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I walk to the guard house just before the gate. My back straight, and my head held high. I need to get to the airport on a plane back to Manhattan and as far away from Casbury as possible. At this point, Siberia wouldn’t be far enough away from the kings.
The guard stationed at the gate isn’t one I know. Fuck. I need to be able to convince him to take me to the private airport without alerting everyone in the house that I have left the property. Once I’m there, I can have Clark send the private jet to get me back to Manhattan by the end of the day. I have to save what is left of my pride; it is the only thing keeping me from crumbling to the ground.
The early afternoon sun shines down on me, deceiving in its warmth. Like everything else in Casbury it seems. We are all liars. Ones that deceive not only those around us but also ourselves. My heart hurts; it feels like a million tiny cuts are bleeding me out. Decimating me one small cut at a time until there will be nothing left of me if I remain here.
“Trevor?” Fuck is that his name? I bet you Isabella would know.
He nods his head, coming out of the small guard house and walking towards me. “Yes, Miss Stratford.” The way he says my name tells me that he’s worried already. Maybe he was present when I ran down those two guards trying to escape the property to look for Mateo. Or perhaps he heard about the plane and how I put a gun to the back of one of his fellow guard’s heads. Anger rises in me at those memories. All the things I did, all the sins I committed for the kings of Casbury only for them to hate me in the end.
“Do you have keys to that vehicle?” I indicate the black Ford Expedition that is parked next to the fence.
“Yes, Miss.”
“Good. You’re going to get in that vehicle and drive me to the private hangar to await my grandmother’s jet. Trevor, you are not going to call Tom or radio one of your buddies, or I will not only have you fired but have everything you love and value taken away from you. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
I watch as he swallows hard, his eyes filled with fear. He knows I can do it. He knows what the Stratfords are capable of. I can see the gears turning in his dark curly head, weighing his options. He has none. I will annihilate him if he doesn’t do what I tell him to. His eyes meet mine, and I feel just a kernel of satisfaction at his defeated look.
“Let’s go.” I move quickly to the passenger side and wait for him to unlock the doors before slipping into the front seat. He gets in next to me, fires up the SUV, and then runs back to the gatehouse to press the button to open the gate. We need to hurry before one of these other guards realizes it’s me leaving the property and calls it into Tom. I will not be brought back, humiliated, and forced to stay in a house filled with people that loathe me.
You could always make them leave.The thought crosses my mind, but I quickly dismiss it. Mateo and June are in no condition to be removed from the property, and Vincent is still out there somewhere intent on harm. I’m not entirely heartless. Just because they want to hurt me doesn’t mean I wish them harm.Funny how the tables have turned. No, let them stay here. Let them sit in my glass prison while I return to my throne. They can have it; if I have my way, I will never step foot in Casbury, North Carolina, ever again in my life.
Trevor jumps back into the vehicle, and we roll down the driveway and through the gate. I engage the button to lower the window as he picks up speed, taking a deep breath of clean ocean air. I came here with hope for a new reign, a Stratford queen on a Casbury throne. I’m leaving with my heart shattered and my mind revolting against my weakness.
I will never allow anyone to hurt me again. This was the moment that Amelia Hamilton truly died, and all her goodness with her. From now on, I will be Mia Stratford, a product of Stella Straford’s raising. A dragon queen that will instill fear in all those around her. I will never allow myself to be weak or pitiful again. Just like Stella, I will be the throne, and God help anyone who comes for it.
We are just on the outskirts of town, Trevor’s giving me nervous glances from below his lashes and gripping the wheel like his life depends on it. I catch him glancing back at the rearview mirror a few times. “Is there a problem?” I demand.
“I’m pretty sure we are being followed. That truck has taken every turn we have since we left the property.” I glance back at his words, noticing a gray pickup truck close behind us. Trevor takes a sudden right turn hard, and without warning. It has me gripping the “oh shit” handle. “I’m going to try to lose them.”
We take a right, followed by a quick left, but the pickup speeds up, never losing sight of us.Shit! Could it be Vincent or one of his goons?“Take a left! Hurry!” My voice comes out loud and panicky. Trevor takes a left hard, and I feel the SUV momentarily airborne before it hits the asphalt at a rapid speed. He takes another left that has us pulling back onto the empty highway. I’m watching the speedometer rise; we are doing over a hundred and twenty miles per hour now.Jesus, we are going to fucking die!As we make our way down the two-lane highway, trees and mountains blur past. The pickup speeds up, trying to catch up to us.
