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“Relax, child,” the stranger said. “It’s going to be all right.”
She looked at him, wondering if she could believe it, and panicked when he pulled a needle out of his bag. She whimpered, trying to move away, but he grabbed her and jabbed it into her shoulder blade.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, letting go and handing the offending little weapon to Michael. “I’m only trying to help.”
“Help?” Her mama had told her people out there would help, but she’d also warned her that some of them would lie. Haven wasn’t sure which group this man fell in to, but she leaned toward the latter.
“Yes, help.” The man stood. “You need to rest. Save your energy.”
He walked away, and her master followed him without saying a word. Haven lay there, too drained to make sense of it, and her eyes closed when she heard their voices again.
“She looks horrible!” the man yelled, all trace of kindness gone. “How could you let this happen, Antonelli?”
“I didn’t mean for it to,” Michael said. “I didn’t know she’d try to run!”
“This started before yesterday, and you know it! You should’ve been watching her!”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“You should be.” Haven started to slip away, but before sleep took her, the man spoke once more. “I’ll give you what you want for her, but I’m not happy about this. At all.”
* * *
Haven awoke later, still on the concrete floor. Every inch of her ached, and she grimaced as she struggled to sit up. A throat cleared nearby, the stranger once again standing in the basement with her. “How do you feel?”
She wrapped her arms protectively around herself as he moved toward her. “Okay.”
His voice was calm but firm. “The truth.”
“Sore,” she reluctantly admitted. “My head hurts.”
“I’m not surprised.” He knelt down and reached toward her, the movement making her flinch. “I’m not going to hit you, child.”
He felt her forehead and grasped her chin, surveying her face. “Do you know who I am?” She shook her head, although something about him struck her as familiar. She thought she might’ve seen him from a distance before, one of the visitors she’d been kept away from throughout the years. “I’m Dr. Vincent DeMarco.”
“Doctor?” They’d never gotten medical attention before, even for the severest of problems.
“Yes, I’m a doctor,” he said, “but I’m also an associate of the Antonellis. I arrived after you went missing. You suffered a minor concussion, and you’re dehydrated, but there’s no permanent damage that I can see. You’re lucky you were found. You could’ve died out there.”
A sinking feeling settled into the pit of Haven’s stomach, a small part of her wishing she would have. It had to be better than being killed at the hands of a monster.
Dr. DeMarco looked at his watch. “Do you think you can walk? We should leave soon.”
“We?”
“Yes, you’re going to be staying with me now.”
She shook her head, cringing as her pain intensified. “I can’t leave my mama. She needs me!”
“Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you ran away.”
She tried to explain, her words sluggish. “They were going to kill me. I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice, child,” he said. “In fact, you have one right now.”
“You’re giving me a choice?”
“Of course I am. You can come with me.”
