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He watches me for a moment before nodding toward a cabinet next to the vanity on the left. “There are towels and about a hundred different soaps and conditioners in there.”
I arch a brow at him.
Gabriel shakes his head, but there’s a fondness in his voice when he says, “Kade takes hair care very seriously.”
Perhaps if the circumstances that landed me in this moment with Gabriel were different, I would smile.
He gives me one last look before heading out of the room. It’s only once I hear the bedroom door click shut that I let out a breath. The next one gets caught in my throat, and I rush over to the shower and turn it on in hopes of covering the sound of the sob that tears its way up my throat. Tears spring in my eyes, and while I’m surprised at the sudden onslaught, I don’t fight them back. I will let myself cry behind closed doors, but I will never let them see.
I strip out of my clothes, leaving them in a pile on the shiny marble floor, and step under the hot spray of water. My chin quivers as tears mix with water on my face, and I run my fingers through my hair until it’s wet enough to lather with the glass bottle of eucalyptus and mint scented shampoo.Stupid fancy soap.
I scrub until my skin is an angry red, and by the time I’m rinsing the conditioner out of my hair, my belly aches and my temples are pounding. All I want to do is close my eyes and forget this entire night ever happened.
I have to get out of here.
My heavy limbs disagree, but it doesn’t stop me from stepping out of the shower, leaving the water running, and quickly drying off. I wrap the towel around me and tiptoe into the bedroom to grab my duffel bag. I tear through it until I find a pair of leggings and a heavy beige sweater. I get changed as fast as I can and towel dry my hair enough I won’t catch a cold the minute I step outside.
I grab my book bag with my cell phone and wallet and shove my feet into my shoes. My mind is going a million miles an hour, and I am very aware that what I’m about to attempt is ridiculously stupid, but I refuse to accept this as my reality—being stolen away from everything I love and for what? To be turned into a slave to four vampires? Nausea ripples through me, making my jaw clench as bile rises in my throat. I swallow hard and square my shoulders. I need to at leasttryto escape.
I shoulder my bag and go to the window near the bathroom. It takes up the entirety of the wall, but there’s also a window panel that opens enough to get out—which is exactly what I do. I hold my breath as I unlatch the lock and push the panel open. I peek down and cringe. It’s still a few feet, but much better than it could’ve been if they’d stuck me in a bedroom on the second or third floor.
Their mistake.
I climb out, my breath fogging the air in front of me as the cold knocks the wind out of my lungs. I suck in a deep breath and dart toward the line of trees along the side of the house which, to my benefit, is made of actual walls instead of windows.
My heart rattles in my chest as I sprint through the forest, tripping over fallen branches here and there, but managing to catch my balance before eating the ground each time. When I finally reach the road, I don’t stop. I follow the asphalt until it meets the main road, then I pull my phone out and order a ride, choosing a meeting place a short distance away so I can keep moving.
I round the corner and see the license plate of my driver. I run the rest of the way down the sidewalk and throw myself into the back of the car, my chest heaving with every breath.
“You okay there, hon?” Leanne, my five-star driver asks, eyeing me from the rearview mirror. She has dark corkscrew curls that reach her shoulders, and she’s wearing one of those puffy jackets in a bright yellow color. I can’t really make out her expression in the dark, but her tone is kind.
“Yes,” I force out. “Please just drive.”
When she reads my address aloud to confirm the drop-off, my pulse races. I’d put in my home address just to get picked up.
“No,” I say quickly. “I can’t go there.”
She frowns at me. “Are you sure you’re all right? Should I call the police?”
I choke on a desperate laugh.Unless the police can arrest four vampires for taking what they believe to be rightfully theirs based on a century-old blood oath, you’d be wasting a call, Leanne.
“Hon?”
“No,” I repeat. “I’m fine. Just head toward Pennsylvania Ave.”
“I’m supposed to get an address,” she says.
“I’ll pay you whatever you want. In cash.”
She doesn’t hesitate this time. We pull away from the curb, heading toward the interstate, and I can’t help but feel as though I’m fighting a losing battle.
3
The streets of Washington are quiet, unlike the pounding in my chest. My head is spinning and my forehead is damp with sweat. I have no idea what I’m doing, and every second I don’t figure it out, I’m losing what little ground I managed to gain on these guys.
The driver keeps looking at me in the rearview mirror; I’m freaking her out.
I’m also putting her in danger. Who knows what the guys will do if they find me with another person?
