But I’m not. I canfeelhim.
“Awake already?”
The voice comes from the shadows. Low. Smooth. But underneath the surface,Something cracks.A chill slides down my spine, and my pulse pounds harder. I don’t need to see him to know who it is.
Patrick.
“Fucking hell,” he mutters, footsteps echoing as he steps into view. His boots click against the concrete– slow, deliberate, each step sending a jolt of dread through my veins.
“Didn’t think you’d wake up this fast.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, willing this to be a nightmare.
Wake up.
Please, wake up.
But the scraping of metal echoes through the room, dragging reality back into sharp focus.
I open my eyes.
Patrick crouches in front of me, elbows on his knees, head tilted as he studies me like I’ma specimen under glass.
“Miss me?”
His smile is wrong. It isn’t charming. It isn’t warm.
It’sempty.
Like there’s nothing human left in him. If there ever was to begin with. My stomach twists as I force my breathing to slow, trying to push the panic down. I won’t let him see it. I won’t give him that power.
“Go to hell.”
My voice is hoarse, barely more than a whisper, but I force the words out through clenched teeth. Patrick’s smile doesn’t fade. If anything,it grows.
“Still mouthy. Trip thinks he’s smart, installing cameras, monitors, and trackers–” he sneers. “I jammed his little toys in under a minute.”
He reaches out, his gloved fingers brushing a stray lock of hair from my face. I flinch, but I can’t move. The ropes bite deeper into my wrists as I struggle against them, but they don’t budge.
My skin is raw, burning where the fibers have already started to dig in.
No leverage. No way out.
“Let me go.”
It isn’t a plea. It is a demand. But Patrick just laughs.
“Not happening, sweetheart.”
His head tilts again, eyes narrowing as if he’s studying me.
“Not until we’re done.”
The words hit like a punch to the gut.
We.
My blood runs cold.