Page 31 of Buried in Blood
Reese glances at me, his voice lower now.
“If she were scared enough, yeah.”
I swallow hard. “Then we’re running out of time.”
We pass another fork in the path. He hesitates, then nods to the left. I follow. The light hums. My pulse does too. His hand brushes mine.
Neither of us pulls away.
I stop walking. I shouldn’t, but I do. The air is thick. Not just with dust and moisture—but with something else. Something I haven’t let myself feel in months.
Reese steps closer. The space between us evaporates.
My pulse quickens. I’ve felt nothing towards Reese… not until he cornered me in the pantry. Not until he watched Damien use me on the dining table, but now… My brain has short-circuited.
His eyes drag over my mouth, then flick to mine like he’s daring me to stop him.
“I’m not who you think I am,” I whisper, though I’m not even sure what that means anymore.
His fingers slip under my chin, tilting my face toward his. “Neither am I.”
My breath catches. The scent of sweat and cedar fills my nose. His lips hover an inch from mine.
“H-help! Please—somebody!”
Brooke.
We both freeze.
Reese is the first to move, stepping back as if I had just hit him. He blinks, reality slamming back into his expression.
“Go,” he says.
I don’t think. I just run.
Myboots slap the concrete. I turn a corner, then another. The cries grow louder—panicked, desperate, coming from somewhere up ahead.
“Brooke?” I shout. “Where are you?”
“In here!” she sobs. “I—I can’t get out!”
I find her shoved behind a rotted wooden door, barely cracked open. She’s crouched in the dark, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane. A busted grate is beside her. She must’ve crawled in, then got stuck when it collapsed.
Reese pushes past me and yanks the door wider. “You okay?”
Brooke nods, eyes glassy, arms wrapped tight around her knees. “I heard voices. I didn’t know if they were real…”
I drop to my knees and pull her into my arms. Her skin is cold. Too cold.
“You’re okay,” I whisper, more to myself than her. “I’ve got you.”
Behind me, Reese exhales and mutters something under his breath.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
We found her.
But time’s still running out.
