Violet’s small frame was crammed into the back corner of the cage as though she was trying to put distance between her body and the door. Anger bit at my insides as I realized she was naked.

The jerk hadn’t given her any clothes when she shifted back.

My gaze trailed over her, searching for any signs he might have hurt her. One of her legs was tucked underneath her chin while the other lay fully extended in front of her. Bruises and scratches marred her skin, but it was the sight of her ankle on the extended leg that had a gasp forcing its way past my lips. It was bloody, swollen, and mangled. Had she broken her ankle while trying to fight off Drew? Or did he break it while attempting to get her in her cage?

It didn’t matter how it happened. All that mattered was that she wouldn’t be able to walk out of here on her own.

“Violet,” I whispered. Her eyes were closed. I prayed she was sleeping as I started toward her. “Violet, it’s Mina.” Still, she didn’t budge.

“This is some cage,” Eli whispered. He trailed the flashlight along the height of it. “It’s built solid.”

“Do you think we’ll be able to get her out?” There wasn’t a padlock to bust open this time. We would need a key. Panic started to set in. “We have to get her out, Eli. Look at her ankle.”

“I know,” Eli muttered, but his focus was still on the cage. “It’s not made out of silver. He used iron instead. Drew knows more about us than he should.”

Eli shifted his attention to the two empty cages on either side of Violet’s. From the looks of them, it was clear they hadn’t always been empty. Dried blood crusted the cement floor and claw marks scarred it. Each cage housed the same items—a bucket in the back corner and a ratty blanket on the floor. My gaze drifted back to Violet’s cage. Sure enough, there was a bucket in the corner and a ratty blanket beneath her.

Had Glenn been held here too? Was the blood in the cage to the left of Violet’s his? If so, where was he now? And how many others had come through here?

Maybe Violet would know something.

“Violet!” I whispered, louder this time. She needed to wake up. I needed to know she was able to, that she was okay. “It’s Mina and Eli. We’re here to take you home.”

I tried the door, hoping we’d get lucky and it would be unlocked as Eli continued to stare the craftsmanship of each cage. It didn’t budge.

“We need to find something to pick the lock. My bolt cutters aren’t going to do us any good. The bars on the cage are too thick to cut.” Eli flashed light around the room, searching for something that might work.

When he backtracked to the shelf near the washer and dryer, I followed.

“Tell me what I should be looking for,” I said as I bent at the waist to scour the bottom shelf first.

“Anything metal and sharp.”

Nothing stood out. There were a couple of rusted hammers, some stacks of old newspapers covered in mildew, a coffee container filled with rusty nails, and another filled with electrical wire nuts.

“All I’ve found is some rusty nails,” I said as I held up the container. “Think you can pick the lock with one?”

“Maybe,” Eli insisted. He took the container from me. “Might work better than the Phillips screwdriver I found.”

“We need a small flathead,” I said as I adjusted his arm with the light so I could see more of the shelving unit.

“You know what a Phillips screwdriver is?”

“Umm, my dad is a mechanic, remember?” I scoffed.

“Doesn’t mean you have to know the difference between a Phillips and a flathead.”

“I’m not a complete idiot,” I insisted as I rifled through a cardboard box.

“I never said you were. I’m just surprised is all,” Eli said as he set the coffee can of nails on the dryer and started rifling through it for the biggest nail. “You surprise me sometimes.”

“You surprise me sometimes too,” I said without looking at him as I opened the final cardboard box. It was filled with old, rotting paint brushes someone hadn’t let dry properly before putting away.

I stepped back from the shelves and placed my hands on my hips. My body temperature rose as my pulse quickened. There had to be at least one flathead screwdriver lying around. They were a dime a dozen in everyone’s house. It was a standard.

A brown bag near the top shelf caught my eye. A wide grin spread onto my face because it looked an awful lot like a tool bag. I stood on the tips of my toes, but still wasn’t able to reach it. I reached for the ladder propped against the wall and positioned it where I needed it. It squeaked loudly when I extended it fully, and I cringed, hoping the noise hadn’t echoed through the basement and caught Drew’s attention.

“What are you doing?” Eli asked as I moved the ladder closer to the shelving unit. “We need to be quiet still.”

“I know. I wasn’t trying to make noise. There’s something up there, though. It looks like a tool bag. Maybe there’s a small flathead screwdriver we could use inside,” I said as I started up the ladder. “Do you know how to pick a lock?”

“Of course,” Eli muttered, but there didn’t seem to be much confidence behind his words.

My stomach rolled. This was going to take way longer than I would like.

When I reached the top of the ladder, I realized it wasn’t tall enough for me to reach the tool bag without standing on the very top rung. Since I didn’t feel comfortable doing so, I remained one rung below and stretched as far as I could. My fingertips brushed the rough, leathery pouch, but it was still just out of my reach.

“Get down,” Eli insisted. “Let me get it.”

I refused to listen. Instead, I held my breath as I stretched myself as far as I could, standing on the tips of my toes. I pinched the bag and was able to pull it to the edge of the shelf. Something inside of it shifted, oddly distributing its weight and causing it to slip off the shelf. With reflexes I hadn’t known I harbored, I caught it before it hit the floor and climbed down. Once both of my feet were on the ground, I peeked inside.

“What’s in it?” Eli asked.

My lips curved into a shit eating grin. “Ta da,” I said as I pulled a tiny flathead screwdriver out. “I knew there had to be one somewhere in all this junk.”

“All right, let’s see if we can get her door open now.” Eli took the screwdriver and handed me the flashlight back. “Shine the light steady on the lock for me.”

