Emily's Captive (A Lilly Town Shifter Novel Book 2) (3 page)

Stacy opened her eyes. She had no idea where
she was, just that she was hurt. She tried taking
stock of her injuries before getting a better look
around. Her ribs hurt some, so did her left arm,
but she didn’t think anything was broken. They
might have been earlier, and have healed while she
was unconscious. Her arm felt stiff and sore, but
she could live with that. She didn’t know what she
would do if she were stuck in a strange place and
be so injured she couldn’t move.

Moving her head to the side, Stacy started
taking everything in. She was in a cell in the
middle of a room, with bars surrounding her on all
sides, even on the ceiling. The floor was concrete
and she was on a cot. There was a pillow under her
head and a light blanket covering her, but that was
it. Well, except for the bucket in the corner that
she guessed was supposed to be the bathroom. How
did they expect her to use that? She guessed if
she really had to go she would, but it would still
be gross.

All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and
cry, but she knew she needed to be strong. She had
to find a way out. She had to be like Emily. She
didn’t have a choice. She could cry when it was
all over. She could curl up in a ball with her
sister and just let it out, but for now she needed
to be strong. She knew that it probably wouldn’t
happen, though. Emily wasn’t the cuddly type. She
was the “sit and watch a movie together, but in
different chairs” type.

Taking a deep breath, Stacy looked around
again. She had to find a way out. There was a
weakness somewhere. There always was. She walked
over to the door to see if she could pick the lock.
The nice thing about being a tiger was she didn’t
have to carry around any supplies, because she had
her claws. Unfortunately the lock was electrical,
not the standard key lock.

She took another deep breath. There was no
reason to panic yet. She just needed to figure
something out. She knew she would; she just needed
to stay calm and think about it. She could do
that. She just needed to channel her sister,
because she knew Emily would be able to figure
something out.

Stacy walked around the cell, trying to find a
weakness. She felt the bars and checked the door,
but didn’t seem to be able to find one. She never
thought she’d find a cage that could hold her.
Maybe as a tiger she could escape, but she was
afraid whoever had her didn’t know she was a
shifter. She didn’t want to let out the big
secret. She was just going to have to wait it out.

She sat back on her cot and waited for an
opportunity. Maybe when someone brought her food
or something she’d be able to overpower them and
get out. She just had to be patient. She was a
cat. She could wait them out. She could do this
and escape. She just hoped she could do it soon.

***

Richard watched as the girl walked around the
cell, checking it and trying to find a weak spot.
He knew she wouldn’t, but it was still
entertaining. He was curious to see if she would
shift and try, but he knew she wouldn’t succeed.
The cell was built specifically to hold them. He’d
made sure of that. He’d checked and double-checked
Zeke’s design. It had taken some time and a few
changes, but he’d made sure it would be able to
hold the strongest animals.

He was surprised when she went back to her cot
and sat down. He studied her. She didn’t seem to
have any injuries from when he’d captured her. She
moved a little stiffly, but he knew he had broken
her arm and ribs. He’d heard the snap as he’d
beaten her into unconsciousness. He never knew
they healed that fast. Maybe he should get some
scientist to check her blood. They might be able
to find something so the healing power could be
harnessed. It could come in handy when killing
them. Maybe they should catch another shifter to
experiment on. He liked the girl too much to use
her.

It would be hard to capture another one, but he
knew it would also be hard to use her. She was
feisty, and he remembered taking her down every
time he moved his leg. It wasn’t as easy as he’d
thought it would be. She was young, but she knew
how to fight, just not as well as he did. Maybe he
should give her a leadership position once he’d
broken her. He knew he was going to keep her and
he hoped it would be by choice and not because he’d
forced her. He would have her, though – that he
was sure of.

She was sleek and muscular, the perfect
soldier. He had to make sure she was on his side.
He couldn’t afford to have enemies like her.
Richard knew if he let her, she’d kill him in
minutes, no matter how much he fought. Their
strength was unimaginable to a human. He wished he
had it. He worked out, but there was no way he
could get even close.

