Dread pools in my lower gut when I hear the crunch of tires behind me a moment before bright lights cut through the darkness, lighting up the road and bleeding into the fields on either side.
He’s found me already.
I don’t think, I just run, ignoring the way the rocks cut into my feet deeper and the crippling fear thathas my knees wanting to buckle. I’m not sure I’ll survive if I go back with Cal. Not because I don’t want to, but because he will kill me. Maybe not now, but he will eventually.
The car speeds up and drives by me before they slam on the brakes and come to a stop in front of me. I don’t recognize it; it’s an older truck, not something Cal would be driving.
The door opens and slams shut before a woman starts running toward me.
“Holy shit!” She hollers, “What the hell are you doing?”
She skids to a stop and I stare at her, barely making out her features. She has dark hair and is wearing an oversized tee with a pair of denim shorts, but I feel her eyes on me, staring, waiting…
“I—well—”
“Are you lost?” She asks me more gently now, taking a step closer, but I flinch, my arms immediately coming around my body.
Her hands go up, “Where are you going?” She asks.
“I’m trying to find Silas,” I whisper.
Her eyes widen a fraction, “Silas Knight?”
I nod.
She wets her lips and glances back to her truck before bringing her eyes back to me, “My name is Niamh, Silas is my brother-in-law.”
“I was just trying to get to him,” I tell her. “My truck ran out of gas, and I don’t have a cell phone.”
“It’s okay,” She soothes, coming closer. Her eyes land on the bruise on my face, the skin cut in the center where his ring had caught me during the strike. “Shit.”
“I’m sorry,” my voice shakes, “I can just go back to my truck. It’s fine.”
“No,” she blurts, reaching for me as if to stop me from turning away, but she drops her hand before she makes contact. “I can drive you.”
I worry my bottom lip, wondering if I should trust this woman.
“We live on the same ranch,” she continues. “I’m married to his brother, Roman. My name is Niamh Calloway-Knight, here.” She reaches into her back pocket and pulls out her cell phone, snapping off the case to pull out her ID. She shows it to me, proving she is who she says she is.
“Okay,” I breathe.
She seems to release a heavy breath and then nods softly, “Come on then.”
I follow Niamh back to her truck, forcing away the nerves as I get into the passenger seat.
“I didn’t catch your name,” Niamh pulls away from the side of the road, her voice soft.
“Juniper,” I reply, my hands wringing in my lap, “Or Juni, if you like.”
“That’s such a beautiful name,” she beams at me.
“Thank you.”
I see her roll her hands on the steering wheel nervously, and the cab falls silent as she drives us the rest of the way, turning into the driveway that has an arch with a sign swinging from the top.
Knight Falls Ranch.
I fidget in my seat as Niamh comes to a stop outside a log cabin, warm light spilling out of the windows on the ground floor. She gets out before I do, but I join her on the doorstep, my breath stalling when she lifts her hand to knock.
