“Rose!” My best friend’s voice echoes around me. I can’t pinpoint where it’s coming from as I glance around wildly.
“Charlie! Where are you?” My voice shakes as unease prickles my neck. She sounds scared.
“Rose!”
Why isn’t she answering me?
I take a step forward, following where I think her plea is coming from. It’s hard to see in the dark, but I follow my senses as the brush rustles beneath my feet.
“Rose!”
“Where are you? I’m here, Charlie!” I call, but there’s no response.
The forest falls into an unsettling calm as my throat becomes thick with emotion.
This doesn’t feel right. Something is wrong.
“Roman! Kairo!” I shout, but I’m only met with the stillness of the night. “Maddox!”
“Rose! Rose! Rose! The crowd was alive tonight! You did amazing!”
My lips part as the breath escapes my lungs. I stare unseeing at the ground as realization slaps me. Panic tears away at my composure.
It’s a recording. The same one Charlie got during my first tour. Someone is luring me out.
I bolt in the opposite direction, my adrenaline coming alive again and pumping through my veins as I shout for the three men I know are still lurking in the woods.
I have to find them before—
By the time I see the figure swing out from behind a tree, it’s too late. It lifts something heavy into the air before cracking the object across my temple. I fall to the ground, pain lancing my head as I feel hot, sticky liquid trickle down my face. My vision blurs, doubling as I try to sit up on shaky arms. I lift my hand to my head before closing my eyes at the pain.
On the path before me, the figure squats down, resting its elbows on its knees as it peers down at me. The soft, warm light from one of the houses beyond the fence bathes the stranger, and my eyes widen as fear paralyzes me.
Dad is older now, with streaks of grey in his sweat-slicked black hair. His beard is unkempt and overgrown, and his clothes look baggy on his lanky frame. He’s lost weight since my last run-in with him, but his dark eyes still hold that deranged, wild look—like he lost his mind years ago and has been living in a state that isn’t human.
His lips twist into a sinister smile. “Hey, kiddo. Did you miss dear old dad?”
I shake my head, my eyelids sinking with my slipping consciousness. I want to fight, to scream, but I can’t. I’m fading quickly from the pain that’s radiating through my neck. “What…what—”
“Shhh,” he lifts a finger to his lips. “Don’t strain. I’ve already damaged you enough. That shiner is bound to knock your price down.”
Price.
My heart slams as I suck in a ragged breath. “What’s…happening?”
He tilts his head condescendingly. “I’m getting what I’m owed, Rosalie. Do you have any idea how much the flesh of a pop star pays?” He chuckles darkly. “More than what your fucking checks could ever cover.”
He closes in on me as danger blares in my head. I hold my trembling hands up to block him, but I’m not strong enough as he shoves me to the ground and covers my mouth and nose with his hand. His lips pull over his teeth as I throw my head to the side. “Go to sleep. Don’t make me kill you, Rosalie.”
I whimper as my alertness begins to slip from the lack of oxygen. I don’t want to die. Not at the hands of my father.
I close my eyes tightly as tears prick my lashes. My last thoughts are a desperate plea—a call to the universe for the three men who have stolen my heart to find me.
And then everything goes dark.
Chapter Forty-Three
Roman
