AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"That's not what I'm saying," Tony responds, his voice low, but I'm at the end of my tether.
I'm in so much pain. My mind is in shambles. I want to crawl into a hole and just cry myself to sleep.
"If you… If you don't want to help me," I gasp out, struggling to breathe, "I can walk. I'll fucking walk. But I won't go back inside. I'll figure out a way." I look around, my chest feeling constricted. "I don't need you. I can do it myself. I can…"
My legs give way from under me, and Tony grabs me, preventing me from falling.
"I'll take you." He sounds defeated. "I'll take you to your apartment."
Right now, despite everything Tony has done for me, a part of me is still scared of trusting him completely. I need to grab some things from my apartment and then I'll leave. I have money. I can rent a room somewhere. As long as I don't leave the city, nothing will happen to me. The blood debt will kill me if I cross a certain distance from Jonathon. For now, I need to hide. But I also need to be prepared. There is no way I am going backinto that house. I am done. I am done being beaten, abused, and humiliated. If I can't find a way out, I'll find a permanent escape. Robert just confirmed what I knew that night at the gala. There is no escaping a blood debt outside of death. I don't know how to stop my heart for five minutes. I don't even know if it's possible. But I will never be free. Jonathon never intended for me to walk out of the house. He got all his ducks in a row now.
"Let me take you to a healer first," Tony says, but I shake my head.
"Just drop me home."
I don't have time for a healer. I have a few hours until Jonathon wakes up and realizes I'm gone. I can't call Adam either because if the man didn't notice I was missing for four days, how's he going to help me now? He was probably with Tina this whole weekend, and when I didn't show up for work, he couldn't be bothered. My wolf is more agitated than normal, and I feel sick. My last whipping was brought on by the fact that I threw up on Jonathon's shoes. Even with nothing in my stomach, bile still rises in my throat.
Tony pulls up in front of my building and he helps me out of the car.
"Go," I tell him. "Clean your car. I don't want Jonathon blaming you for my escape. I can take care of myself."
"Have you seen yourself?" Tony demands, worry in every line of his face. "You can't even––"
"Go!" I shout at him now, my whole body writhing in agony. "I don't want you here!"
He takes a step back, clearly startled by my anger.
"I'll be fine," I add wearily. "Just, please. Go. You don't know what Jonathon will do to you if he finds out you brought me here."
Tony looks torn, but when I see him leave, I'm not upset. I'm just numb now. One by one, all the doors are closing on me, and I have to work first if I want to get out of this situation alive. I don't know how I make it all the way to my apartment. My broken leg is healing, as is my kneecap, but it's healing in the wrong way. I fumble with my key and open the door. The moment I step inside, my heart sinks.
The whole place has been ransacked.
This has to be Jonathon's work. But what was he looking for?
One of the chairs is broken, and I pick up the leg, using it to support myself as I walk to the kitchen. It takes me close to half an hour to climb on a chair. My jaw is strained from trying to not cry out in pain as I reach for the box where I hide my money. Thankfully, it's still untouched. I stuff everything into my wallet. I don't have the strength to change, but I manage to tug on a sweater to hide my bloodied clothes. There are some other things I need to gather. Once I have everything, I open my laptop and look for motels. Choosing a human-owned motel, I book a room under an alias and call a taxi service, asking for assistance from my unit.
While I wait for the taxi, I plug in my phone to charge and gather some essentials. I will need a healer at some point, but right now, I need to focus on more important things. I can't pack or carry a bag, but I need to take my laptop and Norman's withoutcreating suspicion. I take out a small overnight bag and stuff the laptops and other small items inside it.
When the taxi arrives, the middle-aged man gives me a sympathetic look and he helps me from my apartment into his car. He seems to sense I'm not up for any conversation, so he doesn't pry throughout our journey, but once he helps me into the motel, he slides me a domestic violence helpline card. For a moment, I feel overwhelmed by the kindness of this stranger.
Once settled in my room, I lock the door and then pass out on the bed.
*****
When I come to, it's late afternoon. My left arm is limp by my side, and my knee and leg are twisted at an odd angle. The numbness overtakes the horror. This was bound to happen. Fortunately, this place has room service, and I order some lunch while I figure out what to do.
I open Norman's laptop, and as I go through it, I find myself reaching for my phone.
What is Norman doing with vampires?
Wolf shifters rarely work with vampires. Especially after the events from last year that occurred in another pack, a lot of shifter packs broke off their business dealings with vampire clans.
But the details here are both gruesome and worrying.
I call Adam.
He picks up the phone almost instantly, and the first words out of his mouth are, "Cynthia. Where have you––"
