AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Starla’s there, lying on the floor. Everyone stands back to let me in first.
I kneel beside her. She's unconscious. I'm crying freely, tears falling down my cheeks as I lift her and hold her to me. Sergio kneels beside me and lifts her wrist.
“Her pulse is faint, but it’s beating.” He clears his throat. “Starla.”
She doesn’t respond.
“We have to get her out of here, baby.”
Somewhere deep in the back of my mind, I wonder, Why is he still calling me baby?
I stare at him, unwilling to let her go. I shake my head but can’t speak. I came so far, and I can’t let her go.
“Eden,” he says gently. “Let me carry her. We need to get her the help she needs.”
It takes everything I have to let her go.
I have to.
He’s bleeding and lacerated, but still lifts her up as if she weighs nothing. I can hardly bear to see him cradling her against his chest.
I stand with him and hold her pale, lifeless hand.
“Let’s go.”
Sergio holds Starla as if she’s fine china and one false move will break her.
We walk out to where Timeo and Mario wait, a team at the ready, fully armed. “She's unconscious, but she's alive.”
Mario takes one look at my sister and curses under his breath. "Who would do something like this? Would take a fucking monster." He shakes his head.
"Definitely a monster," I agree.
Timeo gives me the type of smile that makes my blood chill. "How convenient," he says, malice in his voice. “I love hunting monsters."
He reaches for Starla, but Sergio shakes his head. “I’ll take her.” We walk to where an emergency crew waits outside. They rush to our aid.
“She’s unconscious and we need to get her help,” one of them says. “It looks like we’re facing dehydration and pain, but nothing’s broken. Let’s get her the help she needs.”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
I walk toward the ambulance when Sergio grabs my hand.
“I need a few seconds.”
Sergio looks me straight in the eye and speaks in a low voice. "I'm gonna kill him, Eden. I don't know if you can handle that, but I'm going to kill him. We're going to get Starla the medical care she needs. And then I'm calling my friend who has Seth in custody and I’m making a deal.” He draws in a breath. “You're either with me or you walk, Eden, free and clear. But this is the only step forward."
Seth set this all up. He married me illegally, or abducted me, whatever they call it. Rape, kidnapping, abduction? I’ll unravel the how, what, and why afterward, but I know until the man who called himself my husband is dead, Starla and I aren't safe.
“You do what you have to.”
It feels like a blessing of sorts.
Sergio leans over and kisses my forehead.
"Go with her, now.”
Climbing in the back of the ambulance, I reach for my sister’s hand.
