If it was the last thing I did, I would bring her home.
13
Olivia
July 5th, 2022
Iinhaled sharply, cold water flooding over me, causing my body to jerk and shiver violently.
I shook my head, going to quickly wipe the water from my face only to freeze when I found them pinned down, my fingers filled with pins and needles.
I blinked, flexing my fingers, trying to focus, to think, my mind working far too slowly.
My instinct reaction was‘Everett’, but it couldn’t have been him. I had been taken. The next thought that hit me shook me right to my core; they had no idea where I was.
Bu they would. I had to believe that. I had to hold onto that thought. Everett would come, and these people, the Delepski’s, they would regret ever having touched me at all.
So, before I did anything else, I closed my eyes and released a slow breath, trying to calm my heart, to calm my mind. I couldn’tlet my panic control this situation. I had already messed up once not paying enough attention to that conversation with Everett days ago. I wouldn’t make another one.
After a few seconds, I finally lifted my head, my eyes opening, quickly taking in the surroundings before they landed on the woman standing in front of me.
I cataloged everything I saw while watching her carefully. Small dark room, no bigger than my bathroom, walls made of earth, damp, ceiling made of cracking concrete, a single flickering yellow bulb hanging from a black wire in the center of the ceiling. One wooden door, rusty hinges. Easy to kick in once he got here, and while she wouldn’t be the first person who died when they showed up, I would make sure she got the worst side of him.
I sat back in the chair, praying I came across as cold and unforgiving as I had to Everett that very first day he had taken me.
“It’s pathetic because I can see you crumbling. A woman who looked me in the eye while her thigh was on fire, waiting for me to flinch first.”
So that’s what I would do. I would make her flinch first. It was all I had aside from my Claim.
She lifted her chin, her red hair braided back, her light green eyes reflecting the yellow light with a challenging fire. “Not a single question?”
I remained quiet. I wouldn’t give her an inch, not one. I’d be good. I would stay silent, bide my time, and I would show Everett, show myself, how strong I really was.
I would not crumble.
This game Everett liked so much was now mine. My chessboard, my pieces, my game to win.
She dropped her hands to her side and frowned. “That’s irritating.” She inhaled deeply. “Well, daddy always says to givethem a little hope, so you should know that we left Baily at the park. She should be back with her precious little mother soon enough.”
Relief flooded through me, but I didn’t allow her to see the hope, irritation, or guilt that followed.
Baily was safe, that was good, but I hated that I felt irritated that all it took was them getting their hands on me to get her back. I shouldn’t have felt that way. Did that make me a bad mom? That feeling?
No, it didn’t matter now. She was safe, and I was relieved she was safe. She was so young, there was plenty of time for her to work through this if it was something she even remembered getting older. She would be okay. She was alive.
The woman sighed and slowly made her way around the room. “Since you’re fucking him, I assume you know who we are.”
A Delepski. They wanted to use me to hurt him, to hurt his family. Our family.
But they had already hurt mine. Destroyed it. Lucy wasmy family. Mine. And she took her from me, not only that, but I was Everett’s, and I had rules to follow. So, I didn’t care what they wanted, what they thought I could give them, I would much sooner die than give them anything. A sentence, a word, a single fucking letter. They would get nothing from me. Nothing at all.
She walked up behind me. I could feel her presence like I had felt Steven’s. Cold and unforgiving, ready to hurt me if I even dared breathe in his presence.
I stared at the wall across from me, shivering from the cold air, my clothes soaked. I had no shoes, my thigh strap was gone, which meant they had seen the still healing tattoo as well. The ‘E’ that branded me as someone else’s.
I prayed that whatever they did, it wouldn’t cause any lasting damage. That, at the very least, my tattoo would still look okay if I even survived this at all.
I heard something scrape against the floor as she picked it up. “Well, first things first. You won’t be needing this anymore.”
