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“I now regret asking that question.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I prefer to make it quick. I wouldn’t do any of those to you.”
“Oh, you’ve mentioned that.”
“At the worst, you’d just feel a little pinch.” I stand up and flush, quickly straightening the spring and using it to pick my cuff. I don’t slide it completely free, just far enough to let me slip out when I need to. “Or a cold sensation.”
He turns around and slides the door open with a quick jerk. “Cold sensation?”
I look into his face, finding great amusement in his stunned expression, like a spooked child staring at me from across a campfire. “Do you really want me to describe that one?”
Archer blinks. “No, thank you.”
I rinse my hand in the sink and shake the water off. “So, what’s next? Is it back to bed with me?”
“Well, if you promise to behave—”
I slip free from the cuff and reach for the back of his neck. His face twists in surprise. I yank him forward and smash his head into the door frame.
Archer shakes it off quickly and juts forward to take hold of me. I use his momentum against him and deliver a hard punch to his gut. He keels forward. I smash my knee into his face on the way down.
It’s not enough to knock him out cold but it’s enough to buy me the few seconds I need.
I jump over him to make it to my bag. I pick it up and dump it onto the bed, sifting through it for the hard, plastic case.
It’s not here.
He tossed the phone back into the main compartment with my clothes. I saw it. It was here.
I shove my hands into the bag to check again but there’s nothing there. It’s empty. I—
A wet rag clamps over my mouth. Archer’s strong arms squeeze around me as I take in a single undeniable breath of chloroform.
I push off the floor, raising my legs to kick against anything I can. Archer groans, but he takes the beating, planting his feet and holding the rag over my nose and mouth until I can’t fight it anymore.
The chemical seeps into my system. My vision blurs. My lungs burn. His arms stay locked in place around me until my muscles relax and he guides me down to the floor.
I roll onto my back and Archer smirks over me as I pass out.
Chapter 10
Lilah
Then
Headlights flash through my bedroom window, igniting the posters above my bed. I sit up, already wide-awake, and wander over to the window to see who’s here in the middle of the night. I have a good idea of who it could be, but I don’t want to get my hopes up too much.
I spot the old car creeping up the driveway. My chest surges with excitement.
Dante’s back.
I quickly rush out into the hall with both ears tuned to my grandparents’ bedroom beside mine. Gramps would have woken up by now if he heard the car, so Dante should be safe.
My bare feet whisper along the floor and stairs as I head down. I grab my jacket and slip on my shoes, eager to see my big brother again. How long has he been gone this time? Two weeks? Three? He’s barely been home at all since he turned eighteen, but he was always eager to get out of here. Gramps used to tell him he would, most likely in the backseat of a cop car if he kept going the way he was going.
But I don’t care about that.
He’s my big brother.