“Miss Stratford, please, you have to call Tom. This truck is following us. Someone’s after us!” Trevor swerves on the road trying to force the pickup to give us some space. I pull out my phone, pulling up Tom’s contact just as I’m thrown forward in my seat, my head hitting the window with the impact and the phone flying out of my hand. The pickup rams us again, trying to force us off the road. I watch through terrified eyes as Trevor loses control of the SUV. He tries to keep us on the road, but he can’t with the impact from behind that pushes us off to the shoulder.
We hit the soft dirt shoulder hard and the SUV rolls down the side embankment. We are airborne before it rolls once, then twice, and lands on the driver’s side. The airbags deploy, striking me in the face and chest. The pain is instant all over my body. My hand forcefully impacts with the interior roof of the vehicle before we come to a stop, and I’m hanging like a limp rag doll in the seat, trapped by the seat belt and the airbag.
A groan leaves Trevor before he tries to push the deployed airbag away from him. His face is bloody, and his arm is messed up. The elbow looks like it’s facing the wrong way. “You need...to get…out.” He groans.
I try to unhook myself from the seatbelt, but glass is everywhere, and I slice my hand. The sharp pain helping me to focus. I reach for Trevor’s seatbelt and release him; he flops sideways across the driver’s side window, his legs still trapped under the steering wheel. I remove my seat belt and fall on top of him with a pain-filled thump. We both release groans, and then I’m trying to kick the airbag away from him. “No, leave me. My legs are broken. Take the gun in my shoulder holster. Climb into the back and get out through the trunk. Run for the trees. Don’t stop.” Trevor gasps.
I hesitate for a moment, and then I release his gun, tucking it into the small of my back and climbing through the seats to the trunk. I can hear an engine still roaring, and the crunch of glass has me panicking and crouching down low between the seats. Someone is coming towards the vehicle.Fuck, they are going to find me!
A shadow moves across the front of the SUV through the shattered front window. I climb as quietly as I can over the seat and into the trunk, trying to locate the back-release handle. I bite down hard on my lip to keep from letting out a sound, and cautiously, I release the handle, pushing open the trunk a crack. Whoever is out there is fighting with Trevor. I can hear him shouting and trying to fight through the mangled car.
I push the trunk open, slip out of the back, fall to the soft earth and make a run for it, heading for the trees like Trevor instructed me to. I don’t look back; trees and shrubs blur past me, and my feet slide on the soft earth, making me fall to my knees. I get back up and keep running. I can hear my blood rushing in my ears, and my heart is pumping so quickly I can’t breathe.
A gunshot sounds loud in the air; it has me momentarily stalling and looking back over my shoulder. Someone’s coming, a man dressed in dark clothing with a baseball cap pulled low. I take off at a sprint again, trying not to wham into the trees in front of me. I can hear him catching up to me; he’s making up ground quickly.
I turn right and run into a dense shrubbed area, crouching down and hiding in the bushes. I slam my hand over my mouth to stop my harsh breathing and the little whimpers leaving my lips. Blood drips into my right eye from when I hit the window frame. My body is coiled tight and prepared to run again. Fear is racing through my body, and my mind can’t process what is happening correctly. I’m being hunted through the woods outside of Casbury.
He shot Trevor! Whoever this is, he was lying in wait. Just waiting for me to leave the property and like the fucking reckless idiot I am, I gave him the perfect opportunity. I reach back and grab Trevor’s gun from the small of my back, holding it tight in my grip. I release the safety and pray that he didn’t hear the noise I just made.
Not five feet from where I’m hiding, I see him enter the shrubbed area. He seems to be assessing the space and determining what bush I’m hiding in. I ready myself to shoot him and protect myself as he starts searching for me from one shrub to the other. He looks large from where I am. A hulking menacing figure, obviously intent on capturing me. Is he part of Vincent’s goons? My mind brings up an image of June and everything Mary said happened to her. No fucking way am I allowing that to happen to me. I’ll put this gun in my mouth and blow my brains out before allowing that.
My breath is trapped in my throat. Sweat is trickling down my neck and back with my intense fear and trepidation. I watch as he stomps into the bush not two feet from where I’m hiding. It’s now or never. I either have to shoot him or try to run. When he turns towards the bush right next to me. I press my finger on the trigger, and it releases the shot. I’m up and running again, not waiting around to see where I might have hit him.
I make it another twenty yards before I’m tackled from behind, and all the air whooshes out of my chest as I make a hard impact with the ground. His fingers tangle in the back of my hair, pushing my face into the hard ground while his body sprawls painfully over mine. His weight, bearing down on all my limbs and not allowing me to turn back over and fight him.
“Stay down you stupid bitch.” He hisses near my ear before I feel his forearm press hard into the back of my neck.
