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My pulse is roaring when I glance over at Bella. She’s opened one eye. But she’s not moving.

We’re only a few feet from the surface of the blood.

Fuck this.

I bite my lip so hard that copper explodes through my mouth, fighting against the raw, nerve-jangling, all-consuming pain as I writhe, trying to fucking tear myself off the goddamn hook.

The pain doesn’t matter.

I. Don’t. Matter.

Only she does.

The woman I love.

Our feet hit the surface of the blood in the vat.

“Dame…” she whispers, smiling at me. “It's okay. I’m right here…okay?” She smiles weakly. “Don’t think about it. It’s just blood…”

I twist harder, roaring in agony as the hook scrapes again over a raw nerve, sending fresh gore spilling down my body.

Her eyes drift shut as our knees slide under the surface.

I’m running out of time.

She’s going to fucking die.

That is Not. Fucking. Happening.

It’s just not.

So I ignore the sensation of my arm being ripped from my body as I lift my knees and stretch my zip-tied arms down, screaming through the agony before I slip my bound wrists past my feet.

With my hands back in front of me, I reach up, my vision blacking out for a second as the gnawing burn of metal against bone shatters through my system.

The blood is up to Bella’s chest. But I've just grabbed the chain over my head.

The blood creeps up her neck to her chin. I grit my teeth as my forearms flex.

Fuck, this is not going to be pleasant.

A sound I don’t even recognize as human wrenches from my throat as I grip the chain and hoist my body up the hook until I feel it begin to slide out.

Raw nerves jangle and clash with a sound like an orchestra falling through the floor all at once. A blinding, obliterating, utterly consuming pain punches through my system, like I’ve just been run through with a fucking sword.

Bella’s face slips beneath the blood, and the hook slides out of my shoulder as I plunge into my nightmare.

Blood is everywhere. In my pores. My eyes. My fucking mouth. Thick, cold, and viscous as it swallows me like oozing paint. When my eyes open, all I see is red.

All I feel is pain, and my own limbs are starting to get heavier now, too.

We’re out of time.

Pro tip: if you should ever find yourself with your wrists zip-tied in front of you, you can use your knee and a sharp downward jerk to snap the plastic.

It’s gonna hurt like a motherfucker.

But it'll work.