I sat up and worried.
Even after Christopher texted to say she was taken back pretty quickly and was on an IV for fluids and was suffering through some cooling blankets.
At some point, the update was that the meds and fluids had her down under one hundred degrees, and they were just waiting for discharge papers.
I let myself drift off on the couch then, hoping that Char would come home and go right to sleep so we could both catch a few hours before the day really started.
All that hope vanished when the door flung open, cracking against the wall.
Then hands were grabbing me.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Alara
A scream caught in my throat, but the hand was over my mouth before more than a shocked gasp could escape me.
The electric rush of adrenaline surged through me as I clawed at his arm, fingers digging into exposed skin hard enough for blood to bead to the surface.
“Fuck,” he hissed, yanking away instinctively.
I sucked in a breath to scream before I remembered.
Liam.
Liam was still in the apartment.
Sleeping.
Helpless.
I couldn’t scream.
The last thing I wanted was to draw him out, bring attention to him, let them use him against me. I’d never forgive myself if they hurt him to get what they wanted out of me.
What other choices did I have?
The kitchen had knives. Ones I watched Christopher meticulously sharpen nearly every time he used them. There was also a hefty cast-iron skillet that lived inside the oven when it wasn’t in use.
And, yes, there was a gun.
It was stashed in a box on the top shelf in the hallway, too high for Charlotte to reach even if she was snooping around.
He wanted it out of reach, but not locked up.
“What good is a gun if you can’t get to it a pinch when you need it?”
I’d agreed with the logic at the time.
And I was even more on board now.
Did going for that gun mean getting closer to Liam’s room and risking him hearing something, though? Yes.
I could make a run for the door. Get down the hallway. Then let out a scream and pray someone heard. And if they heard, they decided to do something. And knowing what I knew about a lot of people in the city, that was maybe hoping for too much. Maybe they’d call the cops to report it. And maybe the cops would come out. Likely not in a hurry.
There were too many maybes with the plan to run.
But it was the safest option for Liam.
