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“You don’t have to be scared of me.” He tips his head, his smile turning almost demonic as his fingers cinch until it burns.

“Then let go.”

His thumb drags over the pulse point at my wrist. “I would never hurt you.”

“Charlie…” Tears burn in my eyes. “Let go of me.”

He sighs as though I’m breaking his heart. “You still don’t understand, do you? You were never supposed to be theirs. They took you and made you think this was home.”

A shudder runs down my spine, and when I yank my wrist, his grip only clamps down harder. The mask of the harmless, tired ranch hand falls away until there’s nothing left but a man I don’t recognize.

“Please, Charlie,” I cry. “Please let me go.”

“Shh. Everything will be okay. I found you, and I won’t let them take you away from me again.”

I shove at his chest, panic taking over, knowing I have to fight. “Get out of my car.”

“Not yet.”

“Get out!”

I reach for the horn, but he catches my arm and wrenches it back, pain tearing through my shoulder. The second he lets go, a sharp sting pierces my thigh. My head begins to swim, the barn lamps smearing into long, golden streaks across the windshield while Charlie’s face blurs in front of me.

“G-g-get away.” I swing at him and fumble for the door handle, but my limbs have already stopped obeying me.

“Everything will be okay now.” His words fade beneath the darkness, dragging me under. “Sleep, Penny. I’m taking you home.”

My fingers tingle, and the last thing I see is the stable roof framed against the night sky before everything disappears.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

THORA

The first thing I notice when I start to wake is the smell of damp dirt filling my nose and coating the back of my throat. My head still feels like jelly, and when my lashes flutter against the low light burning above me, the blurry shapes slowly turn into a thin, tunnel-like place with a dirt floor and one weak bulb hanging from the ceiling.

Where the hell did he take me?

I try to lift a hand to rub my eyes, but my arm refuses to move. Terror slices through the haze as I tug harder, only for the restraints binding my wrists behind the chair to bite into my skin. My ankles are tied too, and the rough edge of the wooden seat digs into the backs of my thighs.

At least I’m alive. I can still get out of here. I just have to stay calm and think.

Charlie is nowhere in sight at first, but when a groan scrapes from my throat, footsteps answer from somewhere ahead. He rounds the bend where the tunnel slants off to my left and walks straight toward me.

This tunnel must run deep underground. There’s no telling how long he plans to keep me here.

As soon as he approaches, he kneels, concern written all over his face. “You’re awake. Thank God. I thought I gave you too much.”

My heart pounds so violently I can feel it everywhere at once.

“What did you give me?” I choke out, my throat dry.

“Just some ketamine. You were supposed to come to in fifteen, but it took you about thirty. Don’t worry. It won’t hurt you.”

I can’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth.

Is Charlie even his name? I doubt it.

“Why…” I pull at the ropes. “Why am I tied up? You said…you said you wouldn’t hurt me.”