Richard took one last look at the girl before
he went to his office. He had plans to make. He
wanted to set a trap for another shifter. If not
one to experiment on, then one he could use to
break the girl. There was nothing like killing
something to bring you down when you were already
there. He hoped that was all it would take, but
had a feeling he’d have to do a lot more.

***

Paul was walking through the compound, trying
to find Zeke. He had to convince him they weren’t
all bad. Lucy taught him they were just humans who
could shift. They weren’t the animals he had
thought they were. They had killers, just like
humans did, but most wanted normal lives. They
wanted a family and happiness. They worked jobs,
raised their kind, paid taxes, and shopped at
grocery stores – all things people did.

They weren’t evil. He could see that. He just
didn’t know how Zeke couldn’t. Hadn’t he noticed
that they were just defending themselves? They
didn’t attack; they fought back when they were
attacked.

Zeke came up behind him and said, “Paul.”

Paul turned around and saw the gun. He hadn’t
expected that. He thought Zeke would know him well
enough to know that Paul didn’t shoot first. He
didn’t plan on killing Zeke; he just wanted to
talk.

“Why?” Zeke asked.

“They aren’t what you think,” Paul pleaded,
trying to convince him to listen. He hoped he’d be
able to change his mind, but he had a feeling he
was just wasting his breath. Zeke was set in his
ways – the gun proved that.

“I trusted you and you did this to me?” Zeke
said as he came at Paul with the gun leveled at his
head. Zeke was a good shot. He knew if he fired
that gun, he was dead.

“Zeke, you were wrong. They aren’t monsters.

They are just like people. Some are cruel, but
most are kind. They’re just trying to survive,”
Paul said. He had his hands up, trying to convince
Zeke he wasn’t a threat.

“No, they’re animals. I thought I taught you
better than that. You shouldn’t have let your
curiosity get the better of you,” Zeke said. He
was a few feet away; there was no way he could
miss.

He closed his eyes, waiting for the gun to go
off.

Paul opened his eyes and looked around the dark
room. He couldn’t remember where he was or how he
got there. He didn’t know if Emily had taken him
somewhere and was finally planning on killing him.
That he’d been expecting for a long time. He
wasn’t afraid; he’d prefer that over sitting in
this cell for months. It wasn’t that it was all
that bad, but he was so bored and the food was only
enough to keep him alive. It was a shadow of a
life. Something not worth living.

Then it all came back to him. He was in his
own room, but at Emily’s. He was helping her.
Something about her made it hard for him to turn
her down. He couldn’t figure out what it was,
though. Paul knew it would come eventually. He
really wasn’t that worried about it; he was just
happy to be out of that place. He was now in a
real bed, eating real food for the first time other
than when the cook had snuck in. He didn’t get it
often or want her to get in trouble for it, so he’d
never asked her for anything. He’d actually tried
sending her back many times, but had given up when
he realized it was useless.

Paul stood up and looked out the window. There
was a tiger running around the yard. She was
beautiful. He could see her muscles moving as she
ran and darted into the woods. He waited a few
minutes, but didn’t see her come back. He figured
she went to run in the woods and burn off some
steam and he didn’t blame her.

Ten years ago, he’d be pissing his pants. A
year ago, he would have had a gun trained on her,
looking for an opening. Now, he couldn’t take his
eyes off of her. He wanted to see more, but knew
she wouldn’t let him get that close. She was a
predator, and they never trust anyone to get close
to them. The human predators were just as bad.
They stayed to themselves and never let anyone in.
Zeke was like that. Paul had somehow managed to
wiggle his way into Zeke’s heart, although he did
betray him in the end. There was a reason they
tended to keep their distance.

When she didn’t come back, Paul headed back to
bed. It didn’t feel as heavenly as it had earlier,
but it still felt good. He couldn’t sleep, though.
His mind wouldn’t turn off. He kept thinking about
how his life had changed over the years. He never
thought he’d find himself staying in a shifter’s
guest bedroom, yet here he was.

