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Prologue
Day 73
Agent Dobbs sat across from me, dried blood splattered across his wrinkled blazer. Whose blood, I couldn’t be sure of. Was it mine? I looked down at my hands, grime and something else I couldn’t identify embedded under my nails. I could barely move my right arm, the cast almost completely broken off. A ringing noise flooded my ears, and I hunched my shoulders forward, crossing my arms against my chest.
“Nova.” Cian’s voice was hoarse. “Nova, look at me.”
I couldn’t. Not now. Not after everything. The handcuffs around his wrists clashed against the metal desk as he strained to move closer to me.
“Cut it out, Blackwood. Or I’ll put a gag in your mouth.” Dobbs huffed and wiped the sheen of sweat from his forehead.
“I’d like to see you fucking try,” Cian growled and jerked his arms in an attempt to loosen the cuffs.
“Both of you shut up already.” Agent Delove scowled and placed a tape recorder on the table in between us.
Dobbs snickered and pulled out a flask. He poured a dark liquid into the two cups of coffee and slid one across to me. “Drink. It’ll help calm your nerves, honey.”
My hand trembled as I held the cup and took a swig. The liquid burned down my throat, and I welcomed the sensation. It didn’t matter. Nothing did. Numbness swept through my whole body. The room was painted a terrible brown color that reminded me of Dobbs’ blazer. My stomach turned and I took another sip of my drink. The dim light above our heads flickered for the hundredth time, and the urge to stand on the desk and rip it out of the ceiling was overpowering.
“Nova, are you listening?” Dobbs cleared his throat, and I snapped my attention back to him. “Why don’t you start at the beginning.”
I threw back the rest of my drink and slid the cup back to him, nodding when he held the flask up. The beginning. How stupid I had been. How naïve and foolish I was. I scoffed, my nostrils flaring as I recalled those first few weeks after being snatched away from my wedding.
“I… guess it started…” My voice trailed off as a commotion in the hallway drew all our attention to the door. People were shouting, one voice louder than all the others—a voice burned into my memory forever.
The door flew open and my chair screeched against the linoleum as I stood up and faced the man who had haunted my nightmares.
Everything was a blur as the men around me scrambled, their chairs spilling backwards, coffee flying across the table.
“Gun, he has a gun!” someone shouted, but I couldn’t tell you who. The only thing I knew for sure was he indeed did have a gun.
And it was pointed right at me.
Chapter One
Day 3
I woke covered in sweat, a scream of terror frozen in my throat as strong hands gripped my shoulders and shook me.
“Wake up, Nova.” Cian struggled to hold onto me as I flailed around, the bedsheets wrapped around me like a vice. “Calm down, you’re safe.” He dragged me into his lap and held me tight against him. “You’re safe, Nova,” he whispered as I bunched his shirt in my hands and held on for dear life.
My heart slammed against my chest. Boom, boom, boom.
I was safe. Not being dragged away by masked men who wanted to hurt me. Not being thrown into a dark van to be taken to God knew where.
I was here with Cian.
Safe.
But was I really?
*****
My eyes fluttered open as the sun peeked through blinds and blasted me in the face. My head was on fire and I instinctively reached up to feel the gash on my forehead. The smell of food drifted up my nose, a tray of breakfast on the nightstand next to me. My stomach made an obnoxious growling sound, my mouth filling with saliva. When was the last time I’d eaten something? I peeked under the covers, relieved that I at least had a robe on this time.
My body tensed as I became aware of another person lying in bed next to me. I held my breath and turned my head slightly. Cian lay on his back, fully clothed, his arm draped over his face, covering his eyes.
I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing the pain would go away. Everything was foggy. It was hard to know what had been real and what had been a dream. More like a nightmare. I knew Cian had been in bed last night. He had held me tight against his chest as I’d fought to get away from the man trying to put a hood over my head. I had fought with all my might, yet nothing had stopped him in my nightmare. Except Cian’s voice. Calm. Soothing me. I knew that it had been real. But that didn’t change the fact that he had taken me from my wedding. He said he’d saved me. Had he? Or was I being held here against my will?
