moved into the light.
“See to it this man has food—good food—then a bath. Tell no one. If my brothers ask what you are about, tell them to see me.”
“Aye, milady.” Boyd bowed before leading the woman away with his torch.
A moment later, Quinn was alone again, basking in the cheer of real hope—for food and a bath, at least. Hope for survival was close, but he didn’t dare reach for it. It might just disappear. And if he really thought he might live, he’d have to start thinking about what he was going to do with that life.
What in the world could he do? How could he tell Ewan that he’d had a change of heart and wanted to go home, to live the life he was meant to live instead of hiding in the past and mourning his wife in peace?
The image of the witch’s hole popped into his head. Of course he couldn’t go back. He had a role to play. A promise to keep. And if he went back, he’d be facing Jillian and her husband. He’d have to deal with his dreams of her.
That cursed dream! It made him want to live, then made the living unbearable.
God help him.
CHAPTER TEN
Chocolate did not make a good weapon when dealing with a hungry animal. When dealing with a hungry child, yes. Wolf, not so much.
Jules wasn’t a mace-and-pepper-spray kind of girl. She found that a few wisely chosen insults can hurt a thug’s feelings enough to make one back away when necessary. And in extreme cases, dropping Gabby’s name had been the only weapon she’d needed to carry. She knew he was considered a tough guy. But reputation and actions were two different things. Or so she’d thought. Turned out he was just a ruthless as people thought he was.
“I don’t suppose you’ll leave me alone just because I’m like a daughter to Gabby Skedros.”
The wolf showed its teeth and snarled conversationally.
“I didn’t think so.”
Why in the world couldn’t she have been a pepper-spray kind of girl! But no. She’d been a physics major, waiting tables at Gabby’s restaurant, Papa’s, in New York. And physics wasn’t a great weapon either.
Or was it?
The wolf was stalling. It was containing her. Probably waiting for the rest of its pack to arrive. She’d be ripped to pieces if that happened. Her best chance was against one wolf. And if Gabby’s man happened to find her now, even with his gun, chances were he’d let the wolves have her and save the bullet. Besides, he’d already told her she would regret locking him in that dark cellar.
So. One wolf. In no hurry to attack her. So she’d attack him. She could do it—she was so bat-shit scared there was enough adrenaline shooting through her veins she could jump ten feet in the air and land in a tree before the wolf thought to stop her. Of course she wasn’t willing to test it.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a long stick. It had little bark left, so it nearly glowed in the darkness, like a weapon sent from Zeus. And she wasn’t about to second guess Zeus.
She circled slowly. The wolf mirrored her steps. Another wolf howled—not so far away this time. The first wolf stepped closer.
“Aw, now, don’t jump the gun,” she cooed as she bent down for the weapon. It was far too light. There would be little strength in it. Her mind raced, searching for formulas, guessing at torque. If she could get the thing to bite down hard on the side of the stick, she could turn it quickly, maybe twist its neck. Scare the hell out of it.
Maybe. But it was a much more feasible plan than jumping up into a tree.
She refused to consider how surreal this moment was, that she was here, in these woods she’d wandered for days, without fearing wild animals. In the future, these woods had been a bit closer to society. But here, there was no society. The land was still wild.
This isn’t real, she thought, as she swung the stick like a baseball bat, wishing it was a crowbar. The wolf dodged away, then came back mad. Its growl could probably be heard a mile away and it promised that his friends were a lot more dangerous than hers.
She didn’t have a plan B, so she swung at it again. This time, the jaws clamped down on it in triumph. She tugged at it to make sure