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Guilt pushed me back a step.
He’d done horrible things, haunting things, while his morals were suppressed by the chemicals in his system. I had a full list of traumas from the Decoy who’d sold me, but now, at the bottom of that list, way beneath sold me, drugged me, and raped me, was saved me.
He’d saved me, risking not just his career but his life, and I’d left him there, alone...and outnumbered.
Sense tried to pound into my head, my internal voice screeching, run...the favor returned for that first night.
I kicked off the stripper heels and took the first step and didn’t stop. Each one was labored and heavy as my bare feet trod dirt.
The door opened, and I spun with one word on my tongue.
A name wrapped in hope.
“Remi?”
But Remi wasn’t the hulk filling the doorway.
Long legs zoomed towards me, my heart struggling as I begged my body to outrun Llewrehtom.
My chest wheezed.
Llewrehtom screamed insults and laughed as his dark shadow loomed over me.
I jumped over a rock, kicking it backward and unfortunately missing his shin.
He laughed again, the sinister sound cracking beneath the moonlit sky like lightning. It traveled right to my heart, leaving a thick gash when I saw the wire fence ahead. I veered right, searching for a hole.
He slowed. “No where to go, Aribella.”
I hated that fucking name.
It wasn’t mine.
Joseph’s heavy feet moved closer, too, slowed slightly by a new limp as his out-of-breath wheezing caught up with his brother.
I scanned the fence, the smallest chance presenting itself in the distance.
I bolted, my hand clutching my chest as I ran. I dropped to the floor, where the earth had been dug away. Howls filled the desolate air, the coyotes encouraging me to follow their path.
Getting eaten by them was more appealing to me than staying with these monsters.
Dirt spread under my nails as I clawed the ground, pulling myself beneath the fence.
I was under the fence to my lower waist. I dug my nails in harder and wiggled to get the width of my hips through.
Tight fingers wrapped around my ankles, dragging me back through the dirt. I kicked and thrashed, trying to loosen the grip. I failed. Strong arms pulled me back, and the old wire scratched my body, feeling like it flayed through my skin.
I wailed, the sound ringing in my ears.
“Almost got away from us.” Joseph’s hand remained clasped around my right leg.
Llewrehtom’s nails punctured my other calf, and I hissed. “Too bad you didn’t make it because the next years of your life will be the worst. You can thank your boyfriend for that. He just showed us how much he cares, failing his test before tomorrow’s big show.”
Remi had never cared about anything but his own needs, but he’d helped me or tried to, stepping in the path of trouble when it tried following me out the door.
The bruise on Llewrehtom’s forehead was big and purple, and it only made his scowl more menacing as he looked down at me.
The door of the bar flung open, and my face twisted in the dirt as Joseph dropped my leg, stepped over me, and kicked me in the skull.
