Page 144 of Desperate People

She’s gone.

And the only thing I can feel is the beginning of a scream building in my chest.

Because I already lost my shot at a normal life a long fucking time ago.

And I’ll be damned if I lose my wife.

“Boss? What are your orders?”

“My orders?” I snarl, grabbing the fucking guard who dared ask after failing to do his job.

Onyx looks shook but he does nothing to help this moron.

That’s good. Because I’m so mad, I’m spitting.

“WE FIND MY WIFE!”

Chapter Thirty-Seven-Lucy

It’s dark.

The kind of dark that presses against your eyelids even when they’re already closed.

My head hurts from where I banged it. Maybe from the chloroform, too.

My body aches, crammed into the trunk of a moving car.

The air is thick—musty and hot—and I can taste panic at the back of my throat.

My arms are numb.

My legs cramp with every bump in the road.

There’s nothing but the hum of the engine and the wild, uneven drum of my heartbeat.

No idea how long it’s been.

No phone.

No light.

No Balor.

Oh God.

Balor.

A sob claws at my throat, but I choke it back.

I pull off the hood that was half-assed shoved on my head.

I can’t cry. Not now. Not yet.

The car slows. Gravel crunches under tires. Then a hard stop.

A moment later, the trunk creaks open and a rush of cool, damp air floods in.

My lungs gasp greedily, and before I can scream, rough hands grab me, dragging me out.

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