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A chilly breeze whips around me as I move silently from shadow to shadow. My heart pounds heavily in my chest at each creak of a tree or hoot of an owl … as if at any second, my secret escape will be discovered.
Somehow, I manage to reach the broken fence without misfortune. Quickly pulling myself over it, I breathe a small sigh of relief. Though I'm still far from being safe, at least from here I can run.
Taking off down the hill, I make my way to the edge of our property. Clambering over the stone wall, I land in the tall grass beyond that marks my official success at leaving home behind.
Shadows stretch and loom before me, threatening to send my heart pounding from my chest, but I do my best to ignore them as I set off along the path toward town.
I'm nearly halfway there, too far from home yet not close enough to be near people, when I hear him.
"Well, what have we here."
My blood runs cold, stopping me in my tracks, one foot still lifted for the next step.
I swallow, closing my eyes for a moment, too afraid to peer into the darkness just behind me to confirm that the voice I just heard does, in fact, belong to my stepbrother.
That somehow, Amadeus has managed to find me, and that there's no one around to protect me from his lingering gaze or searching hands.
Slowly, I turn toward the sound, like prey cornered by a predator.
"Fate, it would seem, favors me having you, Hazel," Amadeus says, emerging from the shadows. "Again and again, I find you within my grasp."
"I-I'm betrothed."
Amadeus' face twists at this.
"I'll die before I let Payne take what is mine," he snarls. "I've spent far too long waiting for this moment to just let some old man slip in at the last moment. No, I'll have my way with you, first. Then you can go to your wedding bed thinking of me."
I stumble back a step, but it's too late. He's already on me, covering my body with his as he walks me backward.
My bag falls to the ground as he, yet again, shoves me up against the rough bark of a tree. The wind knocked out of me as his hands move along my dress, sending chills of foreboding racing across my skin and down my spine.
I shove my hands against his chest, but all I get in return is a hard slap across the face that sends my head spinning.
"Try that again, and I'll knock you out," he warns, one cold hand dipping beneath my skirts.
I want to close my eyes, to look away, but I don't.
His breathing is rough as his hand runs up my thigh, and I shiver as he draws closer to my core.
Should he ruin me tonight, I don't know what that would mean for my future. What little of it I have.
"Help!" I scream, the tail end of the word silenced as Amadeus clamps his other hand over my mouth.
"No one can hear you," he says, the hand beneath my skirts stilling for a moment as he leans in to whisper in my ear. "No one. Nothing but death will keep you from me."
Horror washes over me as I realize there's nothing I can do. My attempts to slip away are useless with him pinning me here.
I'm shorter than him, though that's no great compliment to his own height, and thinner too, thanks to his mother's careful rationing of my meals the past six or so years. Even if that wasn't the case, I'm not sure I'd have the strength to fight him off.
My stomach twists at the thought of what's to come next. Closing my eyes, I try to prepare myself for his touch as his fingers graze my innermost thigh.
But his touch never comes.
There's a heavy thud, and I slowly open my eyes to suddenly find myself no longer pinned against the tree.
It takes me a moment to adjust to the dim light before I realize Amadeus is lying in a crumpled heap at my feet. Standing just beyond, his chest heaving, is Cyprian.
Our eyes meet for a moment before I sag against the tree, relief pooling warm and welcome in my chest.
