Footsteps sound towards me, but I don’t know who they belong to. Hands clasp at my arms, and I try to move away from them, except my legs are so unstable the move nearly sends me to the ground. “No,”I rasp out between breaths, but I barely have control of my body. The hands are back, steadying me so I don’t fall. Although despite the unwelcome touch, my legs shake so badly that I can no longer stay upright and I sink to the ground.
He’s here! Get up!
I need to leave—get as far away from here as I can.
Why won’t my legs work?
“Please… don’t…” The words are barely audible through my rapid breaths.
“Shit, what did you say to her?” a male voice asks. It doesn’t sound like Lucas, so it must be the guy who just opened the door. The one who had been kind and given me a dimpled smile the first time I was here. Except my perception of him must have been wrong if he’s brought my monster right to me. “Hey, you’re okay. Breathe with me—”
“Don’t let h-him… I can’t… p-please don’t let him t-take me.”
“No one’s taking you… come on, deep breaths.”
My breath stutters as I try to do what he says, but the panic gripping me doesn’t want to let go.He’s going to take me back there.
“You can do it. In… out…” Focusing on his calming voice, I follow his instructions as best I can, and even though my breath still comes out shaky, I’m able to breathe in time with him. “There you go, you’re okay,” he says.
As my heart rate comes down a little, the haze over my vision starts to clear, and a head of brown curls comes into sight, followed by a familiar dimple. But despite his reassuring smile, his eyes are full of concern.
“Is she okay?” Lucas asks from somewhere in the office, and his voice nearly sends me straight back into the panic I just escaped from.
“Whoa, you’re okay. Keep breathing with me. I don’t know what you did, but I think you should probably leave for a bit. Unless you want her to lose it again,” the guy crouched in front of me says, glancing at Lucas.
“I didn’tdoanything, Ethan,” Lucas says, but a moment later, the door shuts, and I jump at the sound.
Lucas doesn’t seem like the kind of man to let anyone tell him what to do, although even in my still panicked state, I notice that he didn’t put up much of a fight whenEthansaid he should leave.Why is he trying to help me?Given the circumstances, I should be just as panicked around him as I am Lucas, but for some reason, I don’t quite see Ethan as a threat. Although I’m not sure how much I can trust my judgement right now.
“I c-can’t go back,” I whisper to Ethan. I never caught his name last time, but it’s what Lucas called him.
“To Sebastian?” he asks with a frown.
Sebastian?I shake my head no because that’s not who I meant, but how could I go back to him either?
“Who—” Ethan starts, but his eyes widen, and his brows pinch even more. “Wait, you think we would give you back to that sick fuck?” he asks.
“He’shere,” I say, but the words come out in a broken rasp.
Ethan pauses as confusion flashes over his features. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand you. Do you want Sebastian?”
Do I want him?
It doesn’t matter. He’s not here. He’s still in the warehouse with blood splattered across his white shirt and dripping from his fists. Is the man in the chair still alive, or is he already dead?
But Sebastian wouldn’t lethimtake me, would he? He knows. He knows what he did to me, seen the proof in the scars marring my skin. Even after everything that happened tonight, I find myself nodding.Yes, I want him.Of course, I want him, even if I shouldn’t, especially if he doesn’t want me. Because why else would he have had Easton bring me to the warehouse? Although despite everything, I know he wouldn’t let me fall back into the hands of the man who ruined my life.