Read Online Highland Son (Highland Sorcery: A New Dawn) by Clover Autrey - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Clover Autrey
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heaviness of the memories he’d recalled pulling him down into the floor.
He’d seen… He squinted, trying to recall exactly what he’d seen. Alexander ripped apart by the beasts, yet not… He’d seen him saved. By the girl Jewel…and others he didn’t recognize. He twisted his wrists more forcefully against the rope, pulse flaring. He didn’t know what he’d seen. What to believe.
He had to get out of here. Get Ethan out of here. Find out if Alexander was… He tamped that fear down. No, he couldn’t be. Alexander was dead. He’d seen it. The other scenario was just his shocked mind trying to protect itself from the horrible reality of it. Yet…he wasn’t one to shy away from reality, no matter how horrific. You couldn’t survive what he had that way.
What if Alexander wasn’t dead? The kid was all right. He had to be.
A breath stuttered in his chest. “Alexander’s not dead,” he whispered as though saying it out loud made it fact. “He’s not dead.” He wouldn’t allow him to be.
That settled with himself, he shifted into survival mode.
Determined to do what had to be done, Dez pushed all emotion down to the hollow of his gut and went to work. He squeezed his eyes closed and allowed himself a moment to get it under control, get his pulse rate quieted and think about what he could do, not on what he had no control over.
Right now what he could do was get himself and Ethan out of here.
They were both bound by rope. By someone who knew what he was doing by the feel and non-giving of the knots. All right. No weakening the bonds out of this one. But Ethan still had his hidden knife, gods love the guy and his adoration for all weapons shiny, large or small.
Sheppard’s men hadn’t found the thin blade Ethan hid within the outside seam of his pants. Easy reach for him, undetectable for his enemies. It was barely the size of a nail, albeit sharp as any razor. Alexander had teased him mercilessly about the smallness of the blade, but Ethan had just shrugged it off with good humor, a waggle of his dark brows and a crack about not needing to compensate for anything. For a guy like Ethan, the thinnest blade, hidden, always on him, could offer the most security. It wouldn’t do much against the flesh of a Sift, but it wasn’t any Sift that still plagued Ethan’s nightmares.
And right now, if it was still there, it would get them out of this jam.
Priority: Get Ethan’s hidden toy of a knife.
Easy as pie.
Lying on his side, Dez scooted along the dirty floor. No easy task with his arms and legs bound, but at least he wasn’t secured to a pipe the same way Ethan was. He moved quiet and cautious, not sure if there was anyone outside the door who might hear any noise and come in to investigate.
He got his forehead mashed up against Ethan’s thigh, right above the bloody encrusted bandage where Sheppard had stabbed him. He squelched the new flash of anger boiling up in him—he’d deal with Sheppard later—and set his teeth against the bandage. The thin blade should be hidden just below it, that is if Sheppard’s men hadn’t found it when they tended to Ethan’s wound. However, by the look of it, they hadn’t done more than slap a swath of somebody’s old sleeve around it to stop the bleeding. Dez clenched his jaw in anger around the material.
The cloth was stiff and tasted of dirt and blood as he used his teeth to tug it down. It tore away from Ethan’s skin, reopening the wound. Ethan moaned, sagging farther forward, pulling his arms tight behind him. Dez paused, the material still in his teeth, waiting for Ethan to wake up, but he quieted into unconsciousness once again.
How long had he been out? He should have woken up before now.
He spit out the cloth. “Ethan? Come on, come around, buddy. I need you awake, man.”
Nothing. “Lazy arse, make me do everything.”
Grimacing against his own pounding skull, Dez tried to work the little blade free of the seam. It shouldn’t be this
He’d seen… He squinted, trying to recall exactly what he’d seen. Alexander ripped apart by the beasts, yet not… He’d seen him saved. By the girl Jewel…and others he didn’t recognize. He twisted his wrists more forcefully against the rope, pulse flaring. He didn’t know what he’d seen. What to believe.
He had to get out of here. Get Ethan out of here. Find out if Alexander was… He tamped that fear down. No, he couldn’t be. Alexander was dead. He’d seen it. The other scenario was just his shocked mind trying to protect itself from the horrible reality of it. Yet…he wasn’t one to shy away from reality, no matter how horrific. You couldn’t survive what he had that way.
What if Alexander wasn’t dead? The kid was all right. He had to be.
A breath stuttered in his chest. “Alexander’s not dead,” he whispered as though saying it out loud made it fact. “He’s not dead.” He wouldn’t allow him to be.
That settled with himself, he shifted into survival mode.
Determined to do what had to be done, Dez pushed all emotion down to the hollow of his gut and went to work. He squeezed his eyes closed and allowed himself a moment to get it under control, get his pulse rate quieted and think about what he could do, not on what he had no control over.
Right now what he could do was get himself and Ethan out of here.
They were both bound by rope. By someone who knew what he was doing by the feel and non-giving of the knots. All right. No weakening the bonds out of this one. But Ethan still had his hidden knife, gods love the guy and his adoration for all weapons shiny, large or small.
Sheppard’s men hadn’t found the thin blade Ethan hid within the outside seam of his pants. Easy reach for him, undetectable for his enemies. It was barely the size of a nail, albeit sharp as any razor. Alexander had teased him mercilessly about the smallness of the blade, but Ethan had just shrugged it off with good humor, a waggle of his dark brows and a crack about not needing to compensate for anything. For a guy like Ethan, the thinnest blade, hidden, always on him, could offer the most security. It wouldn’t do much against the flesh of a Sift, but it wasn’t any Sift that still plagued Ethan’s nightmares.
And right now, if it was still there, it would get them out of this jam.
Priority: Get Ethan’s hidden toy of a knife.
Easy as pie.
Lying on his side, Dez scooted along the dirty floor. No easy task with his arms and legs bound, but at least he wasn’t secured to a pipe the same way Ethan was. He moved quiet and cautious, not sure if there was anyone outside the door who might hear any noise and come in to investigate.
He got his forehead mashed up against Ethan’s thigh, right above the bloody encrusted bandage where Sheppard had stabbed him. He squelched the new flash of anger boiling up in him—he’d deal with Sheppard later—and set his teeth against the bandage. The thin blade should be hidden just below it, that is if Sheppard’s men hadn’t found it when they tended to Ethan’s wound. However, by the look of it, they hadn’t done more than slap a swath of somebody’s old sleeve around it to stop the bleeding. Dez clenched his jaw in anger around the material.
The cloth was stiff and tasted of dirt and blood as he used his teeth to tug it down. It tore away from Ethan’s skin, reopening the wound. Ethan moaned, sagging farther forward, pulling his arms tight behind him. Dez paused, the material still in his teeth, waiting for Ethan to wake up, but he quieted into unconsciousness once again.
How long had he been out? He should have woken up before now.
He spit out the cloth. “Ethan? Come on, come around, buddy. I need you awake, man.”
Nothing. “Lazy arse, make me do everything.”
Grimacing against his own pounding skull, Dez tried to work the little blade free of the seam. It shouldn’t be this
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