Ash steps around the mattress, tracking me like a wolf preparing to strike, while his friends surround me completely.
There’s nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
I know Stone is coming for me, but he’s too late. There’s no saving me now.
I look around at the men, staring each of them in the eyes, committing their faces to memory, and vowing that no matter how hard, how vile, or how twisted I need to become, I will hunt these men down, and I will slaughter them for what they’re about to do to me.
I will end their lives. I will burn every inch of their bodies, cut their tongues from their mouths, and gut them like fish. They won’t get away with this, and when Stone comes for me—and I know he will—he’ll be right there at my back, teaching me exactly how to hold the blade.
My tears dry up, and I raise my chin in defiance. If they’re going to steal my innocence, then they’ll get exactly what’s coming for them, and I won’t hold back.
Ash steps up onto the mattress, right into my personal space, and in an instant, his hand whips up, curling around the back of my hair and yanking my head back until my feral stare collides with his. “I’m gonna enjoy this,” he snarls before throwing me down hard on the mattress, his friends cheering as my bound wrists make it impossible to catch myself.
Ash smirks as he reaches for the front of his pants and pops the button, preparing to take everything from me. Terror grips me in a chokehold, but nothing is more vile than the look in his eyes, and as I stare back at him, that look sears itself into my mind.
He reaches for my legs, but I’m not going down without a fight, and I rip my knee back, tearing my ankle from his firm grasp justlong enough to kick it back with everything I’ve got, slamming the heel of my boot directly into his face, shattering his nose under the force.
Blood spurts across the dirty mattress, but I don’t stop kicking as feral screams tear from the back of my throat. “DON’T TOUCH ME. DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!”
“FUCKING BITCH!”
His friends drop down, each of them grabbing at my body, desperately trying to hold me down as Ash comes for me again, but I keep fighting, keep thrashing. “NO!”
The door at the top of the stairs crashes open so hard it breaks right off its hinges, clattering to the ground at the bottom of the stairs. Every eye snaps toward the man at the top, his whole body vibrating with intense rage.
“FUCK,” someone grunts as Stone launches over the railing and drops straight down into the basement.
“STONE!” I cry as half the men release me, reaching for weapons and going after Stone. The others are still grabbing at my clothes, but I don’t stop fighting, pushing, kicking. I scream so fucking loud I taste blood in the back of my throat.
Blood splatters across the basement, pouring across the ground as everything blurs, but all that matters right now is getting these assholes off me.
I hear the faint sound of sirens in the distance, but it doesn’t keep the men from coming for me, and as I’m forced onto my stomach, someone’s hand digs into the waistband of my pants and tears them down my legs. “NO,” I cry out, trying anything in my power to get these assholes off me.
A sudden wave of heat roars through the room, burning my skin as bright orange flames spread throughout the basement.
“MENACE,” Stone calls, the agonizing terror in his tone like nothing I’ve ever heard as I frantically search the chaotic room.My lungs burn and spasm as the last hands are pulled away, but the smoke becomes so thick, I can barely see through it.
“STONE?” I yell, my chest heaving as I drag my pants back into place and frantically try to get to my feet. “STONE?”
He appears through the smoke, and relief pounds through my veins, but as he steps toward me and I see clearer through the thick haze, I realize it’s not Stone at all. It’s Ash.
He grins at me, and before I even get a chance to scream, he grabs the back of my head once again, slams me hard against the concrete wall, and I crumble.
“MENACE.” Stone’s fearful tone cuts through the darkness as hands grip my shoulders, violently shaking me. “MENACE.”
“NO. NO, NO! DON’T TOUCH ME.”
“MENACE, IT’S ME. MENACE!”
Consciousness roars back.
“Menace, wake up. It’s just a dream. You’re okay. I’ve got you now.”
My eyes spring open to the sunshine pouring in through the Firebird’s windows, and Stone is frantically trying to wake me, his face hovering mere inches above mine.
My horrified stare locks onto his, and my whole body trembles with fear as I gasp for air like my lungs are still filled with smoke.I’m okay. It was just a dream. I’m okay.
I reach for Stone, gripping his arms, digging my nails into his skin, but I can’t let go, and as he stares back at me, all I can do is replay the images in my mind. Is that what happened to me? Is that the fire I was in? Was that a flashback of my old life, of the hell Stone told me we survived together, or was it just some fucked-up dream?
