Page 72 of Unbound
I remembered my own voice arguing for dignity and love and the right to choose who to be.
The belt or the phone. Death or uncertainty.
My fingers hovered over both.
Then I made my choice.
With shaking hands, I typed:
I'm coming. Don't know how yet. But I'm coming.
I hit send before I could change my mind.
Adrian's response was immediate:
We're ready. Be safe. I love you.
I stared at those last three words until they blurred through my tears.I love you.Simple words I’d never heard before, not like this. Not directed at me. Not in a way that didn’t demand something I couldn’t give.
Adrian loved me. The thought was so foreign it felt like a language I didn’t speak. Love wasn’t something I was supposed to want, wasn’t something I was allowed to feel. Love was conditional—something you earned by being what others wanted you to be. Something you lost if you failed. I’d spent my whole life chasing it in the wrong places, from people who would never give it freely.
But Adrian hadn’t asked for anything in return. He hadn’t demanded I change or conform or suppress myself. He’d seen me—really seen me—and still said those words.I love you.Not because I was what he wanted me to be, but because I was me.
My chest ached with something that wasn’t fear or pain. It was hope, fragile and terrified, like a bird cupped in trembling hands. If Adrian could love me, maybe I could learn to love myself. Maybe I could find a life where love didn’t come with chains.
The belt sat heavy in my lap, a reminder of the other path. Of the silence and the darkness and the end of everything. But Adrian’s words burned brighter, a lifeline in the void.I love you.Three words that held more power than all the sermons and scriptures I’d ever memorized.
I hid the phone and the belt, mind racing. In three hours, they’d come for me. I had to be gone before then.
For the first time in my life, I was going to choose myself. Not my parents, not the church, not the version of Jesse they’d tried to mould me into. Just me. Broken and flawed and terrified, but alive. Hopeful. Loved.
Adrian loved me. And maybe, someday, I could love myself too.
15
ADRIAN
The words on my screen were a gut punch.
I'm coming. Don't know how yet. But I'm coming.
I was out of bed before my brain had fully processed the command, my heart hammering against my ribs. I threw on the jeans and sweatshirt from the day before, my mind racing.He's doing it. He's actually doing it.
I quickly texted back, barely thinking about the words as I wrote them yet knowing in my heart they were true.
We're ready. Be safe. I love you.
I burst out of my room and into the dark, quiet living room. "He's running," I said, my voice cutting through the silence. "Jesse's running. He's escaping. We need to go find him before they do."
The effect was instantaneous. A light flicked on. Phoenix sat bolt upright on the couch where they'd fallen asleep, their hair a chaotic mess. "What? Now?"
"I think he's still at his parents' house but he’ll be walking," I said, trying to keep my voice steady as I pulled on my shoes. Diana emerged from her room, pulling a hoodie over her pyjamas. Andrew followed a moment later, already looking terrifyingly alert.
"Okay," Diana said, her voice taking on a field-general tone as she scooped her keys from the bowl by the door. "Logistics. Where are we going? Do we have a location?"
"Not yet. He said he'll send it when he's far enough away," I said, grabbing my jacket. "I'm going with you."
"Adrian, no." It was Elijah, his voice calm but firm as he stepped out of his room, fully dressed. He must have heard everything. "If his parents wake up and see you there, it pours gasoline on the whole fire. They'll call the cops and say you abducted him. You know that."
