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I’m acutely aware of a draft blowing up my body as I stir. I groan and mumble that someone must close the door. I feel the bed beside me, but I don’t feel Elena’s warm body. I open my eyes and look around. She’s not in the room.
I get up and pull on some briefs. I walk to the bathroom, but it’s empty. The draft again.
It dawns on me that I didn’t lock the back door. I run to it and find it open. Her clothes are gone, and who knows how much of a head start she has.
Fuck.
I knew I shouldn’t have trusted her, great sex or not.
I rush back to the bedroom and get dressed, pulling on tracksuit pants and a T-shirt. I pull a hoodie on and some trainers before running out the back. I check the forest floor and quickly pick up on her trail. I start following, moving as fast as possible without losing her footprints.
I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket and silence it. I see the name on the screen and pause.
It’s Emery Sokolov.
Fuck, this is such bad timing, but I have to take this call.
“Hello?” I answer as confidently as I can.
“Milov. It’s Emery Sokolov. Pakhan of the Sokolov family. I got your fucking message. Where is my daughter?” he sounds pissed. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.
“She’s tied up right now, but you can speak to me,” I say.
“You touch one hair on her head, and I’ll make you and your family regret ever being fucking born. Your father made that mistake. If you bring Elena back now, I will consider forgiving you and your family.”
“I don’t take being threatened lightly. You know who I am. You know my role in my family.” I scout for her tracks and continue to walk.
“If you hurt her…”
“I won’t, but we need to discuss terms properly. Terms that favor both of our families, not just yours.” I say. I pause because I need to gather my brains now. I can’t fuck this up, or Kervyn and the rest of my family could be in danger.
“Fine. We’ll meet. I’ll text you the location, and you bring Elena there, and we’ll do the trade.” Emery is used to getting his way.
“I’m not an idiot. We meet under my terms and conditions.” I look down and find Elena’s footprints. “I have to go. You’ll hear from me soon. Be ready.”
I start to jog, following Elena’s prints down the mountainside. I only have two knives with me, so I hope I don’t run into any wildlife I need to rescue Elena from.
Chapter 16 - Elena
I wait until he is fast asleep.
When we came in earlier, he slammed the back door to shut it but didn’t lock it after we entered. Even though I was distracted by pleasure, that one little fact stayed in my mind while we had sex. I didn’t think I would be able to handle his size, but we fit like two pieces of a puzzle.
Once he is fast asleep and turns over in bed, I creep out. Slowly and silently, I gather my clothes and underwear from around the house and dress in the kitchen.
I pick up a knife from the counter and sneak out the back door without anyone stopping me. It’s the dead of night, and I’m afraid of running into wildlife, but I can’t fear that now. I have a long journey ahead of me to find a town or city nearby so I can phone my father to come and collect me.
I know I need to move faster. The moment Arseny finds out that I’ve left, he’ll probably start tracking me, but I don’t want to get hurt in the dark or stumble across something that can hurt me, like a bear or a snake.
I try to keep moving in one constant direction. I find Arseny’s car and follow the direction it is facing in the hopes I’ll reach the road. It’s the only sane plan I can come up with so quickly.
I stumble over some roots but carry on moving, not looking behind me to see if Arseny is following me. He’s going to be so pissed that I escaped after he trusted me.
I feel a pang of guilt, though I don’t know why. I should be happy I managed to get away from him.
The sun is up, and I’m dying of thirst by the time I finally hit a main road. I whoop for joy, and the accomplishment gives me renewed purpose to get out of this damned forest and back home where I belong.
I look left and right and decide to head left, further away from the cabin. As I walk, a car passes to my right. I’m tempted to flag them down, but I don’t trust anyone right now. I just need to find a phone and call my father so that I can get out of whatever this place is. I do, however, follow the direction of the pickup, and after what feels like an hour, I see buildings.
