Spell Bound - Kelley Armstrong [61]
It took me at least an hour to get a hand free. I won’t detail the process. Suffice it to say, that free hand came with a lot of cursing and a loss of skin and blood and a few moments where I was convinced I’d rubbed open my wrists and was about to bleed out on the van floor.
I got the rope off my hands, then my legs, and finally removed my gag. A week ago, the gag would have been first, my concern for my spellcasting outweighing my concern for mobility. How quickly priorities change.
When I was free, I looked at the van door and realized I’d overlooked one problem. Getting free didn’t mean getting out.
I took a step. My sneaker clunked on the bare metal floor and I winced. I got to my knees and crawled instead, until I could reach the handle. I twisted it, ready for the lock to engage—
The door opened. Almost flew open, the wind grabbing it so fast I had to brace myself to get it shut again. Then, after a deep breath, I cracked it open . . . and looked down at pavement zooming past at sixty miles an hour.
It’s a testament to my desperation that for a moment, I actually thought, Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I jumped. Then I saw the dual lanes of busy highway traffic, imagined myself lunging straight into the grill of a truck, and decided against it.
I then considered throwing open the door and playing kidnap victim. I was a young woman, bloodied, and trapped in a panel van. Someone would call 911.
Only one problem. My captors weren’t humans acting on psychotic impulses. They were supernaturals with a plan, one that would take into account such contingencies. My chances of actually escaping were slim.
Normally, I’d reject slim. But I thought of Logan and Kate, and how I’d practically hand-delivered them to these people by introducing Roni to Elena. I thought of Hope, and how they had my cell phone now, with her number, and how easy it might be to trick her into giving away her location.
I should take slim. It might be the only chance I’d get.
But what if it wasn’t? Didn’t I owe it to Elena and Hope to take the best chance to warn them? Wait and attack Severin when he came around to get me? But what if we stopped in the middle of nowhere, with Sierra, Giles, and the whole gang waiting to grab me after Severin failed?
I couldn’t make up my mind.
Damn it, I could always make up my mind. This new indecision could be a sign of maturity, but it felt like weakness.
Wait and see—No, open the doors.
Oh hell, maybe I should just give up all hope of making rational decisions and start flipping coins.
I might, if I had a coin to flip.
Okay, that was it. I was just going to—
The van slowed.
Shit. Oh, shit!
I peeked out the door to see that we were pulling into a highway gas station. I looked at the trees and fields surrounding the service center.
Hey, why make decisions when the hand of God can just deliver a better choice?
There was only one vehicle behind us—a car with Mom and a passel of kids. The car turned off toward the restaurant and the way was clear. I was about to throw open the door when the van swerved to drive beside a parked tractor trailer, affording me the perfect cover. I waited until we drew alongside the truck. Then I jumped. Kind of hopped, actually, arms and legs pulled in, letting myself drop, then roll under the trailer.
A beautifully executed move, if I do say so myself. Of course, it would have been even better with a blur spell to hide me and a knockback to tap the van door shut. Fate favored me there, though. No one in the van noticed my escape. And the door swung closed with a click.
Two minutes later, I was inside the service center, hiding in a fast-food line as I peered out the window and watched Severin. He filled the tanks. He paid. He got back in. He drove off, without ever realizing I’d escaped.
Now I had to get out of here. For that I needed cash.
Being dinner hour, the travel center was packed full of tired, hungry travelers. The thing about being tired and hungry? You’re focused on getting through the lines, getting a burger, and