38

My head crashed against a hard surface, waking me with an unpleasant jolt. The disorientating throbbing in my skull meant it took me a moment to realise I was in trouble.

Murky darkness surrounded me. The floor lurched and bumped.

Crap.

I was in a moving vehicle. The back of a transit van, if I had to guess by the hard, plastic covered floor that I was currently bouncing on with no way to break each fall. My hands were secured behind my back in what felt like a tight plastic zip-tie. My ankles were similarly restrained.

It smelled like bleach – that wasn't good. What was this van used for that would require intensive cleaning?

All the macabre possibilities swam in my mind, mostly involving blood and body parts.

I had to get a grip.

Maybe it belonged to a regular cleaning service. Or perhaps the owner was just fastidious about their vehicle upkeep.

A heavy snore told me that I wasn't alone in the murky light of the vehicle. Manoeuvring with a combination of shuffles and rolls I finally bumped into Lucas's prone form. He was still sound asleep, and unharmed if the even breathing and warmth of contentment that he emitted were anything to go by.

That vodka had really done a number on us.

A couple of prods were rewarded only with a grunt and a shift away from my pointy finger. The movement was enough to topple him over, causing a similar head bump to the one that had woken me.

"What the hell!" Lucas exclaimed, straining against the zip-ties that restricted his limbs.

"Shhh, don't draw their attention."

"Alice?"

"Yes, shhh," I whispered.

Lucas stilled, the reality of our predicament filtering into his consciousness, just as it had mine.

A few seconds of silence followed as we both tried to pick up any clues to the identity of our captors and the direction that we were travelling.

It was impossible, all I could hear was the whoosh of the tires on a well tarmacked road. We were likely on the motorway, which meant that we could be going anywhere.

"How long have we been driving?" Lucas asked, lowering his voice so we wouldn't be heard in the van's cab.

"No idea. I only woke a couple of minutes before you."

"Shit."

"Exactly."

Lucas struggled against his restraints for a few minutes, until reaching the same conclusion that I had.

We were trapped.

And defenceless.

"I should be able to break these," he said.

Lucas closed his eyes and focused inwards. I could feel his power stir, wild and hot. A vein in his forehead bulged with the effort. His face went a deep shade of red.

Nothing happened.

"Give it up, you'll do yourself an injury," I said, worried that he would cause an embolism and leave me to face our abductors alone.

"They've done something to me. I can't change."

Change?

I had to swallow my questions. Now was so not the time.

Instead, I followed Lucas's example and tried to call my power. Focusing on unwinding it from the tight coils that I had formed around my insides to keep it in check, I realised that it wasn't responding.

It was still there, I could feel it, tense and tightly wound. But it wouldn't listen to me. Panic crept through my veins, thick and cold and all consuming. There was still no response from inside me. I was so used to the constant hum and buzz that I hadn't for one minute considered that it wouldn't come when I was threatened.

We really were in trouble. I was going to have to figure a way out of this mess, and I was going to have to do it with no magic and a nasty hangover.

"We only drank one bottle, right?"

"Yeah, and it's never had that effect on me before. Did we, er, do anything?" Lucas asked, looking away with a sheepish expression on his handsome face.

"The worst we did was a bad rendition of a Doris Day song."

"What?"

"You heard me. What made you sing 'By the Light of the Silvery Moon'? I'd have never had you down as a Doris fan."

Lucas had an expression of intense concentration on his face, while he tried to remember. The effort looked painful.

"You said that your power was silver. Mine comes from the moon. I just put the two together. Don't you think we have more important things to discuss?"

"Sure," I said, taking pity on him.

There was something bugging me. With all I knew of Roger, it wouldn't surprise me if he kept a bottle of booze drugged with GHB or some other date rape drug. I'd seen what that man fantasised about.

"Roger may have been keeping that bottle for a purpose. I think it was drugged," I said, letting Lucas in on my theory.

"No, that was my booze," he said, shaking his head.

"You keep your own stash in Roger's library?"

"The house belongs to my organisation. Roger rented it, along with our security services for the purpose of the gala. It's common practice. He wouldn't invite so many enemies into his own house."

I thought about that in silence for a few moments. There was definitely something up with that vodka, and that meant there was only one other explanation.

It was an inside job.

"Are you still working for him?"

"Don't be stupid," Lucas replied calmly. "If I'd have wanted to take you, I could have done it without giving myself this cracker of a hangover."

"Who did it then. Who drugged the bottle, and who the hell is driving the van?"

As if on queue, the van veered and slowed, taking the exit from the motorway.

"Looks like we're about to find out."

I scooted next to Lucas, figuring better the devil you know. Totally unashamed, I sheltered behind his large body. Lucas was a powerful man, even without his supernatural power. I, on the other hand, was a clumsy, uncoordinated liability.

And I wasn't ashamed to own it.

Luckily, Lucas didn't seem concerned that I was using him as a human shield. In fact, he angled his body so that it better covered mine.

We sat that way for twenty more minutes until the car finally slowed. Shoulders, hips and thighs touching. Even though he was without his power, whatever that was, Lucas still managed to push warmth and comfort into me.

When we stopped I held my breath, nausea bubbling in my stomach from anticipation. Lucas's body tensed, waiting for the attack that we were both certain was going to come from the van's back doors.

The driver and passenger's doors slammed shut as the crunch of gravel signalled footsteps coming around each side of the vehicle. The seconds ticked by, feeling like hours. The smell of fresh cigarette smoke mingled with the bleach that permeated the van's upholstery. I swallowed the vomit that rose into my mouth. I wasn't even sure if it was the hangover or just plain old fear that made me sick.

Finally the door cracked open, and daylight streamed over us. I winced, my eyes not used to the brightness after so long in the grimy light of the van. Before I could focus properly, Lucas shifted.

As he pushed me down, I got a peek of what he was trying to save me from. A grotesque face with twisted features brought a hefty cudgel down on the back of Lucas's head. He slumped on top of me, trapping me when he'd meant to protect.

I braced myself for the impact of the cudgel, turning my head so that it wouldn't smash my face to pieces. I didn't know if I would survive the blow, but I wanted to be recognisable so that my friends could identify me.

It never came.

Light filled the doorway as the gargoyle retreated. Twisting around to check Lucas's pulse, I felt a sharp prick in my neck. So concerned with the threat from the nasty gargoyle, I hadn't noticed a thin, pale arm sneak in at the bottom of the door.

Consciousness faded, just as I felt the shallow beat of Lucas's heart on my cheek.

What new enemies are these? And where the hell have Alice and Lucas been taken? Hope you're enjoying the story. Every vote and comment is very much appreciated. ❤️