Amy Blankenship - Dangerous Things стр 5.

The young wolf slumped against the wall believing the torture was over, only to scream again when the beating began anew… only this time two more whips joined it.

Anthony lifted his right hand so he could get a better look at it and frowned when he saw he would have to trim his nails again. Shrugging, he turned away from the beating and approached the cell furthest away from everything at the far end of the basement. A smile appeared on his face when the heavy chains rattled.

The man inside was suddenly on his feet and straining against the bonds trying to reach Anthony.

Anthony’s bad mood suddenly evaporated seeing the proud male inside. His smile widened as he thought of a way to get Jewel back into his arms and away from the cougars she had sought shelter with.

“I’m glad I only shot you once Micah… I may have a use for you yet.”

*****

Tabatha looked around the apartment she shared with Kriss and shivered. Usually she didn’t mind being alone but for many reasons, tonight it was very hard to handle. She looked out the window whenever she heard a noise thinking Kriss had come back. She’d thought she was fine when Envy and Devon dropped her off at home on their way to Chad’s, but now she realized just how much she needed the company.

Envy had asked her if she’d wanted to go with them just in case Envy needed a tag team effort to handle her brother. But, Tabby had thought maybe Kriss would have come home soon and she wanted to ask him what happened, so she’d turned her down… now she wished she hadn’t.

Thinking about Kriss led her to thoughts of Dean and how he’d acted at the church. She could still see the look on his face when he’d seen Kane.

Tabatha shook her head when the picture of Kane popped into her mind in a vain attempt to not think about him. Seeing him laying there dying had pulled at something deep in her heart and soul. She didn’t understand why but, the thought of him dying made her want to curl up in a ball.

“Get a hold of yourself,” she whispered to break the silence. “What you need is a distraction.”

Picking up the phone she decided to call Jason at work to catch up and see if anything unusual had happened since Kriss flew her all the way to Florida.

The phone rang three times before it was picked up.

“Forest Preserve, Officer Fox speaking,” a sexy voice recited.

“Hey Jason, it’s Tabby.” she smiled for the first time since walking in the front door.

“Tabby?” Jason cried and she heard something topple over, probably the chair because he was usually leaning it back in it at a dangerous angle on two legs. “Where the hell have you been?”

“Kriss kinda kidnapped me and Envy and took us to Florida for a few days.” Tabby answered. “I just got home and thought I’d call and see what I missed.”

Jason sighed, “Other than the normal weird stuff, you didn’t miss a lot. The only exciting thing that happened is the other night we got a call from a real whack job.”

Tabby smirked and sat down on her sofa. “Do tell!”

“Jacob and me were just sitting around, it was a slow night, and the phone rang. I picked it up and this guy was talking about seeing a jaguar chasing a cougar through downtown with a cell phone strapped to one of its legs.”

Tabatha couldn’t help it and started laughing. If she’d been in Jason’s shoes a couple weeks ago, she would have thought the same thing. “Oh damn,” she exclaimed.

“Tell me about it,” Jason said with a chuckle. “Jacob and I are taking bets on whether or not there will be any text messages on it when they find the critter.”

“Are you sure you’re not drinking any of Kat’s specialties?” she asked around her laughter.

“I do not drink on the job!” Jason exclaimed and Tabatha heard Jacob’s laughter in the background. “So when are you coming back to work?”

Tabatha shrugged, “I don’t know yet. I need a few more days and I got the vacation days to burn.”

“That’s cool, we miss you though. It’s just not the same without having a pretty face to brighten up the place. All I have now is Jacob, and he isn’t much to look at.”

“I’ve missed you guys too,” Tabatha said, and she meant it. “We’ll get together in the next couple of days.”

Jason was quiet for a moment and Tabatha instinctively knew what was coming. “How’s Envy?”

“She’s doing good too. Like me, she just needed a few days away.” She bit her lower lip when there were several seconds of silence.

“Is it true?” Jason asked.

“Is what true?” Tabatha inquired trying to sound clueless.

“Is Envy really dating Devon Santos?” Jason’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the phone a little tighter.

Tabatha sighed, she knew this was going to hurt Jason in a big way, but to a certain extent it was partially his fault. Someone that cute should never be so hung up on the one girl who thought of him as a best friend and brother.

“Yeah, it’s true.” Tabatha said softly. “I know she didn’t mean to hurt you. She does love you… ya know.”

Jason exhaled softly and Tabatha felt sorry for him. He’d chased after Envy for so long that she was the only girl he’d ever looked at. Now she was beyond his reach but Tabatha wasn’t about to tell him. That was Envy’s job.

“I know she didn’t,” Jason said after a minute. “I guess I should have gotten a clue when she didn’t even notice that I was flirting with her.”

“She noticed, Jason,” Tabatha said. “She just thought it would put a strain on your friendship.”

Jason hummed, “Yeah, I guess it probably would have but you can’t blame a guy for dreaming, right?”

“I can blame you for a lot of things,” Tabatha heard Jacob say in the background.

“You shut the hell up,” Jason growled playfully and Tabatha heard him slam the chair legs down in their right position. “Tabatha, I’ll call you later. The child here has decided to start throwing paper wads at me.”

Tabatha giggled and nodded her head, “All right, I’ll talk to you later.”

She hung up the phone and sat there for a moment before putting the phone back on the charger. Looking around the apartment again, it didn’t seem quite so lonely now. Jason would need her friendship now more than ever and being needed helped to make her feel more stable.

Standing up and stretching her arms over her head, she walked down the hall to her room. She got undressed and slipped into a pair of boy shorts and a tank top before sinking down into the cool, familiar softness of her bed.

This time she didn’t try to stop the scene from playing out in her mind as she drifted off to sleep. After all, she needed to decipher it and it wouldn’t go away until she did… so why fight it? She sank into the darkness of sleep still staring across the church and into Kane’s eyes.

*****

Jewel paced the expanse of Steven’s bedroom. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she had taken to biting her nails, something she hadn’t done since she was a child.

“This is my fault,” she said softly trying to blink away the image of her father crucified above the alter of the same church he'd attended for most of his life. How many times had he prayed right there below where he’d died? She’d known Anthony was twisted but that was sadistic.