Anchor of Secrets by Tessa Hale
56
My head throbbedin a steady beat, as if there were a tiny marching band practicing on my skull. I struggled to open my eyes, trying to find some relief from the pain. I blinked against the low light.
The space around me came into view slowly and all at once. Dilapidated wood walls. A broken window. A single-room cabin. One that had clearly seen better days.
I lay on a bed, but it smelled musty and wrong. It was the scent that had the panic setting in.
I jerked upright, and the world swam around me. I lifted my hand to my head, but it tugged the other hand with it. Bound. My wrists were bound with a zip tie.
My stomach roiled. This wasn’t happening. Not again.
Memories assailed me, and tears sprung to my eyes. Declan. Ronan. Fear gripped me. I had to believe they were okay. Some part of me knew I’d feel it if they were gone from this Earth.
I tried to steady my breathing, counting to four with each inhale and exhale. I wouldn’t be able to escape if I was hyperventilating.
The cabin door swung open, and a figure stepped inside. “Fucking finally.”
I knew that raspy voice. It was hardened by years of cigarettes, booze, and drugs. That sickness in my belly intensified.
Maryanne stepped further into the cabin. “Don’t try anything stupid.” She lifted a gun. “I’ll get more money for you unharmed, but he’ll still take you with a hole in your leg.”
My mouth went dry. “Who will take me?”
Her lips twitched. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
My fingernails dug into the backs of my bound hands. “My mates will come for me, and they won’t make your death a kind one.”
Maryanne’s face hardened. “I’ll be long gone by the time they figure out where you were taken. Kicking back on a beach in Costa Rica.”
She scowled at me. “You’ve put on some pounds, girl. Weren’t exactly easy to move. Hasn’t anyone told you that no man likes a fat bitch?”
Rage burst to life inside me. I was sure I had filled out and grown curves now that I wasn’t being starved, thanks to her.
Maryanne shrugged. “Guess it doesn’t matter what those guys think of you now because you won’t be seeing them for a while.”
I didn’t play into her game. Maryanne loved to hold information over my head. Loved to make me dance to get the things I needed for survival.
So, instead of playing into her hands, I stayed quiet and waited. Watched. I studied the cabin out of the corner of my eye.
My feet weren’t bound. I’d have to make a run for it and pray she didn’t shoot me. If I could knock her down, I’d have a better shot at escape. But a distraction would help.
Annoyance flickered across Maryanne’s features. “Don’t you even want to know who I’m selling you to?”
I shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter, does it?”
Her cheeks reddened. “I’m getting half a million for your sorry ass.”
“Good for you,” I said as if I didn’t have a care in the world.
Maryanne stalked through the room and slapped me hard across the face. “You’re going to live in torture for the rest of your days.”
The coppery taste of blood filled my mouth as my head snapped back. I let the pain wash over me, not fighting it but letting it fuel me. I’d need that rage.
“That vamp seems pretty obsessed with making sure you never have a moment’s peace,” she snarled.
My body went cold. I should’ve known it was Damien. Of course, he’d be happy to pay a pretty penny to get his hands on me again.
Maryanne grinned triumphantly. “His father doesn’t even care. Just wants his boy to be happy. Sweet, really.”
I launched myself off the bed and into Maryanne. She shrieked as she tumbled backward and landed on her ass, but I didn’t wait. I just ran.
Nausea and fatigue coursed through me, and I knew whatever Maryanne had doused me with was still in my system. But I had adrenaline on my side. I pushed my muscles harder as I charged out of the cabin.
It took a second to register my surroundings. We were on a tiny beach that was surrounded by thick forests. Crap. I had no idea where I was.
Maryanne screamed from behind me, already getting to her feet.
I couldn’t wait. I had to go. At first, I headed for the woods, but the heaviness in my muscles told me that was a mistake. She’d catch up to me in no time.
The moonlit ocean caught my eye, and I changed tack. Maryanne had always been deathly afraid of water because she didn’t know how to swim. If I could just make it to the water, if I could swim around the little jetty, I’d be free.
“I’m going to kill you!” she shrieked.
My bare feet hit the ocean, and I ran into the lapping waves.
But I underestimated just how much the woman who was supposed to be my mother hated me. She hit me from behind in a tackle. We landed in two feet of water, and she pushed me down.
Shouts sounded from the forest on shore, but they were so far away.
I clawed at her arms, kicked and bucked, but it was no use. My muscles didn’t have the fight they needed.
Maryanne’s face contorted above me, both in rage and the waviness of the water. Her fingers tightened around my throat as she pushed me deeper.
My lungs burned. Fire like I’d never known before. Some part of me called out to my guys. Wanting them to know I loved them. And then that fire swallowed me whole.
The End for now…Leighton’s story concludes in Destiny of Ashes.