Eyes locked on the swirling black ceiling above him, Seri North took a deep breath.
It was now or never…but…if he were to fail… His fear spiked at the thought, a shudder running through him.
Hands shaking slightly, Seri gently rubbed his palm over his heavily extended stomach.
He may not have wanted this child, but he would be damned if he let that bastard hurt them too. He hadn’t much choice about anything since he’d been imprisoned…but Seri had fought back. He had fought back as hard and for as long as he could, before the current situation led to him making difficult choices.
Seri wasn’t in any condition to fight anymore, nor had he been for a while. And…if he stayed longer…
No…he had to succeed, and he had to do it now. If not for himself, then for the poor, innocent baby inside him that Preston no doubt would use to control him further. Correction, his poor, innocent baby.
Okay, as strong as his resolve was to protect the child, and to leave for them both…he was still having issues claiming them as his. Seri was working on it—he swore he was—it was just complicated.
But his emotions didn’t change what needed to be done. Seri had to escape. And get as far away from Preston Chanway as he possibly could. Hopefully, someplace where the man had no power to drag him back. Not that Preston cared about legalities.
Preston—just the Shadow Dweller’s name on his mind brought forth a wave of hatred…and nausea.
Seri had never felt such strong emotions until Preston, even with his shit lot in life. Part of him feared the anger and the fury that had emerged, and continued to grow inside him ever since he’d realized all he’d lost—the life that he’d likely never get back.
Who would have thought a simple date with a rich man would have ended so badly? Seri had lost his freedom, his future goals and ambitions, and he'd been forced to become some spoiled bastard’s captive plaything for five long years…almost six now. By the birth of his child, it would be six…
Those who had known him…had they not wondered?
Okay, he may have been a loner, not to mention, parentless and basically friendless. Seri would even admit he’d been so focused on his goals, he just hadn’t bothered trying to be social between classes and his grant research. Still, there had been professors and classmates, his roommates, coworkers in the lab…
Did no one ever question his absence, or reported him missing? Looked for him?
It was highly probable that Preston had those issues taken care of. Even though he'd been an introvert and a loner…the realization that no one cared where he went had been a bit of a mind fuck. One that he was sort of used to, yet…it still stung. As if he needed more mind fucks, on top of all the horrifying shit that Preston did to him.
Seri wasn’t sure how, but one day he would make Preston pay. Along with all the scumbags that fell over themselves to answer the bastard’s beck and call. But that would come later, because first he needed to escape. And it would not be a moment too soon. Though it could possibly be a moment too late…
It couldn’t be helped… For one…it had taken two months for him to come to terms with his new reality of being pregnant. Two to stop trying to change the fact. And after a few poisoning attempts, trying to stab himself, and a bid to jump from the roof…he’d given up, and came to the conclusion there was only one thing he could do…try to escape. Not that he hadn’t tried before. But this time was different.
This time, Seri had spent six months waiting and watching. All the while playing the obedient little doll of Preston’s dreams. And it worked. The less trouble he got into, the more he was free to wander around unquestioned and unsupervised.
Still…Seri should have left sooner, a thought that had gone through his head many times. And he would have attempted it months ago, if he could have risked it. But it was hard to get one over on those who constantly had their guard up. Never having been the biddable type, his numerous attempts over the years were the main reason said guard had been up.
Each attempt had ended painfully with broken bones—and resulted in more guards and greater alertness. But Seri wouldn’t let those failures discourage him—he couldn’t. There was no time.
That was then and this was now. And in the now, those watching him had been lulled into thinking Seri had accepted his fate as Preston’s pet.As if he would ever, Seri thought with a snort. But if there was one thing Preston had proven time and time again, it was that the arrogant could be rather stupid.
And after months of no attempts, his watchers had dwindled from multiple twenty-four hour guards who kept him in their sight at all times, to Preston only making sure that a guard was in the house.
Even if he was pushing closer to his due date, at least these months of waiting had allowed him to accomplish some necessary things. He’d been able to steal back his ID Passbook, not that he’d be able to use it when he ran. But he couldn’t find it in himself to leave it behind.
Preston had forcefully taken it from him during those first days of his imprisonment. Luckily, the Dweller was so arrogant that he had never bothered to lock away Seri’s things, or really much of anything. He was also so rich that he didn’t even realize when some of his cash, cards, and jewelry went missing.
So…slowly, Seri had snuck away with it all, gathering up pin numbers as he went. Thank fuck for his photographic memory, or remembering all the codes and shit would have been impossible. More so, thank fuck that Preston was so crooked that he wouldn’t dare put up cameras inside the house. Wouldn’t want them falling into the wrong hands…
With the guards dwindling, and the lack of cameras around to catch him, Seri not only snuck around gathering money, but also information. Knowledge he could, and would, use to his advantage when it came time for payback.
Seri took a deep, calming breath before rocking forward a few times, needing the momentum to get into a sitting position on the bed. He had to stop getting lost in thought and get the fuck out of there. Because it really was now or never.
Seri was eight months along, and his movements were becoming increasingly impaired as more days passed. As a Water Nymph, he, at the most, had two more months left. Which was what the questionable doctor Preston had brought to him had told him last week. To say he was well rounded would have been an understatement.
And it wasn’t as if he was going to have another chance after today. It had been sheer luck that Preston had to leave on an emergency work trip yesterday. He’d begun to fear the man would stay there until he gave birth. And no matter how much Seri’s guards had dwindled when it was just him, it didn’t change the fact that the house swarmed with them when Preston was home.
Seri took another deep breath, in through his mouth this time, letting the feeling of the air flow through his gills, calming his nerves before slipping off the bed and standing. Opening the drawer of the bedside table, he pulled out the small wired tool he had stolen and altered months ago for his needs.
