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I didn’t blame her. That whole thing had been a complete shitshow, but I could handle spreading some peanut butter and jelly on a couple slices of bread. I wasn’t a complete moron. But if my boy had requested grilled cheese, well, that would have been a different story.
I’d just twisted the lip of the peanut butter jar when my cellphone started to ring. I pulled it from my back pocket, thinking it was probably Deva calling to tell me she’d made itto the library safe and sound, but when I looked at the screen, Shane’s name flashed.
I cradled the phone between my ear and shoulder as I scooped my butter knife into the jar. “Hey, Shane. What’s up?”
“Hey, lover boy. I was just calling to tell you to let your woman up for air. I know you’re all in love and stuff, but we can’t get this meeting started without her.”
The knife in my hand froze mid-spread. I straightened my head, taking my phone in my hand as my heart sank to the pit of my stomach. “Shane, what are you talking about? Deva left half an hour ago. She should be at the library by now.”
“Oh...” A beat of silence passed through the line. “I’m sure she’s all right. She probably stopped for a chat or something,” Shane reassured me, but I could tell by the sound of her voice, she wasn’t so sure about that. She was worried.
My grip in the butter knife was so tight my knuckles had bleached of color. “Have you tried calling her?”
“She—Laeth, she’s not answering.”
And just like that, the bottom fell out of my world.
I dropped the knife on the counter with a clatter as I stormed from the kitchen. “Shane, call Jensen and Gage, tell them to go to the library now. I’m on my way.”
Deva
I wasn’tsure what pulled me back to consciousness. Was it the pounding throb in my head that radiated from my temple all the way through my skull, or the horrible, putrid smell?
“Oh god,” I cried once I managed to open my eyes and take in my surroundings. The only light in the small shed was thesunlight that managed to filter through the cracks between the boards that made up the crudely constructed walls. But I didn’t need to see in order to know where I was.
The smell was more than I could take. I lifted my hands to cover my nose, praying it would block out the rancid odor, only to find my wrists were bound with rope.
“Help!” I shouted, placing my hands on the floor to try and push myself up, but they landed in a puddle of warm, sticky liquid that squelched and gushed through my fingers. I blinked, lifting my hands to try and see what was dripping from them, and immediately curled over and vomited up my breakfast at the dark, congealed blood that covered my skin. I heaved until the muscles in my stomach cramped up and my throat had been burned raw.
As soon as I finished, the door to the Oakes’s game shed flew open, disturbing the swamp of flies that had taken up residence. The burst of sunlight revealed that the place hadn’t been cleaned in ages, probably since I left, but that clearly hadn’t stopped Mathias and his father from using it.
“I told you the girl was weak.” At the sneered words, I looked into the face of Agnes Oakes, the only woman on the planet I could say without hesitation I hated. “Can’t even handle the sight of a little deer blood without puking all over the place.”
“Well, that’ll be rectified soon enough.” Her husband, Sherman, pushed through then, coming into the shed. I shrunk back as he crouched down in front of me, trying to get away, but thanks to the wall behind me, there was nowhere to go. My lips parted on a scream as soon as he reached back and pulled a large hunting knife from behind him, but before the sound could get out, he cracked me against the cheek with his other hand. “That’s enough of that,” he clipped, grabbing hold of my bound wrists and yanking my arms toward him. He used the knife to cut theropes before standing and moving back to the opening of the shed.
Agnes came in next, dropping down a bucket of soapy water so hard it sloshed over the sides. “You’ll clean this building from top to bottom if you know what’s good for you,” she seethed, dark, malignant hatred pouring from her eyes.
“No,” I gritted out between clenched teeth. I wasn’t going to let this woman and her horrible family win. I wasn’t going to let them force me back into the life I’d escaped.
Her hand connected with the same cheek her husband had slapped, sending sparks of fire across my skin. “You’ll do it, or the next person who pays for your sins is that little boy you care so much about.”
All of a sudden, things started clicking into place. The feeling of being watched made total sense. “How long have you been stalking me?” I demanded.
She snorted derisively. “Stalking, she said,” she snarked to her husband. “It’s not stalking when you’re keeping watch over your own property.”
“I’m not your property,” I seethed.
She smiled, and the only way to describe how it looked was pure evil. “We’ll see about that,” she said, her tone holding way too much glee. “Now start cleaning. You have one hour. If I come back and this isn’t finished, I’ll be forced to burn the sin out of you. You remember how much fun that was.”
She stomped to the door, threw a mop and sponge down on the dirty floor, then slammed the door shut.
My arms shook with panic. Fear clutched and clawed at my chest until my insides felt like they were being shredded. I wanted to fight; I wanted to scream and fight and run. I was terrified that I’d lose the freedom I’d finally gained. If I’d had my phone I could have called for help, but like my purse and thepepper spray, it was gone. I didn’t know what they’d done with them.
I couldn’t believe this was happening. I just couldn’t. I’d fought so hard for a better life and being locked in this shed was the worst kind of nightmare.
I don’t know how long I sat there, rocking back and forth, clutching my legs to my chest as the direness of my situation sank it.
But I kept telling myself that Laeth would find me.
