Taken

Chapter 5

The sound of fear escaping my lips cut off as a hand appeared in my line of sight to wrap around the front of my throat and crush my airway. My bike clattered to the street as I was pulled off and hauled back against a large man while the one that had been standing in the street moved to approach.

Pain seared across my scalp as the man behind me used his hold to jerk my head to the side, making me tumble back against him. My fingers reached for the hand at my throat, trying to pry it off as he pressed his nose into my hair and took a deep breath.

"It's her, Cedric," the man grunted, straightening as the one that had been standing in the street reached us. I barely reached either of their chests.

"Captain," the approaching man corrected him, his voice holding the authority of one as he stopped in front of me with crossed arms that stretched the black turtle neck he wore.

Cedric's aged and rugged face held a frown and two jagged scars that cut down one side. They started at the top of one of his brows, cut over his blind eye that was milky white, and down his cheek to reach his jaw. But that wasn't the most eye-catching thing about him though. No, that was the dagger the length of my forearm that was strapped to his belt in a sheath. My eyes dropped to lock onto the handle as his frown deepened, tugging at the damaged tissue as he looked me up and down.

"Restrain her," he instructed, prompting the man behind me to release my throat.

I gasped in ragged breaths to ease the burn that had been building in my chest. Cedric looked off to the side behind us as the man holding me took hold of my hand that had been clutching at my throat in case he tried to grab it again. He jerked it away before shoving me forward a step and pinning it behind my back alongside my other hand. I couldn't even appreciate the relief my scalp felt as a cold sensation surrounded my wrists before suddenly hardening. The cold bit into my skin. It felt like ice.

"W-wait!" I shouted in shrill panic. "Let me go! If it's the money you want, take it!" I offered.

Despite the situation, I couldn't help but cringe at the thought of how that would end for me. I had never returned home empty-handed, but whatever that would result in couldn't be as bad as whatever these men had planned. All that shit about the monster you knew. I knew what my dad would do and wouldn't do. I didn't know what these men had in mind. Nor did I think I was lucky enough to successfully escape twice in one night.

The man who had moved his hand to grip me by the upper arm in a bruising hold chuckled while the man that was in charge paid me no attention.

"This money?" The man behind me asked as he snapped the duffle bag's strap with little effort. I felt the weight disappear from my shoulder. "It holds no value to us," he said as he dropped the bag by my feet.

I swallowed hard, realizing they weren't after the money like I had initially thought.

"Inform the others that we've captured her," Cedric said to another man I had yet to notice. "Tell them to meet us at the nearest portal."

"Yes, Captain," the man off to the side responded. "There should be one a few minutes from here."

"Tor, get her to the car."

At the instruction, the man behind me, Tor, jerked me forward by the arm. He wasn't gentle about it. A gasp of pain escaped my lips at having my arm almost ripped from its socket while the cold confines surrounding my wrists dug into my skin. I tripped over my feet, trying to ease the pain by quickening my steps to match his long strides and not be dragged. He led me down the street and away from his two friends that had huddled together in discussion.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, my words sounding out of breath.

He kept his head forward, continuing like I hadn't spoken. His stride didn't slow despite my struggle to keep up with it.