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“Back at ya, kid.” She was trying to be light and breezy, but there was pain in her voice, the same as me. “I’d climb the trellis if I were you. They’ve stopped talking down there. Someone will be up here soon.”
I glanced out onto the balcony and nodded my agreement. “Good idea. Wish me luck.”
She laughed. “You don’t need luck, sweet cheeks. You’ve got me. I’ll stand outside the door and cover for you. Now go on, take that witchy goddaughter of mine and keep her safe.” She pressed a kiss to my cheek, and I felt her tears even though she spun away to keep me from seeing them.
Knowing this was my only chance, I hefted the bag up higher on my shoulder, took a deep breath, and stepped onto the balcony as she left the room. The wind bit at my cheeks, dark, chilly night air seeping into my bones the instant I swung my leg over the railing and onto the trellis.
The bag threatened to unbalance me, and I had one terrifying second where I thought for sure I’d be reaching the ground flat on my back. Thankfully, I hung onto the iron, the thorns from the climbing roses cutting into my palms.
Fuck. There might be a spell hiding me, but surely they’d find my blood.
I couldn’t worry about that now. So I gritted my teeth and focused on finding my footing as I worked my way painfully down the wall of roses. When my toe finally scraped the ground, I could have wept with relief. It felt like it had taken me hours when in reality, it had probably only been a couple of minutes.
All I had to do was get to the gate. Then hitch a ride and... run.
Easy.
I knew I was deluding myself, but delusions were all I had, so I was going to cling to them as fiercely as I had that fucking trellis. Picking up the pace, I started to walk-run down the gravel drive, trying to stay to the shadows as best I could.
A strange echo accompanied my footfalls, the sound shooting fear through me. I stopped, listening intently. Nothing. Just the pounding of my own heart.
But the moment I began pushing toward the gate again, I knew I’d been too easily fooled. A prick stung my neck, pressure accompanying the pain as cold liquid was injected into me.
“What...” My vision grew blurry, eyes sinking shut as a black hood was pulled roughly over my head.
I tried to force my limbs to move, to fight back, but they weren’t responding. I couldn’t even push the breath past my lips to form words.
Then the world tilted, and the weightless feeling of my body was the last thing I remembered before I faded away in my kidnapper’s arms.
