a Primal Pursuit

sixteen

"Recovery room?" Asra cocked his head.

I nodded, tugging on the cuffs of my coat. "After Darius had his fill, he would often put me in there instead of leaving me on the floor. When he was sober, you got left alone. When he was drunk, he put you in there. It's empty and closed off in the disguise of being a spare room. No guests ever went in there, so they never knew of the things that happened in there. The window opens, but not enough to get out of."

"So, you are worried he has hurt her?" He pursed his lips.

I nodded mutely, watching his expression as he traced my fearful features. I was used to the teasing, cocky Asra, and this serious one was eerily new. His jaw ticked as he glanced away to Caleb and they communicated silently.

"Curtain?" Asra wondered.

"Partly open." Caleb nodded.

"Blood?" He frowned.

"Little."

"I smell it too." He murmured before cursing. "Okay, we will get her out."

I exhaled heavily, following him to the window. Caleb diverted, going elsewhere. Probably to survey the area.

There was no light from what I could see through the crack of the curtain, and I shakily rested my hands on the edge of the frame. My heart warmed at his protectiveness, and his desire to save my sister made me feel strange things.

"She is definitely alone?" I whispered.

He nodded. "The scent upstairs is male and smells of..."

"Whiskey?" I cocked my head. "Or beer?"

"Whiskey."

I winced, nodding. Beer drunk usually meant he left you alone, but spirit drunk was when he got nasty. He got pissed faster, and it turned his moods haywire. I couldn't explain the science, but from personal experience... Yeah, drunk Darius was a horrible Darius either way.

"Okay. I will knock." I murmured.

"I shall stand back. Caleb will be in the trees. The first sign of anything going wrong, we get out."

My hand shook as I rose it to the glass window and just before I rested it on the glass, I looked at Asra.

"Tell me when she wakes or stirs." I told him.

He nodded silently, and I tapped my knuckles into the glass. Asra's head cocked, listening to what was happening inside. When he shook his head, I knocked again, three gentle taps against the glass. Arabella was a deep sleeper, so I assumed it would take a few goes. Asra grimaced, shaking his head again, and so with a loud huff, I banged my palm against it to create a dull thud. When his eyebrows rose and he nodded, I started to play out our secret knock.

Two knocks, followed by two rolls of my fingertips against the glass, and then two knocks. After each sequence, I gave it a two second break before trying again. We created our secret knock for when we wanted to escape mother, and I only hoped Arabella remembered it. It had been a few years since we used it-since before I lived with Darius.

Doing it two more times, I was about to give up when Asra took a large step back and his eyes snapped to the window. My breath hitched when the curtains shifted and fingers appeared on beside the glass. They were delicate and well-manicured, peeling back the fabric until one dark brown eye appeared.

Tears pooled in my eyes as her eye widened before the curtain shifted.

"Arabella..." I whispered.

The curtain opened fully and revealed the rest of her. Her lips wobbled, eyes wide as her own tears flowed down her smooth skin. She seemed relatively unharmed, but I saw the relief, felt the fear in her heart. Her hand shakily came to rest on the window, palm toward me. I placed mine opposite, a happy sob breaking through my lips.