Page 66 of Grace

“Please, let me go,” I whisper, dazed.

His lips curl into a dark, frightening smile. I shudder.

“Were you really calling me? Did you really want me to save you?”

“Yes. But that was a long time ago.”

“This time, you asked me to help you too. I heard your voice.”

“No… I didn’t know it was you. You…” My throat is dry. “You won’t kidnap me this time, will you?” I squeeze my eyes shut and suck in my lower lip.

“No,” he says firmly. My eyes fly open. His statement doesn’t bring relief—all I feel is terror buried deep in my bones.

My sense of time had become hazy even before I met Bo’s gang. I have no idea how long we’ve been standing here in the chilly darkness. My clothes are wet from the drizzling rain, they cling to my shivering skin. The wave of fear subsides, replaced by an appalling sensation.

Chase is reserved. He doesn’t want to force himself on me. He isn’t hurting me—he’s only watching, making mental notes as his gaze travels up and down, taking in the faint contours of my shaking body and my face. Admiration and craving—this dual sensation swirls in his dull, dark eyes. His breathing is slow, even. I notice how often his chest brushes my breasts. This moment pulls me back, makes me remember the night he walked me home. And now Chase is doing the same thing to me at this moment—I have no idea what it is, but he’s very good at it.

“You’re going too far again,” I whisper.

His lips, dotted with tiny drops of rain, pull into a lopsided smile.

“You. Are. Letting. Me. Get. Too. Close.”

He moves closer with every word. His body presses against mine even more.

“Because I have no choice,” I reply angrily, pounding my fist against the brick wall.

“You’re wrong. You do have a choice,” he whispers in his deep, resonant voice. My eyelids grow heavy and close. His cold face presses against mine. “You chose Billy Ray over me.” He kisses my closed lips gently. “Then you chose freedom over me.” His lips brush my closed lips again. “You never chose me, Grace. Even though we both know that—”

“No,” I protest, shaking my head.

“Honey,” he growls. A desperate sound escapes my lips.

When red and blue lights tear through the silent darkness of the night, I turn my head. The wild, eerie sound of the sirens becomes menacing alarm bells in my throbbing skull.

Killer! Killer! my soul screams. He deserves jail!

But—

A memory surfaces.

“To protect me from monsters? Chase, you are a monster!”

A dark smile played on his lips.

“Yeah. But I’m the better kind.”

I scan the dead bodies. I don’t have to guess what they would’ve done to me if he hadn’t “saved” me.

Chase glances at the approaching police cars and lets me go, lightning-fast. He picks up the knife and steps into the darkness. Where he belongs.

It was only a matter of time for him to come for me. I knew it, felt it. I was waiting for him.

All of this makes me want to vomit. And I probably will later.

Blinded by the alternating colors, I yank my arm in front of my face. The voices of the cops are barely audible over the hum of the car engines. My heart skips a beat when I see a huge, dark figure in the flood of light. I run into his arms without thinking.

“He’s here, he’s here! He’s escaped!” I babble, gesticulating wildly, as if I were possessed.