The man Thorn calls Beast comes in with a large pink duffel bag. It’s stuffed full, and slung over his shoulder. It’s a strange image: he’s one of the tallest men I’ve ever seen, and absolutely massive, with muscles that look like they’re not even made of human flesh but of some hard, unyielding material. I remember his face and his deep baritone voice from before. But when the Death Devils handed me over to the Lords of Carnage, at the time I was too afraid and confused to pay much attention to him until now.

Beast sets the pink bag down beside me on the couch. Then he unties my feet from the chair and raises himself up to his full height. “Gunner’s old lady said she hopes she thought of everything you’ll need,” he rumbles. “She said to have Thorn let her know if you want her to send you anything else next time someone comes up.”

Beast is almost like a monster — like some non-green version of the Incredible Hulk. But even so, he’s still being kinder than Thorn is being to me right now. I find myself wishing that he was the one in charge of me, instead of Thorn. I thought we were sort of starting to get along okay for a little bit, but right around the time I managed to fix my necklace he turned back into a surly asshole. Disappointment floods my chest for a few seconds, but then I remembered Thorn’s my captor, not my friend. So I guess it’s actually a blessing in disguise that he’s making it easier for me to hate him.

“Thank you!” I say, shooting Beast a shy smile. I go to the couch, unzip the duffel and look inside. There’s a bunch of clothing on top. I take out a women’s fitted t-shirt and hold it up; it looks like it will fit me, more or less. There’s a new pack of underwear, thank God, and some jeans and warm-looking socks. There’s a toothbrush, and even some floss — like my dental hygiene will be my biggest worry as a captive out here in the middle of nowhere. She’s even put in some face soap, and some shampoo and conditioner. I almost laugh at how thoughtful this is; it’s something I’m sure none of these men would even have thought to do. I’m oddly touched and grateful to have even these small comforts. Whoever the woman is who packed this bag, I can’t help thinking she must be nice.

As I keep digging down, my hand brushes something small and hard that I can’t identify. I grab onto it and pull it out. A Kindle! There’s even a charging cord wrapped around it. Turning it on, I see it’s fully charged, and loaded with books. From the eclectic look of the library, Gunner’s old lady has sent her own personal Kindle to me. Breathing a happy sigh, I send out a silent thank you to this stranger, who may have just saved me from going insane with boredom.

I get to the bottom of the bag, noting the other items that my kind stranger has packed for me, when it occurs to me that something’s missing.

“Oh no!” I murmur with disappointment.

“What?” Thorn barks impatiently.

“There aren’t any shoes in here.”

“What d’you need shoes for? You’re not going anywhere.” His voice is threatening.

“Why are you being such an ass?” I fire back.

“Oh, so now I’m being an ass, am I?”

“Yes, you most certainly are!” I say hotly. “What have I ever done to you, for you to treat me like this? Next to you, my father seems like Mary Poppins in comparison!”

“Yeah, well if it wasn’t for yer fuckin’ father, I wouldn’t be here right now, lookin’ after your sorry, ungrateful hide,” Thorn grimaces, irritated.

“Jesus, can the two of you stop bickering for a second?” Beast interrupts us. He looks at me, clearly amused. “You want me to ask Alix to send you some shoes the next time around?”

“Yes!” I say.

“No!” Thorn shouts at the same time.

“Fuck you!” I cry, stamping my foot at him. “Why can’t I just have a damn pair of shoes?”

“I don’t want you getting any stupid ideas about trying to escape.”

I round on him, fury almost choking me. “I would walk over hot coals in my bare feet to get away from you!” I scream. “Shoes or no shoes!”

I can’t stand it anymore. I hate being here with him. Grabbing the duffel, I fling the strap over my shoulder, flash a look of silent apology to Beast, and stomp into the single bedroom, slamming the door behind me.

