I won’t get out. He’d experiment on her. Cut her up. Kill her.

The guard’s body slumped beside her. One down.

“What the hell’s going on back there?” a voice demanded from the front of the vehicle.

Panting, Eve searched through the unconscious guard’s pockets. Keys. Keys. They had to be there. They’d been dumb enough to leave only one guard with her in the back, and that guy had been the one to handcuff her in the first place.

He had to be the one with the keys.

Her fingers closed around the metal keys. Yes. Twisting her wrists, she managed to shove the key into the lock binding her left hand.

Click.

Eve froze. That sound hadn’t been the lock snicking open.

“Wyatt wanted you brought in alive.” It was the same voice that had called out minutes before. The guy who should have still been in the front of the van. He wasn’t up in front any longer.

Eve looked up and found a gun barrel pressed into her forehead. “But if you fight too much and I have to contain you, well, then I guess Wyatt will just have to enjoy playing with your dead body.”

Her legs were still shackled. She couldn’t get out like this.

And of course, the guard she’d taken out would choose that moment to groan and shift beside her. “Bitch,” he muttered.

She wanted to punch him again.

Instead, he raised his fist to punch her. She braced, knowing this was going to hurt and—

“Stand down, Martinez.” The order came from the guy with the gun.

Wait. He’d just offered to casually kill her, but he was telling his buddy to ease up? What the hell?

Martinez hesitated, then he snatched the keys from Eve’s fingers. “I hope Wyatt cuts you into a hundred damn pieces.”

He probably would.

“Go up front,” the guy with the gun ordered Martinez.

Martinez crawled past her. He made sure to kick her in the gut on his way. She grunted at the impact.

The other guard tensed. “Martinez.”

She wanted to kick Martinez’s ass. Oh, wait. She’d just done it. She’d like to do it again. But with a gun on her, it wasn’t the best moment for another attack.

Eve waited for him to haul his bleeding carcass into the front. Then she focused on the man with the gun.

It was too dark for her to see much about him. He was big. Strong. Holding a gun.

Did she need to know a lot more?

Cain would have risen already, right? He’d chase after her. She hoped he would but . . .

Why would he risk himself for me?

It was the question that wouldn’t leave her alone. Deep inside, she worried that Cain would just cut his losses. He’d leave her.

She needed to get herself out of this mess. She couldn’t count on Cain. She wanted to trust that he’d help her but . . .

“Just settle down,” the guard told her. “No more fighting.”

He had no idea who he was talking to. Maybe she didn’t think Cain was coming for her, but this guy didn’t know that. “He’s going to kill you all.” She’d always been good at bluffing.

The gun didn’t waver. “I don’t see anyone else here, ma’am.”

“He’ll follow me. He’ll track me down, and Cain will make sure that anyone who took me dies.” Did that sound good and dramatic enough? She rather thought so.

The gun stayed pointed at her head.

“The plan is for him to follow,” the guard told her quietly. “But nobody on my team will die. We’re gonna be ready for him.”

So not what she wanted to hear.

Why did everyone want to use her as bait? This sucked.

“Your boyfriend needs to be contained. He’s too dangerous to be left out with the humans.”

Damn right he was dangerous—to Wyatt and this team of jerkoffs. “Want to move that gun, you know, before we hit a pothole and you accidentally blow my brains out?”

The gun eased away. He even put the safety back on. Wasn’t he a gem?

“It won’t be long now.” There was no accent at all in his voice. “So you just stay calm and do what you’re told.”

Not about to happen. He’d lowered the gun. Did he realize that she’d managed to get one cuff unlocked? “So where’s Wyatt? He up in the front, too?”

She’d seen that bastard. Just for an instant. He’d left in a hurry—probably because he’d been afraid Cain would rise and torch his ass.

He will.

The guard didn’t speak. So now he got quiet? The guy had sure seemed chatty enough earlier.