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“The witch never lies,” Declan snarled.
“I swear on everything that I hold holy, I have no idea what she is talking about. The woman is wrong or she has lost her abilities,” Olivia said.
“You’ll tell me,” Declan promised, menacingly. “One way or the other, you’ll tell me what the witch is talking about,” and then he stormed off.
Olivia buried her face in her hands. She wondered if Declan was planning on resorting to some type of medieval torture methods. It wouldn’t surprise her if he did.
Hours went by and Olivia started to shake. The air was damp and cold. She only had the thin tunic that she had worn for the ceremony. There were no blankets or anything else in the cell. Rubbing her arms she paced around the cell, figuring that Declan wouldn’t have to torture her. She was going to end up dying from pneumonia.
Light footsteps caught her attention as they approached her cell. It was Sandra.
Pressing something small, metal, and cold in Olivia’s hands, Sandra whispered, “The car is under the canopy of trees where we leave our clothes when we shift. The key is under the driver’s side floor mat. You have clothes, toiletries, and some money in the trunk.”
“He’ll kill you,” Olivia whispered.
“Only if you tell him who helped you. There isn’t anyone in the cave right now. I guess they figured that you would never get out. Just in case, give me a couple of minutes before you leave,” Sandra said, quietly. “Be safe.”
Olivia’s best friend quickly disappeared into the darkness of the cave. After what seemed like an eternity, although it was likely only five minutes, she fit the key into the lock of the door, wincing as it creaked loudly when it opened.
Pocketing the key, she hurried down the dark hallway, feeling the cold, wet walls for guidance.
The mouth of the cave was just ahead. She paused as she heard voices coming from one of the rooms. Her heart racing and her breath caught in her throat, she felt a wave of dizziness coming over her.
Get ahold of yourself, Olivia.
Silently taking in a huge gulp of air, she pressed her back against the wall, keeping to the shadows and then slipped outside. Luckily, it was a dark night, the moon covered by gray clouds.
Olivia ran down the path that she knew by heart to her car. She heaved a huge sigh when she found it exactly where Sandra said it would be. The car started instantly, and Olivia almost cried with relief when she pulled onto the highway, heading south.
Realizing that Declan would be looking for her along the highways, she found a convenience store and bought an atlas.
“I don’t sell too many of these, anymore,” he said. “Most people simply use the GPS on their phones.”
“I’ve decided on an old school adventure,” she replied.
“Sounds like fun,” he said, handing over her change.
Taking the back roads, Olivia drove as long as she could, wanting to at least get out of Nebraska.
Glancing into her rearview nervously every time headlights shown, she followed the map and drove only on backroads and highways that she had never known existed, and she had lived in Nebraska her entire life. Of course, she hadn’t traveled around the state much. The furthest she had gone was the Omaha Zoo each year, which was the highlight of each summer.
Grinning, she felt a little safer as she passed the “Welcome to Kansas” sign. It was just a little more distance between her and Declan. With any luck, no one would check on her until morning, anyway.
The “Welcome to Colorful Colorado” sign was even better. The tension that had made her shoulders ache seeped out of her some. She had put some distance between herself and the man who wanted her dead.
She only pulled into a small motel when she started swerving over the middle line when her eyes closed involuntarily.
The first thing she did when she got in the room was tear off the ceremonial tunic and throw it in the garbage. If it had been safe, she would have set it on fire. A quick shower washed the day’s grime off of her, and then the bed beckoned her.
She slept for a few hours, but loud voices outside startled her awake. Peeking through the heavy curtains, she braced herself to see Declan ready to break down the door. Olivia sank onto the bed when she saw that it was just a couple arguing in the parking lot.
It was about check out time, anyway, and there was no way she could sleep, so she grabbed a pack of donuts from a vending machine and a cup of complimentary coffee from the office and got back on the road.
Olivia was certain that she had been driving forever when she passed a sign that read, “Welcome to Angel’s Creek, New Mexico.”
A small hotel advertised affordable rates. The owner was an older man with kind eyes.
“I’m sorry, I only have cash. My ex… well, I don’t want him to be able to find me,” she said.
