Page 165 of Heartbeats & Highways

Everything was a mess. Just when I thought we were able to move forward, something dragged us down into the muck.

We walked side by side in the dark parking lot, heading toward the car.

“I think I lied about not being hungry,” I said. “But cafeteria food sounds horrible.”

“Yeah. Let’s get you something to eat. Something good.”

“I want a strawberry milkshake.”

He hit the clicker, and my car beeped and the lights flashed. “I hope Prez calls soon with news. The waiting is fucking killing me.”

I kept walking toward the passenger side, but Savage fell behind me. I turned to look at him. He was reaching into his cut pocket for his phone.

A dark blur moved through the night; I let out a scream.

Savage’s head whipped up, but he wasn’t fast enough.

The bat crashed against his skull. Savage hit the ground, his body thunking against the pavement. He was still.

Fear caked my tongue as I recognized the man who loomed over him.

I turned and ran, scrambling for the handle of the passenger door as footsteps dashed behind me. Just as I managed to get the door open, he was on me, pressing his large muscular body against mine, effectively slamming the door shut and pinning me against it.

Trapped. Like an animal.

He grabbed my shoulder, turned me to face him and then smiled; a slow, sinister grin revealing the demon within.

“Hello, Evie.”

Chapter 43

Sweat dripped down my temples.

My eyes flipped open, and I met the view of an unfamiliar ceiling with a spiderweb of cracks. Daylight poured through the window.

I made a move to sit up—only to find that I was strapped down to a table. My wrists were bound by my sides and my legs were splayed open with my ankles cinched.

Panic bubbled in my throat. A terrified scream wanted to emerge, but I shoved it down. Screaming wouldn’t help . . . but it might alert my captors that I was awake.

Savage. . .

Oh God . . .

A bat to the head. His still body. Is he alive?

Tears threatened to spill down my cheeks, but somehow I held them in. I couldn’t lose it now.

Morning sickness came with a vengeance. I turned my head and retched, shaking and quivering until not even bile came up.

I looked at my surroundings. I was in a house I didn’t recognize, but I assumed I was back on The Farm. The heat blasting my skin emanated from a wood stove chimney.

Someone had undressed me and put me in a white muslin gown. My body had been naked.

Unprotected.

The Grand Patriarch’s second-in-command had stuck a needle in my neck. After that, everything went dark for hours, and I had no recollection of anything.

I tugged my wrists, but the braces had no give.

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