I scramble back again, scuttling on my hands. I’m not even sure my fear would allow me to stand.
“Aren’t you happy to see me, snow?”
I don’t say anything, but my mouth goes dry.
“Say you're happy,” he says in a different tone.
My ears ring with all the times I’ve heard that tone. It sends fear winging through my chest, blooming limitlessly, sending me free-falling into the horrors of what has been and what will be.
“Snow, this is your last warning. Tell me how happy you are to see me.”
I open my mouth, open and close it. Sweat runs down my temples, and the fight, what tiny scrap that was left, abandons me.
A sob bursts from my chest, and he smiles. It’s a soft smile but so very evil.
“I’m happy to see you.” My anguished words are a hoarse whisper of sound, but they please him.
“Crawl to me, snow.”
I turn away from him, searching for anything that can give me an escape, and there on the street is something that gives me hope, something that ignites a fire in me. He’s colour in a world of darkness. Light, a glowing fire chasing the dark.
My alpha racing towards me, a piece of metal pipe lifted, he’s blazing like an inferno.
Jarek.
“Kaida, I’m coming!”
Chapter 32
Caught again
“KAIDA!”
Jarek runs towards me, his hair flying out behind him. The world slows; I see every detail about him, the colour of his hair, the way his clothes hang on him, his eyes, the fury on his face.
All my pain and fear fade. I lift my head higher, sit up straighter.
My heart lifts, the fear slides away. I shift so my legs are under me, my mouth falls open, and my chest just fills with this warm feeling that pushes all the darkness away. I shove up onto my knees, ready to run to him, to meet him halfway.
“Jarek,” I say his name almost silently.
He’s come to rescue me.
He didn’t leave me alone.
“Who is this, then? One of your boyfriends? It’s too bad I won’t suffer anyone to touch what is mine.”
His voice shocks me; I’d almost forgotten he was there. The Fang’s voice is cold, angry. The tone makes my stomach clench.
I look up and see him with a crossbow. He lifts it and aims; I follow the line, seeing Jarek in its sights.
“NO!”
I throw myself at his leg, and the bolt goes wide. He hisses and kicks out at me. I scream as the steel-toed boot bites into my ribs. Worth it.
Jarek roars.
I roll away from the second kick but can’t evade the third. It lifts me off the ground. I cry out and land heavily, gasping for breath. All I can feel is the pain, the blindly agony. I curl up in a ball, willing it to stop so I can get up, so I can run or fight or something.
