Snowbird [18+] ✔️ Complete

| XV |

Ashelin gently washed away the dirt covered semen splashed across her torso. She'd been instructed to clean herself up and then Archon was to take her somewhere. She wasn't sure what Vaas had in store for her, and excitement had her nerves all aflutter.

She was surprised that she wasn't exhausted from the day's events—it seemed that her hunger for him was endless.

She dried off after a relaxing bath and secured a towel around herself.

"Hello?" she called as she approached the door. Earnhardt wasn't around, but Archon grasped her arm roughly as she exited.

"You guys have to know by now that I'm not going to run," Ashelin retorted and he grunted in return, dragging her along with his brisk pace. She didn't bother asking where they were going—none of the Pirates seemed to care to speak to her.

He shoved her into a hut and followed her in. It was dimly lit with an oil lamp in the corner, a bed against the far wall. He gave her another shove towards it, and she climbed up, reluctantly turning to look at him. He took one of her wrists and pulled her against the wall, where she noticed there were shackles hanging.

Ashelin's heart rate quickened as he shackled her wrists so she was on her knees on the bed, facing the wall. Once secure, he pulled off her towel and she let out a squeak of surprise. She turned to him, a little nervous. He was setting her up for Vaas, right? He hadn't taken her here for himself?

He sneered at her, but then turned and retreated from the hut. She let out a deep breath and then rested her forehead on the wall. Good.

"Stay low." Grant Brody led his brother Jason behind a hut, avoiding the noise of the Pirates by their fires. He'd made quick work of their guard, and escaped the cage they'd been left in. He just wished he'd been able to do it when Liza and Daisy were still there.

"We have to find them," Jason whispered, gun shaking in his hand. Grant had given him a quick rundown on how to use it, and hoped that his brother would remember if and when the time came.

"They're not here, but we'll find them." Grant was worried too. What was that asshole doing to the girls? Where had they been shipped off to? And for what purpose? He didn't want to think about it. After what had happened to that other poor girl...

"Grant!" Jason hissed, and his brother grabbed his shirt to shush him. "It's her!" He pointed through a window, and Grant chanced looking in. The redhead from earlier was shackled to the wall, stark naked. "We have to help her!"

Grant clenched his jaw. His first priority was getting his brother out of here alive, so they could find the rest of their family and friends. But his army training, and his own morals, caused him to take pause. He couldn't leave this girl to be raped over and over.

"Stay here," he whispered.

"No fucking way, we stick together." Jason's eyes went wide, and Grant sighed. His little brother was going to have to toughen up if they were going to survive.

"Fine, just stay low." There was no time to argue. He led them around to the door and slipped inside.

Ashelin turned her head at a shuffling, and blinked in shock at what she saw. It was the two guys from the cage, creeping in and fully armed.

"Door," Grant ordered his brother, and quickly crossed the room. "Are you okay? We're going to get you out of here."

Ashelin wasn't sure what to do. She didn't want to be rescued. But she didn't want these guys to turn on her, either. This might be an opportunity to win more flavour with Vaas. She decided to play along.

"Oh thank god," she breathed, and he made quick work of unclipping the shackles. He shoved his gun into his pants and took off his red t-shirt and handed it to her, averting his eyes. "Thank you." She quickly slipped it on, and glanced at his brother. "Do you guys have a plan?"

"Sneak out, hopefully undetected," Grant replied. "There are too many of them to fight." He drew his gun again and strode to the door. "Are you okay to walk?"

She scurried after him. "Yeah."

"Have you seen Liza and Daisy?" Jason asked. "The girls that were with us when you..." He trailed off, and Ashelin shook her head.

"No." She wasn't lying. She assumed Vaas had made videos with them, but she had no idea where they were to go after that.

Ashelin had a moment of vertigo when it hit her that she was on the side of a slave trader that was kidnapping and doing god knows what to innocent tourists. She'd known what she was getting into, but at this moment in time, she cared more about her twisted relationship with Vaas than these people's lives.

"You okay?" Grant asked, wanting to reach out and steady her but unsure if he should touch her.

"Yeah." She shook herself and innately decided to deal with her moral qualms later. "I need a weapon."

"Just stay between us," Grant replied as he peeked out the door.

"No, I need a weapon," Ashelin repeated. "I'm not letting them take me again, one way or the other." She let the insinuation hang in the air and Jason held out his gun.

"You know how to use it?" Grant asked. He was a little uncomfortable with his brother being unarmed, but felt that this girl might be more apt to use it properly. She had a serious first hand vendetta.

Ashelin took the gun and nodded. "Point and squeeze." She'd never held a handgun before, but she'd fired rifles up at her ex boyfriend's cottage. It wasn't rocket science.

"Okay, you take the rear, then." He waved them forward and slipped out the door. Jason followed quietly, and Ashelin stayed a few steps behind. She figured Grant must be some kind of military, by the way he moved and spoke.

Vaas watched from the shadows as his three captives crept into the darkness. He was curious how the Brody brothers had escaped, but not surprised they had freed Ashelin after their little show earlier.

He wasn't sure what she was up to, but it intrigued him. His little Snowbird was a tricky one.

The trio crept in silence, nearing a path that led directly behind a clearing of campfires. The Pirates were boisterous, possibly drunk. Grant stopped just before, motioning for them to crouch very low to sneak by undetected.

Ashelin weighed her options. She wanted to alert the Pirates, but come out unscathed. Grant started to move and she had to make a quick decision.

When the boys were halfway down the path, she aimed the gun and squeezed the trigger.

Grant took the bullet in his thigh, and pandemonium erupted. The Pirates went nuts trying to figure out the source of the shot, and Jason yelled and helped his brother sit down.

Ashelin's eyes met Grant's, and they were full of confusion and loathing as he slowly raised his weapon. She fired again, this time getting him in the shoulder, and he fell backwards with the impact.

"Grant! Grant!" Jason cried. "Oh god..."

Two Pirates vaulted over the gate, one inadvertently kicking Ashelin in the side on his way down. She dropped the gun and rolled out of the way.

When she looked up, Jason had Grant's gun trained on her. His eyes were wild, and she knew the Pirates wouldn't get to him in time. She closed her eyes.

There was a shot, deafening and close. A delightfully familiar musk surrounded her and she opened her eyes. Vaas crouched next to her, gun in hand. She let out a shaky laugh, adrenaline pumping through her at how close she'd been to death.

Grant screamed obscenities as the Pirates carried him off, kicking his dead brother on the way by. But that was all in the background, dim and unreal.

Vaas ran a finger down her cheek. "You are brave and crazy, hermana," he whispered.