Their forced luna

Amanda

Cee didn't stop me from leaving her room. All she did was silently watch me.

And all I could do was pray that she didn't try to report me before I got out. I hesitated outside the door. Should I try to free more women? I wanted to. I didn't want anyone to suffer the fate the maid had before. Was there any saving her or had she already been killed?

I forced myself forward, pressed against the wall. I didn't have time to worry about others. I needed to focus on myself and getting out of here. I couldn't let my mates be hurt. The carpet ate the sound of my travel so I rushed down the hallway, checking each of the doors. There had to be a way out of here.

All of the doors were locked. I ended up back in the hallway where the maid had been left to her fate. I shuddered to see the wind still swirling through the bubble. I couldn't see through it, but I could almost imagine the inside of that blasted thing was tinged red.

I wished I could reach my wolf but she remained silent and Ares remained out of my reach. What I wouldn't do to have that wolf take my body over again and get me out of this nightmare.

"You're leaving?"

I froze.

Mitsi was huddled against the wall. Her eyes were locked on her fellow employee. Or slave was a better answer for what was going on in this case. Her eyes flickered to me before remaining focused. "She was new here. I was supposed to teach her the ropes."

"I'm sorry," I whispered. I wasn't sure what I should say in this kind of situation. But no one deserved the type of death the maid had gotten.

"You can't leave, Amanda. If you leave... He'll kill others." She gulped. "Please, don't do this to me."

I didn't hesitate. I crossed over to her and crouched, grabbing her wrist in a loose hold. "Come with me. I can get us both out of here. It's our only chance. Aren is distracted and my mates are strong. They'll keep him away from us long enough for this to work. Listen, Mitsi, I know we can get away. Please."

She looked from me to the door and back. She bit her bottom lip so hard that blood pearled. "Do you really think we'll make it?" she whimpered more than whispered the words. "What about those things in the forest? No one ever gets away..."

"Has anything ever happened that Aren had to completely leave this place to take care of it himself?" I challenged back.

Mitsi's eyes widened. "No," she answered. "Never."

I nodded. "See? That show's he's worried. If we can get out of this place I know we'll be okay." I tugged on her wrist. "Please."

She nodded slightly and scrambled to her feet. "And the monsters?"

I was hoping she would have given up on those. "I've got a weapon against those. But I need to be out of this house. Mitsi, you've worked here. Can you show me the way out? We can both run for it. You don't have to give birth here and let that man do anything to your baby."

She looked down at her little bump then back to me. A new light was in her eyes. "I'll go with you." She put her hand in mine. "Come, I know the best way to get out."

I smiled back at her. Hope fluttered inside me. Soon I would be out of this place and with my mates. I was positive that even as a cat shifter, Mitsi would have a better life with me than here. "Lead the way."

She didn't need any more urging. She ran with me down another hallway. This one wasn't as elaborate as the one I had been drug before. If anything, this one was dingy. Was this the place he kept his servants? The walls had flakes of dirt near the wooden rafters and I think I even saw a spider up there.

"Sorry," Mitsi apologized. "We're so busy cleaning the rest of the mansion that we don't have time for our area. But here we are." She opened the door and we entered a room filled with laundry supplies. She walked to the wall had a pull bar installed in it. "We feed the things outside here. If they really are distracted, we can use it then run before they find us." she paused. "But, it'll make it easy for them to hunt us. Our scent will be everywhere."

"I'll take care of it." I hoped that everything worked like I assumed it would. But even if everything went to hell, we'd make it through somehow. I grabbed the bar and pulled it down. A wave of hot smelly air hit me and I wrinkled my nose. Raw meat should have been appealing, but this stuff was almost burnt. It stung my nose. I pulled it all the way open and stared into the square pit. "Let's go, Mitsi. We can do this."

She nodded. I held the door open for her and she climbed into it, and holding her stomach, she plunged through the hole. I took a deep breath and scrambled after her. The door squeaked shut behind me and left me in the inky black. I wriggled a bit on the slide and let gravity do its work.

I was able to keep from screaming as I plummeted down the short shoot, but after I landed on a pile of laundry, I looked around for Mitsi. She was beside the wall, almost clinging to the brick and staring at the sky.

"Did you do this?" I questioned her, pointing to the laundry.

Mitsi gave me a small smile. "I thought you might try to run, and you've been nice to me. I wanted to help you too." she turned and looked back at the sky. Out in the distance a series of howls echoed around the area.

They were close, far too close.

"Come on," I ordered grabbing her hand. I didn't feel anything from Ares yet, but I would get us through this. I had to.