I followed him to Violet’s cage and adjusted the light so he could work without shadows. My gaze drifted to Violet. She hadn’t moved since we found her. I hoped there wasn’t anything wrong with her, like a head injury. Her ankle would keep her from shifting into wolf form, but there was something else keeping her from waking.

Had Drew drugged her?

Goose bumps prickled across my skin. What would be the purpose of drugging her? To keep her quiet? Placid? Was he really that afraid of what she was? If so, maybe we could use that to our advantage. Maybe we could scare the shit out of him, so he left our pack alone.

As Eli worked on picking the lock to Violet’s cage, I tried to think of how we could go about scaring Drew. What if scaring him wasn’t enough? He had done horrible things, and he needed to pay for them. We could beat him up before we left. We could kill him. Turn him over to the police for kidnapping Violet. Burn his house down with him still passed out in the recliner.

Darker and darker thoughts took up residency in my mind, but nothing seemed as though it would be enough.

The only thing I could decide on was the fact that I wasn’t walking away from this house without retaliating against Drew for what he had done. He and his brothers needed to know they couldn’t get away with what they were doing any longer. They needed to know there were consequences. Ones I was willing to dish out.

A click echoed through the basement, pulling me from my thoughts.

Eli had done it. He’d picked the lock on Violet’s cage.

“Got it.” He grinned at me from over his shoulder. “Let’s get Violet and get the hell out of here.”

Eli swung the cage door open. I expected Violet to stir from the noise, but she didn’t. There was something wrong with her. Was she dead? My heart pounded in my throat as Eli grew closer to her. I propped a discarded bucket against the cage door to keep it open before stepping inside, not wanting to take any chances it might swing shut and trap us.

“Violet,” Eli said as he crouched down beside her. His voice was soft and soothing, but it still didn’t do anything to stir her awake. “Hey, we’re here to take you home.” He touched her shoulder, but she still remained unresponsive.

“Is she alive?” I asked in a small voice.

Eli moved his fingers to take her pulse along the side of her neck. “Yeah.”

Thank God.

“Do you think Drew drugged her then?”

“Yeah, I think the bastard did.”

“Do you think he did anything else to her?” My eyes raked over her naked body, taking in her multiple bruises and cuts as my teeth ground together. I couldn’t even think about it.

“I hope not, but I don’t think we’ll know for sure until she wakes.”

My free hand clenched into a fist at my side. “He needs to pay for what he did. Are we going to do anything to him before we leave?” I had to know what Eli was thinking.

“Oh yeah,” he insisted. He smoothed Violet’s damp hair away from her face. “I haven’t decided what yet, though.”

“Me either.”

“Violet, hey,” Eli whispered, trying to rouse her again. She didn’t budge. “Come on, wake up. It’s time to go. We need to get out of here.” He tapped her cheek repeatedly. She groaned but never opened her eyes.

Maybe she couldn’t. Maybe whatever Drew had given her wouldn’t let her, no matter how hard she tried. It sucked because while I had counted on having to help her walk out of here, I hadn’t thought Eli would have to carry her. What if Drew spotted us and tried to stop us?

I guess I’d have to go toe-to-toe with him.

“Come on. You can do it. Wake up,” Eli insisted as he rubbed her shoulder. She groaned again and this time attempted to lift her arm. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to wake up or push him away thinking he was Drew. Either way, she didn’t manage much of anything. Her rubbery arm fell to her lap and remained motionless as she drifted back to sleep. “She’s not going to wake up. I’ll have to carry her.”

“Okay, you focus on getting her up and out of the cage, and I’ll see if I can find a weapon to use in case we need it.”

I exited the cage. There had to be something I could use lying around. A broom. A shovel. Something other than a dang flashlight or a pair of bolt cutters. I walked around the outer edge of the basement, searching. An axe wedged between the dryer and the shelf near where I’d left the ladder caught my eye. Now we were talking. Finally, something I could do some damage with.

I stepped around the ladder and bent to retrieve the axe from beside the dryer. Rough wood that felt slightly spongy met with my hand. The thing must’ve been waterlogged at one point.

I pulled it out, gripping it tightly. It still felt sturdy enough to be of use. I positioned the flashlight on it. The ax didn’t seem sharp and was rusted all to hell, but those were the least of my worries. It could still do some serious damage if I needed it to. There were few who could survive blunt force to the head by something like this. Adrenaline pumped through me as I rushed to show Eli my find. In my hurry, my foot caught on the ladder I’d left out from before, causing it to shift on the concrete and make a god-awful noise. I reached out to steady it before it could topple over. It wobbled, hitting the shelving unit behind me and knocked a box from one of the shelves, which fell to the floor with a thud. Curse words flew from my mouth. I froze and squeezed my eyes shut, praying Drew hadn’t heard the ruckus upstairs.

“You okay?” Eli asked instead of reprimanding me for making so much noise.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” My heart was about to explode, but I was okay.

“Bring me the light, I need…”

If Eli had finished his sentence, I wasn’t able to hear him. All I could hear was the sound of someone stomping around upstairs.

Either someone had come to visit Drew, or the noise I caused woke him. Neither situation was good.

I held my breath, listening as whoever it was continued through the house. When they stopped at the top of the basement stairs, anxiety prickled across my skin and my heartbeat hummed in my ears.

“What the fuck?” Drew’s groggy voice floated down the stairs. He’d spotted the cut padlock on the door.

Eli scanned the basement. I knew he was searching for an alternate way out. There wasn’t one. The basement was underground, which meant there was only one way out—the same way we’d entered.

We’d have to face off with Drew.