AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It almost seems better to just fall asleep in the cold than to be killed by fucking Kane. It’s hard to keep my cool when someone is actively trying to murder me, and I want so desperately to seem like the unbreakable bitch he thinks I am.
In truth, I’m very breakable. A group of frat boys proved that.
In a moment of impending death, I think about what made me run from college. Memories come to me in flashes. Being drunk, hardly able to stand. And then the door to my dorm room opened.
I close my eyes and shut out the memories. Time doesn’t heal all wounds.
Shortly after that happened, I left school. I couldn’t focus on class and instead began to drink my feelings away, though I wasn’t old enough to get booze. That created its own set of problems, but I found solutions. To numb the ache and the racing thoughts, I needed the alcohol, but to get the alcohol, I had to do favors. That started it all for me. The barter system that comes from having a female body and a need I can’t fulfill on my own.
I clearly have very good coping mechanisms.
After my assault, I should have gone home to my parents and gotten sober. I should have allowed myself to heal properly. Maybe get some fucking therapy. Extensively. But I dug myself into a grave of lies, and I didn’t have the courage to return.
Maybe going home has been a pipe dream all along. Some stupid goal I set because it sounded good. I could have been home ages ago. I’ve been on dozens of trucks that traveled close to home, but I always climbed into the next one and let it carry me away again. I’m a failure at that too, I guess.
And it brought me right to this moment in this fucking freezer.
I scoff and shake my head. This asshole is going to let me wallow in the downfalls of my life before I die. Dick.
My gaze turns toward the woman again, and something beneath her leg catches the light. I crawl closer and realize it’s a bottle of whiskey. Since setting out on the road, I haven’t really been a drinker anymore. It’s not something I want to pick up again...but desperate times, right? I mean, if I’m staring death in the face, I might as well share a drink with the bastard.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to the woman before unscrewing the cap and swigging the chilled liquor.
The familiar burn races down my throat and hits my stomach in a blaze of glory. Drinking may not be the answer to any of my many problems, but it sure as fuck is an answer to my pain. As I wait for the alcohol to work its magic, I scoot back to the wall—as far from the dead woman as possible—and drape the blanket over my head.
I take another sip as I shiver my life away. I drink until I feel warm from the inside out. At least something feels warm. And soon enough, I won’t feel anything at all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jax
Every so often I’m thrust into the real world without much notice. There’s a weird sense of panic as I find myself face to face with a situation I’m not aware of beforehand. I’m guessing Kane had a panic attack. Was it because of the girl?
Thinking of her and how she may have upset Kane sends a bolt of icy fear through my sternum. I’ve been too complacent. I thought his deal with The Nameless would stop him from doing anything too drastic, but when it comes to Kane, drastic is his middle name.
“Aurora?” I call toward the back of the truck, but there’s no response.
Pup whines and begins pacing between the front and rear of the truck. I dare to look back, unsure if I’ll see her lifeless body, but I only see an empty cab.
What the fuck? Did she escape?
Or did Kane do something to her?
A sign for a rest stop pops up, and I nearly turn the truck onto its side as I snatch the wheel and aim for the entrance. Once I bring the truck to a stop, I rush over to the bed and search for signs of a struggle.
The bed has been made, and nothing looks out of place. After pulling back the comforter, I examine every inch of the sheets for a droplet of blood or some indication of what happened. I find nothing. She’s just...gone. It’s as if she was never here in the first place.
I go to the sink next, and my eyes catch on a note stuck to the mirror.
I put the bitch in the trailer.
Fuck. If she’s in the trailer, odds are good that she’s no longer alive. Kane likes to use the unit to keep his kills from stinking things up until he can find a safe place to dispose of them. My heart sinks.
“Goddamn it, Kane.”
At least he was thoughtful enough to leave a note, I guess, but that does nothing for the pain I feel at the thought of losing her. While keeping her with us was a near guaranteed impossibility, the thought of her no longer existing in this world is almost more than I can stomach. She was special to me and Tobin. I hoped Kane would eventually see what we see in her, but I guess that was just wishful thinking.
I get out of the cab and walk toward the trailer. A cold sweat slicks my palms, and my brain refuses to accept what I’m about to see. And I don’t want to see it. Even if she wasn’t dead when he placed her back there, saving her is likely out of the question. I have no concept of time when I’m not in control, so that note could have been written an hour or a week ago.
