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“What does your gut tell you?”
“The cabin is the obvious choice. Paris knows it and would be comfortable there, but it is the furthest and would be the hardest to get Athena to without someone seeing.”
“Okay so not the cabin.”
“I don’t know. I think we should split up. I want you to check the house first. There are a few places on the third floor and the attic we don’t ever go to. That would be the easiest option. Then go check the carriage house. I’m going to check the stables and the caretaker’s home. Then we will head to the cabin. Call me the second you find anything and take Eros with you.”
“Okay.” He turns to leave, and I put my hand on his shoulder.
“Perseus, be careful.”
“You, too.” He grabs my hand and pulls me in for a quick kiss. “Now let’s go get our woman back.”
Chapter
Forty-Seven
Athena
Fear grips my heart as Paris goes into a duffle he has on the ground and pulls out a bottle of lighter fluid and starts pouring it on the wooden walls and floorboards.
“Oh yes, you are going to burn like the bitches of old. You know why they burned women at the stake right? Sure, they said it was witchcraft, but it was always the women who didn’t know their place that got torched.”
“You are insane,” I hiss. I start yanking my arms apart trying to break the binding around my wrists some more, but it’s useless.
“No, I am simply doing what needs to be done. Though I suppose there is no reason I have to hurry. I did put a lot of time and effort into you. I suppose I might take something for my troubles.” He throws the empty lighter fluid bottle across the room and grabs another. “We have time.”
My heartbeat is thundering in my ears again, and I can’t breathe. The room seems to spin as I try to break free. The twine doesn’t budge, but I can feel blood start to drip down my hands. I rock against the chair trying to break it, trying anything I can think of to get free.
“Oh don’t worry, little angel, this won’t be any worse than fucking Eros, I’m sure.” Paris’s cold sneer sends ice through my veins, and I try harder to get away from him.
He grabs the chair I’m on and pulls it back to its legs, I am sitting up again, and my head is spinning. I want to throw up and scream, but I can’t manage to open my mouth or take a breath. Tears blur my vision as he unties my feet, then my shoulders. I’m no longer attached to the chair, but my arms are still behind my back.
“Get up, you dirty whore.” He grabs me by the hair and flings me to the floor. He grabs the hem of my dress and tries to rip it off of my body, but I strike out with my heel, hit him in the gut, and knock him back.
I am not going down without a fight. He thinks he can rape me? He can kill me? I killed the last fucker who tried to do this. I am the daughter of Freya Godwin and the heir to the entire Godwin empire. I will not be taken out without a fucking fight.
I should thank him for calling me a whore and trying to take what I did not freely give. I have been dealing with men trying to touch me and fuck me since I hit puberty. And I will be damned if this coward who needs to drug and bind me will be the one I let win. I’m not scared in the slightest. I am fucking pissed.
“You are going to regret that.” He comes at me again, and I kick out. He grabs my ankle, so I use it to pull him toward me and knock him off balance before I reach out and strike him again, this time managing to hit him square in the balls.
He falls to the ground and knocks into the side of the table. The lantern on the table wobbles for a moment, and both of us stop to watch it. It doesn’t fall over and break on the lighter fluid-soaked floor.
Paris wheezes as he struggles to stand back up. I struggle to get to my feet, my legs scrambling to get under me, mostly just slipping on my dress’s silk lining. As he comes closer to me, I try kicking out again. He catches my foot and twists it hard enough to flip me over to my front. Then his boot stomps down on my other ankle. Something snaps, and the pain is instant, ripping a strangled scream from my throat.
It hurts more than anything I have ever felt before, but it doesn’t matter. I need to get out of here. I need to fight.