He wasn’t pissed at how things had turned out.
He’d helped save a life and was proud of himself
for doing so, especially since he’d taken so many.
Maybe saving Stacy would help him make it up to the
shifter community. He knew he’d never be accepted
because of his past, and that was fine, but he did
want to help them. He wanted to help make up for
the lives he’d taken, every single one. He wanted
to take down Zeke, and thought maybe this would
help just a little.
***

Bill had just climbed into bed after a busy
night at the bar. He was exhausted. All he wanted
was his pillow and a good night’s sleep. He’d just
put his head on his pillow when his phone rang.
That was not what he wanted. He hadn’t slept much
the night before because of work, and now here he
was with another night of apparently no sleep.
With a groan he sat up and answered it. “Hello?”

“I… I need your help,” Emily said nervously.

Bill woke up at that. Emily never asked for
help. “What’s wrong?” He would do anything to
help her. She was always there when he needed her,
so he would do no less for her.

“Stacy was taken,” she said quietly.

His heart stopped. He loved Stacy like a
little sister. He knew he had to do everything in
his power to get her back. “When?” he asked.

“A few days ago,” she grumbled. He could tell
she didn’t want to tell him that little piece of
information.

“What? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Bill
yelled. He was pissed. That was too much time for
her to have been left by herself, probably scared
out of her mind. They could have been looking for
her sooner. They could have found her already.
The trail would still have been warm, so they’d
have had a much better chance if they had started
looking immediately. He knew Emily was good at
what she did, but she didn’t have the contacts he
did. He could have done something.

“I’m sorry, I thought I could handle it
myself,” she said, sounding ashamed. He knew she
wanted to, but he wished she realized she wasn’t
alone. She had him and so many other people who
would be right there if she had just asked.

“Did you call Martha?” he asked. Maybe if
Emily hadn’t called him, she’d have called her
instead. She had more contacts than he did, so
maybe they’d get lucky.

“No,” she said quietly.

“You need to call her,” he said sternly. He
didn’t want to get in the middle of a fight between
them. Martha was just as bad as Emily when it came
to temper. He’d seen it firsthand and it was
horrible. It was something he didn’t wish on his
worst enemy.

“I can do this on my own,” she said firmly.

“Yet you’re calling me.” He knew she had to
have finally given in and called. She needed
backup, and he was the only one she knew of who
would give it, other than Martha.

“It was part of a deal I made. I didn’t have a
choice,” she sighed. Bill wanted to hear what the
deal was and whom it was with. No one could make
Emily Kincade do anything, let alone talk to
someone she didn’t want to talk to.

“Okay, I’m coming over and we can figure this
out,” he said with a sigh. He had been looking
forward to sleeping, but he could sleep when he was
dead. Perhaps he would take a long vacation after
all this. Maybe he’d go to Manhattan and see Lexi.
He knew nothing would happen with her – he wouldn’t
let it – but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see her.

“No, I have some help here and he’s asleep.
Why don’t you come over in the morning for
breakfast and we’ll go over everything?” He knew
she wanted to feed him and butter him up first. He
was a bear after all – food was something that
always put him in a good mood.

“Okay, I’ll be there early,” he said and hung
up.

Bill was not looking forward to waiting for
morning. He wanted Stacy back, but it worried him
that it had taken Emily so long to ask for help.
Stacy might be dead for all he knew. He had to
find her, though. He hoped she was still alive and
that they could rescue her before it was too late.

Bill thought about Emily’s Aunt Martha and how
pissed off she would be when she found out. It was
a show he wanted to be there to see, as long as he
wasn’t one of the main characters. Martha had a
really nasty temper and just like Emily, protected
her family with everything she had, even if it was
from each other. Emily was being stupid and Martha
was going to tell her that when she found out. And
he knew she would; it was just a matter of time.
Martha knew all.