I saved my thumb for Duke. Because a hand couldn’t function without a thumb. He was the glue that bound them all. The reason I was locked up and battered. Whatever they wanted from me, it all hinged around him.
“Five people?” Nicoli guessed and I nodded then pointed at him. “Five men,” he corrected and I nodded again, my lips tight as I finished buttoning up the shirt.
I opened my hand again, showing him five fingers once more then putting down my little pinky. I ran my index finger across my throat.
“One of them is dead?” Nicoli asked.
I placed my hands together in a prayer and gave him an intent look. I really fucking hope so.
“When this storm stops, I’ll take you off the mountain. You can talk to the police if you want?”
My heart jolted and I shook my head quickly, mouthing no.
Nicoli frowned, a line forming on his brow. “The police can help you, Winter.”
I ground my jaw, shaking my head firmly and raising my hand once more. I put my fingers down one at a time, giving him a fierce look and telling him with my eyes, not until they’re all dead.
His shoulders tensed and his eyes became shadowed. “You’d best get some sleep, you can have my bed.” He gestured to it, pretending he hadn’t understood me, but I had a feeling he had. If he thought he was going to drag me down the mountain tomorrow, he was sorely mistaken. I might have been a waif of a girl, but I had an unbreakable soul. And once I was strong enough physically, I’d find a way to bring those men to their knees. I just needed the right weapon to do it.
Nicoli tugged the covers back on his bed and I eyed the huge mattress with trepidation.
I slipped past him, snatching a blanket off the end of it and heading across the cabin to curl up on the floor beside the wall. I wouldn’t be able to sleep in that giant marshmallow. As much as I hated to admit it, The Five had broken me in a few ways. And this was one of them. Sleep would only come on a hard floor. It was the only constant I knew.
“Take the bed, baby doll,” Nicoli pressed, a note of concern wrapping around an edge of insistence.
I shook my head, tugging my single blanket over my shoulder as I rolled to face the wall. After a while, I heard him move back through the room and settle on the couch. He started playing his song again and the tension ran out of my body with every strum of the strings.
For once, I felt safe. And it was such a sweet feeling, I let myself drown and drown in it, hoping I could take it with me into my dreams.
I shifted uncomfortably on the couch, tugging a cushion out from under me and tossing it onto the floor with a grunt. I moved up onto my elbows, glancing across the room to my bed which lay empty while Winter remained on the floor with only one thin blanket covering her.
I could have just moved back to my bed, but I wanted her to be able to claim it if she woke in the night, as uncomfortable as I was.
I groaned as I stretched my arms above my head, working a few kinks out of my spine as I pushed myself upright.
Tyson was lying before the door, his feet twitching as he dreamed of chasing rabbits, or maybe it was mountain lions knowing him.
I pushed myself up to stand and pulled on a pair of sweatpants as I moved to claim a glass of water from the sink but before I could get there, Tyson bolted upright and released a low growl.
I froze, turning to my faithful companion and frowning as he leapt up and placed his feet on the windowsill, ducking his head beneath the curtain and baring his teeth as he looked out into the blizzard.
I moved to his side, pulling the curtain back and straining my ears as I gazed out into the dark woods, the glow of the snow illuminating the landscape through the blizzard. I watched the trees with a prickle of anticipation rolling down my spine and the light from a flashlight suddenly caught my gaze.
Tyson growled again, his hackles rising and I pushed away from the window, striding towards Winter where she lay sleeping by the wall.