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Grace
The burst of cool air against my face is welcome at first, but as we step out of the house and into the cold, I’m quickly thankful for the warmer clothes Lucas gave me. The walk to the car isn’t long, but snow crunches under my feet as I look around, trying to pick up some clue as to where we are.
Lucas leads me away from the house—a large retreat-like cabin, surrounded by trees and blanketed in snow.
This safe house is clearly located deep in the middle of nowhere. Mountains rise up on one side of us as the sun peeks over the horizon on the other side. It’s early morning, and the air is still and quiet. There are no signs of civilization anywhere. If I try to run now, they’ll have plenty of time to catch me before I reach another living soul who might offer help or protection.
And that’s assuming I could even make it fifteen feet without one of them shooting me in the back of the head.
No. I need to be smart. Wait for the right moment.
Lucas nudges my back, pushing me toward the car. I swallow in trepidation as I step forward.
They must’ve swapped out vehicles while I was unconscious. Unlike the van they originally transported me in, this one is smaller, which means we’re in closer confines. Hale sits in the driver’s seat with Ciro by his side, and Zaid is already in the back. As Lucas shoves me onto the seat between him and Zaid, I catch a flash of Hale’s eyes in the rearview mirror.
Don’t even think about trying to run, they seem to say, as if he really does think I’m that stupid.
But I’m not an idiot. I may be too stubborn for my own good sometimes, but at least I learn from
my mistakes.
I can see now that it was stupid of me to try to distract Zaid and escape yesterday. Even if I’d somehow managed to get away, I wouldn’t have lasted an hour in this cold, stark wilderness.
The car’s engine is already rumbling, and the warmth is welcome as Lucas closes the door to the outside world. He reaches over and buckles me in, his hand brushing my thighs, my hips. My toes clench inside the shoes Lucas gave me before we stepped outside, but I keep my gaze pointed firmly out the front windshield, trying to ignore the feeling of being pressed between the two men.
Suddenly, the heater feels like too much, burning my skin from the inside out.
If Zaid and Lucas are affected by our close proximity, they give no indication of it as I sit in silent suffocation, desperately trying not to think about the ways their legs are pressed up against my own, shoulders brushing shoulders, arm pressing into me as Zaid reaches over to hand Lucas something.
I take a deep breath and focus on the direction we’re moving, headlights illuminating the falling snow and narrow road in front of us in the dim early morning light. The road twists and turns, bringing us down out of the foothills, and the food I ate before we left shifts uncomfortably in my stomach.
When the road finally levels out, the knot in my stomach barely eases at all. As terrifying as it was to wake up in a strange house, held captive by four men I used to know, it’s even more terrifying to be on the move again.
Because it brings me one step closer to my ultimate fate.
Don’t panic, I tell myself as the fear begins to rise in me. You’ll find a way out.
I don’t know where they’re taking me, and I don’t know what they plan to do with me once we get there—two facts that would terrify any sane person. But worrying myself sick isn’t going to help me get free. I need to figure out where we’re headed, and from there, think of a plan to escape.
“How long is the drive?” I ask, my voice sounding too loud in the quiet car.
Hale’s response is to reach over to the dash and turn the radio knob. Harsh music blasts through the car, so loud it makes me jump. Anger flares in me like a spark, but when I shift in my seat, I’m reminded of the two men who sit at my sides.
“Stop being a dick,” Ciro mutters, reaching for the volume and turning it down. “Answering one question won’t hurt anyone.”
Hale drums his fingers on the steering wheel. “The drive is as long as I want it to be.”
Great. Thanks, asshole.
Giving up that line of questioning, I ask, “And where are we going?”
I’m sure he’s not going to tell me, but I have to try. I don’t want to sit in his brooding silence for the next several hours, and I need any little scraps of information they might let slip.
Hale looks at Ciro as if to say, I thought she would only ask one question, not play a game of fucking trivia, but his gaze flickers back to mine in the rearview mirror.
“We’re going to another house.”
That’s vague. “Where?”
