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I wasn’t unaware of my mortality, but being faced with it now, I felt a steady stream of fear pumping through my veins.
I wanted to live.
I wanted my Zaqiel back.
Before he even laid a hand on me, I was crying. Sitting in that chair, alone, all I could think of was Zaqiel and what a wasted opportunity it was. I’m not saying I was wrong to be angry, but I don’t know, maybe we could’ve talked through it or some shit, something like what normal couples do.
Hecaredabout me—what a rare thing to have lost.
So, part of me, some sick twisted part that craved the numbness still, was thankful when the pain started. Tyson surprised me. He said he wasn’t going to kill me because there was still money to be made from me. He was, however, going to teach me he owned me, and I was nothing more than his property—mind, body, and soul.
And once I healed and recovered, I’d be put back to work and be thankful for it. Even if he had to tie me to a bed in the hotel and sell me to those who wanted a ragdoll, I would be put back to work.
For the third time in as many minutes, Tyson slapped me across the face. Hard enough this time that the chair tipped over, and without the use of my arms, I was left to hit the floor, breaking the fall with my shoulder and temple. Tyson had two men in the room, and they wasted no time in picking me up and setting the chair straight so Tyson could continue.
Poor man was rubbing his wrists. “Are you okay? Did you hurt your hand?” I asked Tyson.
Stupid, I know.
“You always were a pain in the ass, Evie.” He sneered and hit me again, and I spit a mouthful of blood onto the floor. I don’t know if it was the fear pulsing through my veins, the adrenaline, the fight-or-flight response burning in me, or the alcohol. Or all of it. But after he said he wasn’t going to kill me, that hope flared inside me again. He may have been lying, I know, but apart from shattering me harder than I had been before, Zaqiel had shown me one thing—there was something in life worth fighting for.
One way or another, if it took me one or ten or twenty years, I’d get away from Tyson.
I would never stop fighting.
Whatever punishment he had for me today, I could take it. I’d heal and deal with the pain. Because I always did.
I smirked. He better watch his back because I’d be coming for him.
“What the fuck are you grinning at, whore?” He gripped my cheeks painfully between his fingers, forcing me to pout and tilting my face up to his.
Look, I know it was stupid, but I did it anyway.
I spat blood in his face.
The tears started streaming down my cheeks again, even as I smiled through the fear. Because his laugh was more terrifying than anything he could’ve said as he rolled up his sleeves.
ZAQIEL
Heidi was safe in my apartment, and I was confident no one had followed us. It would’ve been much quicker to fly her there, but there’s no way I could’ve hidden that from her.
I know I should’ve been more concerned about the fact it was broad daylight, but Heidi suspected Tyson would’ve taken Evie to his place, and I was barely containing my rage. When I had closed my apartment door behind me, the door handle had bent under my grip, and I just hoped Heidi didn’t try to open it because she might think I had locked her in and was keeping her prisoner. Although, she’d be safer there than out on the streets.
Right now, there was nothing in me but the burning need to get to Evie. She had consumed me, every part of my body and mind belonged to her, and no one was to touch her but me.
Tyson had threatened to hurt her,andhe had sent someone to attack her.
It would take everything in me not to kill him.
He hadmyEvie.
I knew I should be staying away from her. I knewallthe things I was and wasn’t supposed to do, but all of that had been thrown to the side when someone had tried to hurt her. Twice I had walked away, and each time I had felt that tug at my chest to pull me back. This time I wouldn’t be walking away. All the guilt was held within me at not being there when she needed me, and not to mention all the times before we had even met when she needed someone to care for her, and she had no one but people wanting to hurt and exploit her.
This ends now.
She was mine.Mine.
Ishouldhave been more concerned about the fact it was daylight, but it felt so good to stretch my wings out and swoop across the city, straight for Tyson’s place.
