Shadow's Awakening: The Shadow Warder Series, Book One (An Urban Fantasy Romance Series) Read Online Free PDF

to the third floor. She’d had a busy morning. As soon as her eyes had opened to the gray light of dawn, she’d crawled beneath her bed to complete the final stages of her escape plan. It wasn’t a great plan, but it had taken ages to figure it out. Her mind, quick and lively before she got sick, was slow and fuzzy from the static. It felt like it took ten times longer to think through the simplest problems. Devising a way to escape from a third floor room with barred windows and locked doors was no simple problem.
    Several months ago she’d discovered a loose metal bar in the frame of her bed. Methodically, she’d been working it free, scraping at the bolt with a stolen spoon she’d bent into a makeshift wrench, then twisting with her fingers. Careful not to damage her hands and draw attention to the plan, the process had been excruciatingly slow. Jammed beneath the bed that morning, Hannah had gone back to work, twisting and wrenching at the bolt, tearing her fingers bloody in the process. Time was short and she was out of patience. If this was her chance, pitiful though it was, she would give it what she had left.
    Hannah had finally worked the metal bar free. The width of the twin bed, the bar was hollow, but heavy enough to do some damage. Without the bar, the bed wobbled slightly. Hannah didn’t think anyone would notice right away. She’d returned to the bed and waited for someone to come into the room. The man who had delivered her meager breakfast of water and toast didn’t venture past the doorway. He’d checked the peephole to make sure she was on the bed, opened the door a foot and slid the tray in. Hannah called him the timid one. He’d cleaned the room after the one who tried to rape her had imploded. The timid one liked to watch her hurt, but he was afraid to approach her himself.
    Disappointed, Hannah returned to the bed and resumed her wait. Now the sun was high in the sky. She remained alone in her room. After all this time as a prisoner, she’d finally worked up the nerve to make another attempt at freedom and she was stuck lying in bed. This wasn’t how she’d envisioned her great escape. Hannah knew the plan was a long shot. But at least it was a shot.
    Her first try hadn’t worked out well. She’d hidden behind her door and run when it opened. Ineffective was putting it mildly. Glenn had been enraged. Hannah’s punishment had scared her off trying again for a few months.
    Endless seconds ticked by until she caught the clomp of booted feet on the stairs. Her heart sank. There was only one of her captors who wore boots. He was huge. She would have preferred the timid one. None of them were weak, but at least the timid one wasn’t the size of a mountain. Hannah sighed and tried to relax. The electrical hum of his body preceded him into the room.
    Unthreatening victim , she thought to herself. I’m a frightened little bunny. Don’t be scared. Just a little closer . Hannah pretended she was sleeping as he drew nearer to the bed. His feet shuffled closer. Expecting her to have woken when he entered, he bent close enough for Hannah to smell his sour stench. His bulk cast a shadow over her face. She fluttered her eyes and softly moaned. The man drew back just enough.
    Bracing her legs against the mattress, Hannah rolled toward him, throwing all her weight behind the metal bar in her right hand. The bar struck the side of his head with a sick, hollow thump. His big body stumbled but didn’t go down. Hannah followed her momentum and rolled to her feet.
    In happier days, when he’d been family and not her jailer, Glenn had taught her how to hit a baseball. He’d said Hannah was a natural. Watching the big man stumble on the hook rug beside her bed, Hannah drew a calming breath. She fell into her batting stance as naturally as if she’d been in the cage that morning. Feet planted, weight shifted to the balls of her feet, slightly more on her rear foot. Her hands close together on the base of