I was frozen until the moment his feet hit the ground and he disconnected the rope.Once it was reeled back up and the helicopter wheeled away, I climbed the tree in a frenzy of motion, ignoring my severe burn and my other cuts and scrapes as I ascended.I was close to the top when I paused for breath and looked down at Adam and his men below me.
One of them lifted a gun.
“No!”Adam commanded.His voice might be faraway, but I easily heard him.“If that dart strikes her and she falls, she’ll die.Thenyouwill die.”
One of the dogs whimpered as its handler slowly lowered his dart gun, not the firearm I’d originally imagined.Of course it wasn’t.I was too valuable to Adam to die on him.My lineage ended with me.
Adam looked up at me once again, his voice hoarse when he called out, “Come down, Bella, please.I promise I won’t hurt you.Youcantrust me.I’m nothing like those other men who tried to break you.”
I hesitated, my throat constricting until I could barely breathe.Then I lifted my chin and my lungs filled with air.Did he think I was a fool?I’d dishonored him.I’d already decided there would be consequences for that.I didn’t say a word as I turned my back on him—on all of them—and climbed the last dangerously thin branches to reach the top.
“Bella, I implore you, don’t—“
My wings billowed out as I jumped, Adam’s sentence cutting off as he no doubt watched in horror from below.Adrenaline washed through me as I dropped—if I died it wasn’t from a lack of trying to escape—then got caught up in a small thermal that lifted me back above the treetops.
With a shaky laugh I dipped one wing and headed toward the city that I’d seen earlier.With any luck I might just glide all the way there.
Chapter Three
Another thermal pushedme back high and I rode it most of the way to the city, following the meandering river far below.That no helicopter chased me down didn’t surprise me.Even if Adam had sprinted uphill all the way back to his home to get to his chopper, he’d never have caught me.
Flying—gliding—covered a whole lot of ground in a short time.
Aged buildings appeared beneath me as I made use of my newly acquired steering skills by tipping one wing lower than the other.I pulled both wings back as I descended between an aged apartment building and a squat warehouse.
But although I slowed dramatically as I braced for landing, my bare feet took the brunt of the unyielding asphalt before I tumbled, then lay unmoving for a moment as alarm turned into exhilaration.
I’d made it!I wasfree!
No more worrying about giving into Adam before he broke my heart and my trust, no more being locked away like some prized possession and being unable to make my own decisions and mistakes, then learning by them.
I could do what I wanted when I wanted.The thought was dizzying!
I sat up, my wings tucking close to my spine as I looked left, then right, my adrenaline and feel good vibes diminishing at the gloomy, desolate atmosphere seeping into my pores.The squalor was obvious even in the darkness that was barely held back by a couple of feeble streetlights.
It didn’t stop my grin.Adam wouldn’t look for me here.He’d expect me to find a richer, cleaner area.Somewhere I’d be more likely to get help.Somewhere I’d feel right at home.
