AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Since then, we’d circled each other. I thought after the wedding something might happen, but it hadn’t. It hurt more than I wanted to admit. But there wasn’t much a girl could do. Two people were involved in the dance.
I flipped off the rest of the lights and locked the door behind me as quickly as I could. Bessie was just around the corner, which was a comfort. Not many people understood my love for the rickety, old, classic car. By all rights, the car should probably be retired. But I had history with this car. After everything we’d been through together, I couldn’t leave her now.
Blowing out a breath, I turned on the radio as I started the engine. Not long now. I lived a little way outside town. Not as far as the ranch, and not so far I felt completely isolated, but definitely far enough that I was outside the town’s boundaries. I liked a little space since I was with people all day.
Now that I was off them, my feet were aching. I couldn’t wait to boil water and make the biggest cup of tea known to man.
Underneath the pop song on the radio, the car shuddered.
“No,” I said to Bessie. “Don’t do this, girl. Please. We can make it home, right?”
The telltale shaking didn’t subside, and dread seeped down into my stomach. I’d owned the car long enough and had felt this exact sensation enough times. I knew what was about to happen.
I guided the car to the side of the road before the engine choked and died, letting me drift the last few feet before it stopped, the machinery ticking with heat when I turned off the radio.
The headlights pierced the darkness, illuminating a frozen and muddy patch of ground.
The panic crawling up my throat this time was different. The last time Bessie broke down at night was the night Evelyn and I were taken. I had to watch as he— I could barely think about that night without throwing up. He tortured her while I watched. I almost died.
I would never forget the sound of Evelyn screaming, or the feeling of all those needles in my arms. The number of nights I woke sweating and choking on air, remembering the sensation of fading into nothing with the knowledge I was never going to wake up…
It wasn’t something I told anyone. At first, I hadn’t been ready to talk about it. And then it felt like it had been too long to say I wasn’t dealing with it well. This was the kind of thing Resting Warrior did—they helped people with trauma. I just couldn’t bear to tell them about mine.
Evelyn had it so much worse, being the one who was actually tortured. I loved being the bubbly, shining, bright spot in people’s lives. What would our little community be like if I were suddenly the dark cloud? I didn’t want to bring people down. Besides, they all had their trauma. They didn’t need to deal with mine.
What had actually happened to me?
I’d gone to sleep and woken up in the hospital, high as hell. There were worse things.
They told me Jude was the one who found me where Nathan had left me. Left…my body. Jude was the one who picked me up and carried me to the hospital, and he didn’t leave until he made sure I was okay.
It was one of the many reasons I felt safe with him, no matter what.
Okay, Lena. Breathe. I tried to focus on the here and now. It was November. Not summertime. Nathan was dead. There was no way he could do anything to me anymore.
My windows were fogging from how fast I was breathing, obscuring the outside, which just made the panic worse. If I couldn’t see outside, I couldn’t see who was coming.
Movement outside the car startled me, and I screamed, heart pounding. The deer on the other side of the road looked over at me, uninterested in the terror and adrenaline racing through me.
I was shaking, and my mind was blank. I was on the side of the road, and it was late. Come on, Lena. You need to call someone to drive you home.
My finger was on the button to call Evelyn, and my vision blurred. It was too familiar, terror clawing up my throat like a living thing. No, I couldn’t call her. I couldn’t let her see me like this. She’d feel guilty, and she already carried too much on her shoulders.
My fingers were moving before I fully registered the contact I was finding. But the screen flipped over to the call, and I stared at it. Jude.
The feeling barreled into me like a train. I needed Jude like I needed to breathe. He was the only person who could make me feel safe right now. I didn’t question the feeling as I lifted the phone and heard him answer.
“Jude?”
Chapter 3
Jude
My phone buzzed on the counter. I glanced down at the screen and did a double take at Lena’s name. She was never far from my thoughts, but she rarely called me. Something was wrong.
I snatched the phone and swiped to answer.
“Jude?”
