Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Lucas! I need him. I’m rocking back and forth with my teeth chattering. I can smell Nathaniel’s blood on me, the metallic odor running alongside the mothballs. I gag a little but hold back the bile before it can spill out.
Blood rushes in my ears, and that, mixed with the heavy thumping from my heart, drowns out everything else.
I’m going to hell for what I did, aren’t I?
The closet door flies open like some unseen force is answering my question. The light from the hall is bleeding through. I turn my face away and cross my arms over the top of my head.
“No, no! I didn’t mean to do it. It was an accident!”
“Delilah!”
Lucas’s shout cuts through my panic and sinks into my brain.
I blink away the spots in my vision, and his body comes into focus. He’s on one knee in front of me, half inside the closet. He pushes the hair away from my face with both hands and looks deep into my eyes.
His blue eyes shine like the sun glistening off the waves in the ocean.
“I’m here. You’re safe now,” he whispers softly, like speaking to a wounded animal.
Safe? I’ll never be safe after what I did, but just having him here is enough for now. I bury my face against his neck and let out a long, almost painful wail. Why is this happening? Why is it happening to me? What did I ever do to deserve any of this?
Another man’s voice meets my ears. “He’s in here. She really did a number on him.”
“Would you think before you speak?” Lucas sneers at the guy before he gathers me up in his arms. He stands up while holding me against his chest, and all I can do is lean into him.
I drape my arms around his neck and close my eyes, finally resting for the first time since I woke up in this terrible place. I don’t even know for sure where I am. I only know I never want to return here.
“What’s going to happen?” My question is muffled against his shoulder, but he understands me.
“Right now, we’re going to my brother’s. We’ll get you taken care of there. Don’t worry about anything.”
“But Nathaniel—”
“He’ll be taken care of.” He leaves it at that, and honestly, I don’t want to know anything else.
I only hope he means it when he says I have nothing to worry about. That he’ll take care of me because I want to believe him more than anything.
I don’t know how long we wait in the car before leaving, nor how long it takes to get to Lucas’s brother’s house. I only know Lucas clutches me to him all through the ride. I’m safe now. I’m with him, and nothing will hurt me. I don’t even know how he tracked me or found me. I only know he did.
And somewhere in the back of my mind, I hope he’s not going to end up paying for what I did—or rather, for helping me get out of there and away with it.
I must doze off because all of a sudden, Lucas gently shakes me awake. “We’re here. I’m going to take you up to my room and get you washed up, all right? Do you want anything to eat?”
I only shake my head. My stomach couldn’t handle anything right now.
My thoughts are a never-ending fishbowl. That monster was going to rape me, and if I fought back, he would’ve beaten me before raping me even worse. I might not have lived through it.
All I can do is remind myself that I had to protect myself. It was the only thing I could do, even if it still feels like somebody else did it. Like I stepped into somebody else’s life, and Lucas is carrying someone else into what I can only tell is a very big house. I’m not interested in what it looks like or anything like that. I only want to hide and never show my face again.
A woman’s voice is somewhere nearby, murmuring questions at a low volume. She sounds relieved, whoever she is. My face is still pressed against Lucas, so I don’t get a good look at her. He carries me up a long flight of stairs and down a long hallway before we come to a stop.
I open one eye, peering over his shoulder at the inside of a very big, luxurious bathroom. “I’ll run you a bath,” he explains before setting me down on the edge of the tub. “Get undressed.” I do it mechanically, and I’m glad to. Now that I’m looking at myself in full light, and my brain isn’t frozen in shock, I notice the blood splatters across my chest.
He didn’t drop right away. The memory is still fresh in my mind.
He staggered a little, and I backed away in horror when his arms lifted. His hands were curled into claws like he wanted to wrap them around my throat and squeeze the life out of me. He fell before he got the chance.