Hurling myself down on the bed, I start to sob, hammering on the mattress with angry, useless fists. I hate being here, hate being so helpless and isolated and with this cocky asshole who acts like I’m the inconvenience, when I didn’t ask to be fucking kidnapped and held captive against my will. Even Beast, who is huge and freaking terrifying, isn’t acting like he blames me for all of this like Thorn seems to.

I lie there and cry out my frustrations and anger. Eventually, I hear the front door slam and the roar of an engine starting up. Once again, I’m alone with Thorn. For a second, I consider flinging open the window and running after Beast, to beg him to take me with him. But I know there’s no point. Tiredly, I haul myself up into a sitting position and reach for the duffel. One by one, I take all the objects out and set them out on the bed. I stack the shirts together, and open the packages of underwear and socks. I hold up the two pairs of jeans she’s included. They’re a little bit short, but it looks like they’ll fit, more or less. I peel off Thorn’s shirt and sweats and put on a tank top, one of the pairs of jeans, and some thick, fluffy socks. The only bra I have is the strapless one I was wearing under my dress, and it’s in the bathroom still. Damn. I should have asked Beast for a bra in the next shipment, but I probably wouldn’t have been able to bring myself to say the word bra to him, anyway. My face flushing at the thought, I pull on a warm-looking hoodie over the tank for warmth and more coverage of my boobs.

When I’m done getting dressed, I want to just stay here in this bedroom, away from Thorn. But after I’ve put all of the contents of the duffel into the top drawer of the small dresser under the window, there’s nothing else in here for me to do. Stupidly, I left the Kindle out in the living room on the coffee table.

Anger boiling inside me, I snatch up Thorn’s T-shirt and sweats and open the bedroom door, intending to throw his clothes in his face. When I get out into the main room, he’s in the kitchen, talking on the phone with his back to me. I pause in mid-throw, defeated. My dramatic gesture won’t have as much of an impact if he doesn’t even see it. Going over to the couch, I snatch up the Kindle. But instead of flouncing back into the bedroom right away, I decide to linger, and try to catch what I can of the conversation. I perch on the armrest of the couch pretend to start looking through the library on the device.

“… some of the brothers to stand guard… No, at this point I don’t think there’s any reason. What did Oz say?… Yeah. I’ll be talking to him about that… Understood. All right.”

Thorn turns to look at me when he’s finished talking. His eyes briefly register that I’ve changed clothes, then flick away.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“What d’you mean?”

“You were asking about my father. What did he say?”

“Club business,” he mutters.

I roll my eyes. “Oh, brother. Yeah, I know that drill. Women are too stupid or fragile to know anything.”

“Not that you deserve a fucking answer to that,” he fires back, “but this isn’t even your father’s club. Why the hell would I tell you anything about it?”

“Fine,” I huff. I snatch up his T-shirt and sweats from the couch where I’ve dropped them and hurl them at him. But since I’m sitting down I don’t get enough of a windup, and they hit him at thigh level before falling limply at his feet. Thorn gives me a disgusted look and picks them up.

“Christ,” he murmurs. “I’m going outside to chop some wood. We’re almost out of heating oil. Don’t…”

“Ugh, I know. Don’t get any ideas of escaping.” I suppress the urge to scream in annoyance. “Seriously, Thorn, let it go! Where the hell would I escape to, anyway? You said yourself I wouldn’t survive it if I tried.”

He flashes me a look and stomps out the front door, slamming it behind him. I take a deep breath and let it out, savoring the fact that for just a few minutes, I’m blissfully alone.

Which leaves me to contemplate a way to escape in peace.

Okay, so I have no idea where I am. And sure, I still don’t have any shoes.

But, I now have multiple pairs of thick, warm socks. And a sweatshirt. And more clothes. If I layer them, I should manage to stay warm enough to stave off the cold. I just need to figure out the most logical direction to walk, and time it so I have as much time as possible before Thorn realizes I’m gone.

I can do this. I can.

All I need is a plan.