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I stepped out of the room—back into the hallway—and advanced another forty feet until the hallway split into three different directions.
I could continue going forward or turn either left or right. I looked down at each of the hallways with an impatient nervousness. There were too many doors, too many rooms. Sweeping every one of them would take too long. I needed to get to Luna now.
I considered calling her phone, seeing if I could hear it ring, but what if I did that and it put her in further danger?
Just when an oppressive weight pressed down on my chest, fearful that it might take me too long to find her, a distant sound broke through the hallway to my left.
Luna screaming.
CHAPTER57
Luna
Ihad always prided myself on never giving up hope. After all, hope was the only thing I had to hold on to as I fought the injustice waged against my father.
But right now, hope felt like a distant memory—water evaporating into a fog that I couldn’t grasp on to. Floating away from me, leaving only sorrow.
I wish I could warn Hunter that these men were coming for him next. I wish I had never gotten involved with him—if I hadn’t, maybe Franco would have left him alone.
But now, Hunter might face the same fate as me.
I wasn’t sure how long they’d been hurting me. Correction:torturingme. It could be hours, or it could be minutes. When every single breath that you took was laced with pain, fear, and hopelessness, time stretched on like an eternity.
The only thing that existed at this moment was the pain radiating everywhere. Sharp pains. Dull pains. In my arms, and all over my body, but none of them were damaging enough to end my suffering.
It’s tragic how many ways your body can be hurt without it becoming life-threatening.
Franco let go of the small knife that he had been twisting in my arm and finally stepped back. He nodded to one of his accomplices, who walked over to the array of instruments strewn across the blanket on the ground.
The man squatted down as his fingers traced over the pliers, then a hammer, then the screwdriver, until finally, he settled on a rope.
A giant rope that was so long, I’d assumed it was to tie up the tarp after they’d wrapped up my dead body. Instead, he glanced around at the beams twenty feet above our heads, stood up, and hurled the end of it up into the air. It missed its target and thudded to the ground.
My heart found a way to beat even faster in my chest, knowing what he must be getting ready to do.
And as he finally strung the rope as he wished, looping it into the shape he wanted.
All I could think was,At least it’s almost over.
Just as Franco stabbed my arm again.
CHAPTER58
Hunter
Racing down the dimly lit hallway, I could barely hear my heartbeat reverberating in my ears, because the deafening screams of Luna tore through the air—each guttural cry for help slicing through my soul.
My mind raced with the fear that I might not make it in time to save her.
The sound of my footsteps seemed to echo in the confined space, amplifying my desperation as I pushed myself to run faster, sweat lacing my forehead beneath the suffocating mask.
I could not let her die; I would not allow myself to fail her.
With each of her cries, images of what the men might be doing to her flashed in my mind, fueling my fury—a cyclone of rage and helplessness brewing within.
I clenched my teeth.
So help me, I’d make them pay for every single tear she had shed, for every scream that had escaped her lips.
