I would just let you go?”

A wave of sickness crashed down upon me because, naively, I thought he would at least let me walk by myself. My plan hadn’t accounted for him touching me or holding me so close.

Swallowing hard, I ignored the smugness in his voice and we entered the service station. To no surprise the place was almost deserted, and when I caught a glimpse of a clock it was near one in the morning. Some shops had metal barriers pulled down in the front so that only the fast food or coffee counters remained open.

Ryder guided me towards the toilets and paused outside of the door to the women’s. He glanced over his shoulder, and satisfied with what he found, pushed the door open and led us both inside. Checking the stalls, when he found no one inside any of them he waved me into one.

As soon as I shut the door in his face I took a deep breath and held it for a second then expelled it heavily. I collapsed against the wall and tilted my head back.

How am I meant to get out of this?

I could see Ryder’s shadow moving on the other side of the door, so I quickly patted down my pockets for anything. However, my thoughts were only confirmed when I found them empty. Of course he removed my phone, purse, and passport.

I decided I was probably pushing my luck with how much time I had left. With nothing to do from inside the toilets, and no escape route, I needed to make sure I stayed on Ryder’s good side to buy myself time to find a better opportunity.

As quickly as I could, I made use of the facilities and with a puff of air I unlocked the door. Ryder had propped himself up against the sink, his arms folded across his chest. The dark pits of his eyes and the scar on his cheek made it hard to focus on him for long. I dropped my gaze to the sink as I washed and dried my hands, and the second they were dry Ryder snatched hold of one to lead me back out into the main part of the building.

To anyone watching us it would look like we were a couple. Outwardly, nothing seemed amiss, but his grip held a restrained tension as we made our way towards the food counter.

Ryder stooped so he could speak into my ear without anyone overhearing—although there was no one around to hear.

“Remember what I said.” His scent swept over me, sending a disgusted shiver down my spine as the smell of smoke clouded around me. I never realised such a simple gesture could feel so intimate from one person and could revolt me from another. Unlike when Cole did the same thing and made me want to melt into him, Ryder’s voice conjured the urge to throw up and flee faster than a cat that’d been shown a bath.

We reached the counter and without even asking me what I wanted Ryder ordered in perfect French.

Does everyone know French but me?
I thought, and then realised he’d given me a clue as to where we were. Well, he narrowed my location down to a country—damn the free movement around Europe. Ryder would have been detained long ago if there were border checks in the European Union, yet at least there was one to cross into the UK if that was where he planned to take me.

Funnily enough, the man behind the counter replied in English, so maybe Ryder’s French wasn’t as good as I first thought. I couldn’t help but glance up as the server placed two large containers of fries on the counter. Our eyes connected while Ryder became distracted by fishing inside his pocket for some cash.

Sensing my opportunity, I focused my attention on the man and mouthed the word ‘help’. I flicked my eyes towards Ryder and mouthed the word again.

The employee’s brow lowered in confusion. His gaze darted between the two of us but he did nothing. Checking Ryder was still occupied, I mouthed the word again. I made sure to move my lips slowly, hoping he’d be able to read my plea.

“Are you okay?” he asked in concern, and all of the blood drained out of my body. My spine stiffened and bile rose in my throat. Ryder immediately returned his attention to us once more. His stare burned into the side of my head as if in warning not to say anything.

Below the counter he reached for his jean pocket where I knew he placed the knife upon exiting the car.

My palms started to sweat and I twisted my fingers together in front of me. My mind raced at the thought of what he planned to do if I gave the wrong answer.

Swallowing hard, I gave the man behind the counter a weak smile. “I’m fine.” I tried to keep the tremble from my words, though they shook to make my statement unconvincing.

“Are you sure? You’re pale.”

Ryder’s arm wound around my waist, his hand buried underneath my coat. Something hard and sharp grazed the area just above my hip. To anyone watching us it would look like he was holding me. They wouldn’t see the knife or know of the unspoken threat to pretend everything was normal.

“You get car sick, don’t you, babe?” He squeezed me into him, a seemingly harmless gesture to everyone else when in reality it pushed the knife further into me, pricking the skin so that even the slightest extra pressure would break it. I nodded compliantly. “We’ve been on the road for a while and her medication is wearing off.” He directed his words at the man behind the counter with a smile and grabbed the food quickly.