Page 106 of Rescued By the Beast
"I... I can't."
"Then come with me." The sunlight reflects off his irises, turning them silver. I take a step forward, instinctively...
"I hear you're being held captive by the Beast," he adds. "Come before it's too late."
Ice spreads through my body, stiffening my muscles.
My feet are planted on the ground.
"No... Luther, you're wrong." I shake my head, and it throbs as if needles were piercing my brain. "Mark saved me..."
"You don't know him, Sandra. He's dangerous. Come with me."
I swallow hard.
"Luther, I'm glad to see you. But I can't go."
"Why not? Your life is on hold out here. Everyone is worried. Char is keeping your job at the tavern for you, it's yours when you come back. He knows you would never disappear like this, not without warning."
I close my eyes for a moment, feeling the guilt weigh on my chest.
"I need to stay. Mark is hurt, and..."
"Fuck Mark, Sandra!" Luther explodes. "He doesn't own you! I'm your friend! I've spent the last few days searching the entire city for you! I punched your landlord in the face until he let me in to check if you were dead in there! Do you have any idea what that was like?!"
My lip trembles.
"Luther... I'm sorry... I... I tried to come back. I tried to go after you, but I couldn't."
"Because the bastard locked you in here, right?" His eyes narrow.
"He didn't lock me up. He saved me. He took care of me, and I..."
My sentence dies. Something in the way he talks about Mark gives me a bad feeling.
"Luther... How did you know where I was?"
"Some wolves at the tavern mentioned a black cat walking with the Beast. I connected the dots."
My heart skips a beat.
Wolves.
The same wolves that nearly killed Mark.
My skin prickles, and for a moment, everything inside me screams to run back, to check if Mark is still safe.
"Sandra." Luther's voice pulls me back. "He's weak. He can't keep you here any longer. Come with me before this chance is gone."
I shake my head, taking a step back.
“You're wrong about him.”
Luther's muscles tense, and his eyes lose their silvery gleam, sinking into a darkness as dense as lead. His expression becomes sombre, like the sky, which moments before was clear and bathed in sunlight, but now finds itself suddenly covered by heavy clouds.
"He killed his own brother, Sandra."
My throat closes up.
