Nostrum Fortis Leo

Chapter 13


The door swung opened and thudded against the wall with a bang, the noise waking the two occupants on the bed.

James sat up groggily, trying to determine what was happening. Edward’s woeful eyes shifted to the door, but otherwise he remained motionless.

After another brutal encounter, James had slumped down beside the broken teen, pulled him close to his body and fallen asleep with a restraining hand around Edward’s waist. It had taken Edward much longer to doze off with the heat of the other male body behind him, but he was so weary that blackness consumed him eventually.

“We have a problem.”

Demetri stood in the doorway, eyes focused on his co-worker.

“What kind of problem?” James asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “It’s not in the van?”

“No it’s not that,” Demetri snapped. “Laurent has just been out to collect the fake ID’s. One of them has been stuffed up.”

James had completely been woken up by the news. “WHAT? But the drop is only tomorrow! How the hell are we going to get that fixed up by then?”

Demetri grunted. “You and me are going to have to fix this, right now.”

Grumbling, James climbed off the bed and pulled up his pants. “Fine. Fucking hell, you can’t buy good help anymore!”

As he continued to make himself look a bit presentable, James’ head snapped up as he remembered something.

“What about the... problem in the van?” James’ eyes flicked to Edward as he spoke.

“Don't worry about that now, Laurent can handle it. We need these ID’s sorted or we will never have the chance at spending the money.”

James nodded and hastily slipped the padlock through Edward’s cuffs and chain before leaving the bedroom, shutting the door in his wake.

Edward rolled over to look at the window and listen as the sound of boots stomped though the cabin, fading away. Eventually he decided to take an assessment on how his body felt. His muscles ached and there were bruises on his hips and torso. From where he lay his ass didn’t feel too damaged, but he couldn’t be sure.

As he shifted again to find any other sore spots, Edward noticed something different. The padlock holding him to the bed had not been locked properly. It had been closed, but not enough pressure exerted to click the locking mechanism home.

With tentative fingers, Edward fiddled with the metal object until it came lose. He was free from the bed!

It was strangely surreal to him, the prospect of freedom. He had been through so much. Could it be that easy to escape? Edward didn’t know the answer to that question, but he had to try.

Slipping off the bed Edward found his white boxers and pulled them on.

Creeping up to the door, Edward listened to see if he could tell if there was anyone out there. When all he heard was silence, he carefully opened it and stepped into the hall way.

Slowly and heedfully, Edward crept down the hallway of the cabin. The pain in his ass became more pronounced standing up, causing him to limp. He poked his head into the lounge room to surmise who was in there and where. Luck was with him and the only kidnapper in sight was Felix, sprawled across the lounge, deep asleep, with his portable TV resting on his broad chest.

Past the snoring man, Edward viewed Emmett and Jasper slumped in the same chairs, most likely asleep too.

He knew he had no chance at incapacitating Felix, so he continued with his strategy of keeping as quiet as possible as he limped his way over to Emmett and Jasper.

At his brother’s chair, Edward brought his hands to the buckle of the leather cuff and began to undo it. His finders trembled, but he managed to unhook the strap. The movement woke Emmett up.

“Hey! Wha-” but Emmett cut his own words off when he knew who it was untying him. Emmett arched his neck around his younger brother to see that there was no one else with him.

“Edward? You got out?” Emmett whispered.

Edward nodded.

When the cuff of his left arm opened, Emmett attacked the one on his right alone. Edward bent down to unbuckle the left leg.

Satisfied that Emmett would be able to do the remainder on his own, Edward shuffled over to Jasper to free him as well. The blonde boy was now awake, having been roused by the sound of Emmett’s voice.

“So what’s the plan?” Jasper said, standing up and rubbing his chafed wrists. “Where are the other goons?”

“Two of them left about half an hour ago,” came Emmett’s whispered reply, “But I don’t know where to. The big bloke, Felix is asleep and that Laurent guy, I don’t know.”

“They are getting their fake ID’s fixed,” Edward whispered. His voice was scratch and hoarse with a pained edge to it.

“Who?” Jasper whispered back.

“Demetri and J-James,” Edward replied, stumbling over James’ name again.

“So what do we do?” Jasper asked again.

“We get the fuck outta here!” Emmett said passionately. “I think there might be a back door through the kitchen.”