Forbidden Hunger by R.L. Kenderson

Twenty-Nine

Siya’s phonealmost didn’t wake her from her sleep, but she was glad it had because the last person she’d ever expected was on the other end.

“Hello?” Her voice was groggy, and she cleared her throat. “Hello?” she said again, clearer this time.

“Is this Siya?”

She frowned. The voice sounded young. “This is she. Who is this?”

“This is Emery.”

Siya froze as her heart started to pound.

“From the hospital,” the girl continued, probably assuming her lack of response was because Siya had forgotten who she was.

“Yes, honey, I remember you. Are you okay?”

“Yes. No. I mean, I’m not hurt or anything, but I need help. Can you come and get me?”

Siya froze again. This was a huge ask.

“I’m sorry to ask you, but I don’t know if my mom will answer after I ran away, and I really don’t want to stay here anymore.” Emery’s voice was cracking now.

“Of course I will come and get you.” Siya threw back the covers of Ram’s bed and quickly yanked on some clothes.

Emery sighed. “Thank you. Monica’s gone, and the guy she left in charge fell asleep. I stole his phone off of him and used his ugly face to unlock it, but he’s going to need it back soon.”

“Do you know where you are?” Siya held her breath, not knowing what to do if she didn’t have a way to find the girl.

“Yes. They hide the regular mail, but they keep throwing junk mail in the garbage, as if that doesn’t have an address on it.”

Siya frantically searched Ram’s room until she found a pen and piece of paper. “Okay, give it to me.”

Emery rattled off the address, and Siya repeated it back to her.

“That’s correct.”

“Okay. Hold on one second.” She put the phone on speaker, pulled up her Maps app, and typed in the address. She groaned. “Okay, it looks like it’ll be a good twenty minutes before I can be there.” She knew it could be worse, but it could also be better. “I’ll come as fast as I can. Until then, I want you to delete my number from the Recent call list, put the phone back, and pretend like everything is normal. You don’t want the guy watching you to suspect something if he wakes up. Can you do that for me?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I’m leaving now. I will see you soon.”

Siya hung up her phone, and then she realized that she still needed to get out of the bunkhouse somehow. It was easier without Ram there, but the sentinels were supposed to be keeping an eye on her. But really, they couldn’t hold her hostage if she actually wanted to leave.

She opened the door and quietly left Ram’s room, closing the door behind her in case someone walked by. Continuing toward the exit, she tried not to act too quiet, so that it wouldn’t look suspicious if someone caught her tiptoeing down the hall. She was almost to the living room and kitchen when Demi came around the corner.

“Hey, what are you doing awake?”

Flinging an arm up, Siya put her finger to her lips. “Shh.”

Demi’s eyes widened. “What’s up?” she whispered.

Biting her lip, she contemplated what to do. Burst past Demi and risk being stopped by her? Or take a few extra minutes to tell her what was going on?

The latter seemed like the best and fastest option in the end, so Siya grabbed Demi’s hand and pulled her into Ram’s bedroom.

“Don’t tell anyone, but Emery called me. Monica is away, and Emery asked me to come and pick her up.”

Demi gasped. “Oh my God.”

“Exactly. I need to go now before Monica gets back.” Siya moved to go around Demi but was stopped by her friend’s hand. “What are you doing?”

“How do you know it’s really her?”

“I recognized her voice.”

“Okay, but how did she get your number?”

Oh crap.That was a good question.

“It could be a trap.”

That thought had crossed Siya’s mind but, “I don’t care, and I really don’t think it is. No matter what anyone says, I am not that important to Monica, and she hasn’t come after me yet. Plus, I heard Emery’s voice. She was scared. So, it might be a trap. But what if it isn’t? I’d feel far worse, not going there and finding out Emery needed me, instead of the other way around.”

“I don’t like this.”

“You don’t have to like it. It’s my decision.”

Demi sighed. “Fine, I’ll go with you.”

“No. What if you get hurt?”

Demi rolled her eyes. “Says the human to the half-shifter.”

“Okay, you have a point. But—”

“No buts. I’m going.”

Siya didn’t want to argue with her best friend, and she really could use Demi’s nose and ears. “Fine, but we need to go now.”

“I’ll get my shoes.”

Siya opened her door and almost screamed when she saw Tegan standing on the other side.

“Going somewhere?”

Siya’s shoulders sagged. “Not you, too. I don’t have time for this.”

“Let’s go then.”

“But you don’t know what’s going on,” Siya pointed out.

“You talk loud. I heard it all.”

“And you’re not going to tell on me?”

“Tell on you? What are you, a child?”

“You know what I mean.”

Tegan smiled. “No, I’m not going to tell on you. And this way, if I go, you have protection. You are going to let me check out the area before you get out of the car though. Understood?”

Siya nodded. “Understood.”

“Okay, where are we going?”

* * *

“This place looks straight out of a horror movie,” Demi said.

Siya had to agree. They had pulled off a highway, onto a gravel road, and were now several yards away from a long gravel driveway. “If I die tonight, tell my mother and father I love them.”

Tegan snorted. “You’re not going to die.”

Siya hoped not, but she wasn’t absolutely positive. Tegan had pulled deep into the brush, shut off the car, and turned off the headlights. With no streetlights and only a sliver of moon, it was very dark out there.

“I hope you two know that I can’t see as well as you. I’m not sure how we’re going to make it in the dark.”

“We’re going to follow the driveway. No one else is going to be on foot, so we can easily hide in the grass if we hear a vehicle,” Tegan said.

That would make it easier.

They got out and started on the path to the house. The only sounds they heard were the crickets chirping and their shoes on the gravel. It seemed incredibly loud to Siya’s human ears, and she could only imagine Monica standing outside, just waiting for them to show up.

Finally, the house came into view, and it was clean and well kept. Lights shone through the drawn curtained windows.

“Oh,” Demi said. “I pictured it being a lot scarier.”

“Same,” Siya agreed.

There was a cute wraparound porch with a couple of rocking chairs.

“You two watch too much TV. A nice, clean house will draw much less attention than a run-down one.”

“Oh.” That actually made a lot of sense.

“But I need you to stay here while I do a perimeter check.” Tegan pointed a finger at them. “Do not go anywhere.”

“Got it,” Siya said, and Demi nodded as Tegan took off.

She was back within a matter of minutes. “Okay, there’s a single vehicle in the garage. I did spot only one guy who I’m assuming is who Emery was talking about. But we have a problem.”

Siya’s heart sank. “What?”

“Emery isn’t the only one in there. I’m not surprised there’s more than one girl, but I didn’t know there would be so many. I would estimate at least a dozen. There is no way we can get them all out of here without a bigger truck or more transportation.”

“What are we going to do now?” Demi asked.

“I have an idea.”

The three women froze at the sound of a feminine voice that hadn’t come from one of them.

They slowly turned in the direction of the voice, and the woman from the hospital came into view.

Monica sneered when she saw Siya. “Stupid human, just can’t mind your own business.”

They were screwed, and all Siya could think was how much she wished Ram were there.