Page 29 of His Hostage

“Please,” I whisper, feel

ing the darkness start to set in. “Don’t leave me here.”

“I wish you hadn’t said any of that stuff back there,” Rowan says, shaking his head. “I could have protected you.”

I can’t even utter a word back. I’m in total disbelief. First, I was free. I was in the desert, soaking up the sun’s rays and enjoying the alien scenery.

Somehow, I’ve fallen into the dark side of this place. I met the wrong guy, the guy I knew I should have stayed away from.

Now, I’m his hostage.

Who knows what will happen to me next?

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I’ll figure something out. Trust me.”

But I’m all out of trust at the moment. I’m all out of faith, in general.

13

Rowan

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

I can’t say the word enough times. Sometimes when you curse, you feel a hell of a lot better.

Not this time.

No, this time, it just makes me feel helpless.

I want to help her. When I took her down into that hidden shelter, I wanted to turn around and blast Andy and Jeffco right where they were standing.

But it’s not that easy.

They’re helping me survive out here. I can’t just throw them into the ground, too.

As we walk away, I can hear her screaming for help. It’s muffled, but I can hear it, and it makes me sick to my stomach.

Andy and Jeffco just laugh away. They think the whole thing is hilarious. They laugh until they’re cackling into the desert. We have to walk a good ways back to the car, and they don’t stop one bit.

“Shut up,” I finally tell them. “Knock it off.”

“Aw.” Jeffco kisses at the air, mocking me. “I’m sorry I ruined your little date,” he says. “You guys would have been cute together.”

“Jeffco, I’m warning you, man. Just shut the fuck up, okay? She didn’t do anything wrong. We shouldn’t treat her like one of the Hunters,” I say.

Andy laughs. “You don’t see me beating her to a bloody pulp, do you? If she was one of the Hunters, I’d hack each limb off her body.”

He turns to me and drops his smile, so I know just how serious he is. These guys are fucking lunatics, and normally I’d say I love them, but right now they’re getting on my nerves.

We get into the car and drive off, headlights shining against sporadic dust and cacti. Every so often, a jackrabbit runs out into the lights, only to get squashed or disappear in the nick of time.

We pull into the Silent Barn, and they both get out, leaving my engine running. “You should stay here. Park in the back garage. You’ll be safe for the night at least,” Jeffco says.

“I think I’m fine at home,” I protest.

I hate to say this, because I feel like it suggests that I’m weak, but I keep thinking about Caroline down in that shelter, chained at the knees like she was.

I can’t get the picture out of my head. It’s despicable. She’s innocent. She wouldn’t hurt a fly.

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