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“Look what you have here,” he notes wryly.
I don’t answer. I know the rules. Wait until you’re asked a clear question. Otherwise keep your mouth shut.
“I’m guessing you’re not as loyal to your mistress as you pretended to be,” he adds mockingly, and everyone laughs.
“Where is she?” he asks, my cue to finally talk.
“She’s sleeping.”
“Hm.” He smirks, and from the corner of my eye, I see him give a few nods to his audience.
“Put the baby down,” he suddenly commands.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath as I focus on the knowledge that little Malia is fine with Nikki.
It’s just a little pain. You can do it!
I do my best to keep a neutral expression as I bend down and lay the baby on the floor.
“You can go now and tell your mistress that if she wants her spawn back, she needs to come here and get it. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” I mutter.
I’m dismissed without a second thought, everyone suddenly behaving as if I’m not present anymore. A quick glance around tells me the guests are partaking in drugs and alcohol—the start of a celebration? God, Noelle had been so right about him. He’s been planning this from the beginning.
After I exit the temple, I quickly make my way back to the house.
“We need to leave. Now,” I tell Nikki the moment I’m inside the room. “Sergio is busy for the moment, but I don’t know for how long.”
“Let’s head to my car.”
I nod, but I can’t bring myself to leave without going by Noelle’s bedside one more time. I tuck a small piece of paper under her pillow—a short letter detailing what happened, that her baby is in safe hands and that I’ll come back for her as soon as possible.
“I’ll be back,” I whisper as I kiss her brow. “Rest and regain your strength. This timeIwill save you.”
Hiding the baby in a little basket, we hurry out of the house and to the garage where his car is. We meet some staff on the way, but I keep my head down and I pretend to serve him as one of the master’s guests.
“Quickly. I’m not sure if they believed our ruse,” I say as Nikki gets behind the wheel while I climb into the seat next to him, holding the basket with little Malia in my lap.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got you,” he assures me with a smile, pulling out of the garage and heading onto the driveway.
Every mile we advance, I look back, sure that I’m going to see cars following behind. It happened before, why wouldn’t it now?
But it doesn’t.
We drive for one hour, and no one comes after us.
Only after we pass the second hour and we get closer and closer to the city do I finally admit to myself that maybe we’ve done it. Maybe… we got away.
Little Malia starts crying at some point, but I’m not Noelle, and she doesn’t seem to calm down in my presence. On the contrary, she cries even harder.
“Almost there,” Nikki assures me, calling the hospital in advance to expect us.
“Okay,” I breathe out, though I can barely see in front of me. My eyes are heavy, my sight foggy. I can’t feel my arm anymore, and a smile tips at my lips as I realize the pain is gone. Gone…
“Luce?”
I struggle to open my eyes.
