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“You need to think about what’s best for your baby if you really care.”
Father again extended his hand, and my eyes burned as I had no choice but to accept it.
“That’s the spirit,” he chuckled, yanking me up with too much force. I winced, but he held fast to me until I was back in bed. “You could use a bath, my dear. You’ve been fermenting in this bed far too long. See that you clean yourself.”
With that, he turned and left me alone in the bedroom, locking the door behind him. My body still shook in the aftermath of all it had endured, but I reminded myself that I was awake now, not falling into the helpless pool of dream state where I had no control at all.
As long as I was a good girl and didn’t make any waves, Father wouldn’t sedate me again. And I couldn’t risk the drugs, not when it put the baby’s health at risk. I didn’t trust Father to care about the damage to the child. As long as she was born healthy, he couldn’t care less about the long-term effects. Once the baby was out of his hands, my daughter would no longer be his problem.
And neither would I.
No. I couldn’t risk trying to escape again, but I could hope that the next time Rachel came, I could get her attention long enough to get a message to Ash. Maybe he was still willing to come for me and set me up with a place to live, to escape from my father. It would be a difficult life for me, a single mother, a rabbit shifter with a baby. I would be in constant danger, the baby, too, but Ash might provide protection.
Anything had to be better than what my father had planned for me. But I had to get a message out to him somehow.
I closed my eyes and counted my breaths, the fetus swirling uncomfortably inside me as if she could sense my anxiety. I placed my hands over my stomach and hummed softly, trying to calm us both in the process.
“Hush, little one. Don’t stir. Don’t cry,” I sang softly, dredging up a lullaby that my mother had once sung to me. It was buried deep in the recesses of my mind, but once I began to sing it, it flowed as if I’d heard it recently. “The bumblebees have flown on by. The raven birds will flock on home, but you, my love, won’t be alone.”
I continued rubbing at the well of my belly, my daughter’s movements settling within as my pulse slowed.
“Hush, little one. Don’t weep. Don’t fuss,” I murmured, my voice growing raspy as I continued. “Mama’s here with you, just us. And when the sun has gone to bed, Mama’s here to hold your head.”
Beneath my fingers, I felt the swoosh of her movements, but her agitation was gone now, and I sensed she had returned to her own slumber, tucked away in my womb. A part of me wanted her to stay there forever, where I could keep her safe and protect her, but wishing would not make it so.
My eyes opened, and a spring of determination slid up my spine as the new life inside me gave me inspiration. I would not sit idly by and let my baby be torn from me like my mother had been forced to do multiple times.
“We’re going to get out of here, baby,” I whispered, my gaze darting toward the door, worried that Father was listening. “We just have to be very careful and come up with a foolproof plan first.”
My eyes lingered on the door, the last of the sedative still hypnotizing me slightly as my mind began to wander. If Rachel did come back, I would have to find a way to get her attention. I would be stronger next time, able to make more noise.
But if I did that, and I couldn’t get her attention, Father would surely hear me and drug me again until I was ready to deliver the baby. Moreover, getting Rachel’s attention didn’t guarantee a way out. Ash had been the one to send me away in the first place, and he wasn’t the one coming to check on me. He had sent Rachel, which couldn’t be a good sign.
What other options did I have if Rachel wasn’t my way out?
I pulled my stare from the door and glanced around the room I had known my whole life. But now, I looked at it with fresh eyes. There had to be something here I could use, something that would help me.
My eyes rested on the intricate brass table lamp, and I shivered.
I couldn’t put my hopes into Rachel or anyone else. I had to be a good girl like Father wanted and do as he said. It was my only means of getting out unscathed. If I stayed quiet and behaved myself, Father would trust me again.
And then he’d never see me coming if I was forced to attack and kill him in order to save myself and my child.
Chapter29
Ash
Work suffered. The business suffered. Mostly, I suffered in the weeks that followed.
“What did she say?” I asked Rachel every day when she returned from her trip to Barney’s house, but the answer from my assistant was always the same.
“He won’t let me see her.”
“You make him let you see her!” I roared, my patience expended.
“He claims she doesn’t want to see me, either.”
I frowned. “Is that true?”
