Page 79 of Dare To Fall

The second she’s free of me, she twists, scrambles to her feet and takes off. I let her go. We’re in the middle of a forest, with nothing other than trees and wildlife for miles around. There’s nowhere she can run. And with the noise she’s making, it’s not going to be hard to find her when she finally runs out of steam.

I follow in her direction at a slightly slower pace, calling her name occasionally, in the hopes that she’ll slow down or stop. But she doesn’t. Because it wouldn’t be Arabella if she didn’t choose flight over fight.

She keeps running for what feels like hours, before eventually slowing to a walk.

When she cries out, I swear beneath my breath and pick up speed to find her sprawled in the dirt. A quick glance around tells me what happened. In her headlong dash to escape me, she tripped over a tree root.

“The Lodge is approximately two miles in that direction,” I jerk my chin to the left. “If you haven’t twisted your ankle, we can get inside before the sun sets and all the noise you’re making brings out the bears.”

“Fuck you. I’d rather be eaten by a fucking bear than be here with you.”

“I know that.” I move closer, and raise both my hands, palm out, when she shrinks away. “I swear, Ari, I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to check your ankle.”

“If you touch me, I’ll scream.”

“If I don’t touch you, you’ll scream. Screaming seems to be the outcome, no matter what right now.”

“Where’s the driver? What did you do with him?”

“I didn’t do anything with him, unless you include hiring him to drive you here in the first place.”

“No, Elena organized a car.”

“Maybe she did, but not the one you climbed into. Is your ankle sore? Can you stand?”

“I’ll fucking crawl if I have to, if it means I can get away from you.”

I scratch my jaw. “We’re twenty-five miles inside Savage River State Forest. I don’t think you want to crawl that far. My family has a hunting lodge here, so we can fight in comfort.” My gaze drops to her leg. “And make sure you haven’t permanently damaged your ankle.”

Chapter 50

Arabella

My stomach drops.

We’re in the middle of fucking nowhere. He’s kidnapped me and intends to keep me hostage. If I wasn’t so frightened, I’d laugh. Why is the universe trying to torture me? No, not the universe, just my evil stepbrother.

Eli stands over me and offers a hand, but I ignore it.

Rolling onto my hands and knees, I steady myself. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m going back to the driver.”

He drops his arm to his side. “He’s gone.”

I test my ankle cautiously, grimacing as it throbs in discomfort. “What do you mean he’s gone?”

“I paid him to drop you off and leave.”

I hobble forward to lean against the trunk of a tree for support, trying to think through my anger and panic. “Then I’ll go back for my bag and call—”

“Kellan took your bag, along with both our cell phones.”

“Kellan?” I echo.

“He dropped me off. We’re out here alone for the next week.”

All of spring break? Eli intends to keep me captive that long? Why? Is he going to finish what he started and choke the life out of me?

“You’re fucking insane!” I limp around the tree when he makes a move toward me, the thought of him touching me sending a wave of sickness through me.

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