Someone pins me down with a knee in my back.A voice I don’t know, gruff and amused, says, "Stupid bitch actually got loose.Gotta admit, she’s got balls."
Another voice joins.Familiar.Cold.Calm.
Ethan.
"I told you not to underestimate her.That was your mistake."
I can’t lift my head.My vision swims.
Then I see the syringe.
My scream is hoarse, desperate.“No!No, don't?—”
The needle bites my neck.
Whatever’s in it is instant.
Heat floods my veins, and the world blurs sideways.My arms go numb.My legs stop listening.My face hits the floor again, and I can’t even feel the pain.
My last conscious thought is of Hades.
I hope he doesn't come.
Not yet.
Not while I’m still weak.
Not while they still have the upper hand.
Darkness swallows me whole.
CHAPTERTWENTY
evangeline
The zip tieshave been replaced by something rougher, coarser; something that tears skin with every movement.My wrists are raw and bleeding, pain radiating up my arms with each breath.My head pounds from where they hit me earlier, a steady throb that makes it hard to think clearly.I can taste blood from my split lip, metallic and nauseating.
I’m still in this room that stinks of oil and rust, and a chemical that burns my throat with every breath.Cold seeps up from the concrete floor beneath me, making my bones ache.My shoulders burn from being wrenched behind my back for so long.Every muscle in my body protests, begging for relief that won't come.
I know I'm bait.I know they're using me to lure Hades into a trap he can't escape.The thought makes me want to scream, to rage against the ropes until my wrists break and I can fight my way free.
But I don't.Because breaking means giving up, and I'm done being weak.Done being the victim who needs rescuing.
The kids' faces flash through my mind.Lily with her fever, needing medicine I never brought back.Jake with his nightmares, Sophie with her selective eating, Emma trying to be strong for everyone, Mason carrying weight no sixteen-year-old should have to bear.
They need me to survive this.Need me to be strong enough to come home.
And Hades...God, Hades.The man who's fought for me from the beginning, who's loved me when I was too scared to love him back, who's walked into hell to keep me safe.
I have to be strong for him too.
"Hades," I whisper into the darkness, knowing he can't hear me but needing to say his name anyway."Please don't come.Please don't walk into this.Please be smart for once instead of brave."
But I know he's already coming.He won't stop until he finds me or dies trying.That's who he is.The protector.The savior.The man who puts everyone else first.
Which means I need to find a way to save myself before he gets here.
I test the ropes again, twisting my wrists despite the agony.The fibres are slick with blood now, making them slightly easier to move.If I can just work one hand free, just get enough leverage...
