Page 163 of Barinov

The fear is gone. Replaced with the image of our girl chained to that bed. I yank my fingers out from under the rope—letting it crush my throat—and grab the hemp above my head with both hands.

I pull.

And pull.

I pull with every ounce of rage I have left, my vision going pitch black as the blood flow to my brain stops. I heave downward. A primal sound tears through my crushed throat until I hear a CRACK.

The branch gives way. I crash to the dirt in a heap of rope and broken wood.

“Finally,” Briggs laughs, kneeling in front of me as the next flare hits the sky. “Thought Knox was gonna tell me to cut your ass down.”

♥♥♥

“Lex,” Bella’s soft voice pierces my ears. “Baby, it’s time to wake up.”

“M-malyshka?” I whisper, my voice is barely there as my eyes drag open. “Is that… is that you?”

“It’s me.” She’s kneeling in the dirt beside me dressed in a black silk gown. Her fingers brushing the damp, sweat-soaked hair off my forehead. “It’s me, Lex.”

“How?”

“I got away.” Our girl smiles as she cradles the back of my head. “I got free.”

I reach up, my hand shaking with a tremor I can’t fucking stop as I trace her cheek. She feels real. Her cherry-vanilla scent washes over me.

“You’re here…”

She nods, tears slipping down her cheek. It feels warm when they splash on my skin.

I blink.

The warmth vanishes. The cherry-vanilla scent is quickly replaced by the stinging scent of damp earth. Bella dissolves into nothing and in her place stands a figure draped in shadows. A hood pulled low, black silk swallowing every inch of his identity.

“W-where is she?” I whisper, the words scratching my throat.

The hooded man doesn’t answer me. He turns his head and points toward the forest.

“Bella!”

The scream tears out of my lungs. I shove to my feet, muscles screaming in protest, and charge into the treeline. I don’t feel the branches whipping at my face or the roots catching my boots.

I see our girl again. She’s fifty yards ahead, draped in white. The sheer fabric blowing in the wind. Her feet are bare against the forest floor. She looks like an angel lost in hell.

“Bella! Wait!”

She glances over her shoulder and tosses me a smile that tastes like a goodbye before vanishing behind another massive oak. The hooded man following closely after her.

“Fuck!”

I push harder. My lungs burn and my vision is warping at the edges. The trees twist into gnarled, reaching fingers that try to pull me down. The forest breathes with me in a pulsing nightmare.

Bella’s there again.

She’s standing between two ancient pines, wearing her black and burgundy Trifecta uniform. She’s waiting for me. Relief slams into my chest so hard it nearly drops me to my knees.

“I’ve got you, malyshka. I’m—”

My hands pass through nothing. She shatters like a mirror, her image dissolving into a million shards of glass as they cut into my flesh.