Wolfsbane Read Online Free

that. Deserved to see his blood pouring over the cement for what he’d done, what he’d ripped from her time and again.
    Imbecile thought he was smart. Yeah, right. So smart he hadn’t noticed the odd flavor in his liquor. But if she killed him here, another would rise to continue his work. That, she couldn’t allow.
    Dani drifted to the end of the bed. Lifted the army jacket he’d shed in his haste to have his perverted pleasure. Though she worked for quiet, the sound of her fingers against the stiff fabric seemed to scream through the cement room. Her hand trembled as she fastened the two middle buttons. When she reached for the pants, his foot dragged over the bed.
    A grunt.
    Her heart pinged off her ribs. Her life was more important than modesty. She snatched his gun and spun.
    “Wha …?” General Bruzon staggered upward, his thick salt-and-pepper hair askew. He looked around, his movements sluggish and uncoordinated. “Guards!”
    She aimed and fired—at the window. Running, she eased the trigger back again. Glass shattered. With the gun hitting the pane first, Dani dove through the portal to freedom. As the glass sliced her flesh, prickly fire chewed her arms and sides. Pain had no voice tonight. She had to make it.
    Blaring and grating, a siren screamed through the night.
    Seconds later the lawn lit up brighter than Times Square on NewYear’s Eve. Despite pain and fear, she sprinted around the building. Rocks and burrs pricked the soles of her bare feet. She plunged onward, unheeding.
    A door flung open from the side of the building, diverting Dani to a nearby truck where she pressed her back against the hull. Even this late at night in late November, the temperatures in Venezuela hit a balmy midsixties.
    Can’t stop. Not now.
    Panting, she glanced toward the ocean that waited beyond the cliff. Even under the glare of the searchlights, the dark water twinkled. Beckoning her. Calling. Luring. If only the wood was where Hugo had promised to leave it.
    Betting your life on a man’s word—what an idiot!
    A commotion rent the bright night. Dani frowned as she tried to make out the noise. It sounded hollow. Pounding, like a bad bass beat. But amid the unfolding chaos, it was indecipherable. She scooted along the truck, inching closer. From beneath the chassis, she drew out a small wooden pallet. A nervous smile skidded into her lips. Hugo had done it. Like he promised.
    She peered around the truck—and froze. Dark shadows rippled toward her like a heat wave. Only it wasn’t water. Dogs! A dozen of them.
    If she ran, the guards would gun her down.
    If she didn’t, the dogs would rip her apart.
    Bullets or teeth.
    Either way she was fated to die.
    Dani clamped her jaw tight. Faced the water.
    God … if You’re there …
    He wasn’t. Hadn’t been for the last six months. She was on her own.
    With renewed determination to do everything she could to protect herself, Dani propelled herself the thirty meters toward the churning ocean that waited below the lip of the cliff.
    Barking grew louder. Closer.
    Snapping jaws pursued her as the killer canines lunged for her. Panic ricocheted off her ribs. Push. Harder. Had to make it …
    Within a half dozen feet, she flung the three-foot square raft over the edge. As she leapt, red-hot fire tore through her calf—seconds later the needling registered in her mind. A dog had caught her leg! Sailing through the air, she kicked with both feet. The beast finally reacted to the free fall and released her.
    She plummeted—feeling free! In the split second her foot stabbed the water, she spotted the wood bobbing northeast of her position. Icy liquid devoured her. Dani let the ocean take her down. Down. It’d be easy to just keep sinking. Never return to anyone or anything. Ultimate freedom.
    But she couldn’t. Not if she wanted Bruzon six feet under.
    She launched upward, using her arms to gain the surface faster. Gasping, she searched the dark water for the wood. As she