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ChapterSix
Ariana bolted upright in bed, the sheets and blankets tangled around her legs. She gasped for air and pulled hair from her face. Looked around the room.
Damon was sprawled out next to her, completely uncovered and snoring lightly.
She was in her bedroom.
Safe.
The dream had felt so real.
Still felt real.
It had been real — when she was eleven.
Lloyd had taken her from the ball pit and locked her in that creepy room. Tried to convince her she was someone else, someone long dead. Then after she’d upset him, he threw her into the plain, empty room. That had been worse than being in the creepy one. But that wasn’t the worst of it.
Then he brought her to the woods to kill her…
Failed. Barely.
She closed her eyes, buried her face in her palms. Tears stung, and a lump nearly exploded in her throat. She gave into the overwhelming feelings and cried into her pillow to keep from waking Damon. Couldn’t let him know she was still dealing with nightmares.
It had been years since she’d had one about the kidnapping. She’d been a teenager the last time. Now here she was at twenty-five, as scared as if she were the stolen eleven-year-old again.
But why?
Then it hit her.
Rita.
The dream was because her friend was missing.
Ari was safe, but Rita was not.
Had there been any news overnight?
Ariana grabbed her phone from the nightstand. Fumbled to find the notifications.
Nothing.
She checked Rita’s social media profiles.
No new updates. Not from Rita, at least. Dozens of people sharing well-wishes and praying for her safety had tagged her in their posts. None of those messages were from Boone — her husband hadn’t posted a thing.
Didn’t he realize that looked suspicious? Especially considering he’d threatened Ari and Lia to stop looking for Rita. Like that would happen.
She would hit it all the harder come daylight.
It was just before four. She should get some more sleep.
And hope for no more nightmares.
No. This was just a response to her fear about Rita’s safety. There was no reason she would fall back into that habit again. She wouldn’t.
Damon rolled over, his eyes fluttering. He smiled, then it faded. “Is something wrong?”
She put her phone away. “Just looking for updates from Rita.”
