Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 126522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 633(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
My fingers curl around the handle of the knife and I let out a sharp cry as I try to settle myself back into position so that I can comfortably tear at the remaining fabric. I slip the old blade beneath the material and grind it back and forth, holding onto my tears as the dirty blade leaves shallow cuts along my wrist. I don’t dare stop, hacking at the material until it finally comes free.
Painful sobs get caught in my throat as the desperation and panic courses through my veins.
Finally free, I grip onto the edge and pull myself up, leaving a pool of blood in the tub below me. I shakily get to my feet, my weight on my leg easily one of the most excruciating pains I will ever endure.
I keep the knife held tightly in my palm and every last impulse left inside of me tells me to go and stab it right through my attacker’s eye, but I only have a little energy left and I refuse to waste it on him. He’ll get what’s coming his way eventually, and I believe that whole heartedly.
Stumbling out of the bath, I instantly fall to my knees, my body too weak to keep going, but there’s no way in hell that I’m dying here tonight.
Tears fill my eyes and I forge ahead, crawling across the dirty ground until I reach the old wooden stairs. A trail of blood is left behind but it’s the least of my worries. If I can just get out through that hatch, I’ll be able to hide in the woods until the boys find me, and they will find me. They always find me.
Reaching up, I grip the flimsy handrail and pull myself up. I only just get my feet beneath me, struggling under my weight, but all that matters is getting to the top.
Groans and pained curses tear from the back of my throat as the determination to survive pulses through my veins. I feel my head spinning as my body grows weaker by the second. I don’t have much longer until it’s game over. I have to make it to the finish line.
I will not give up.
Clenching my jaw, I make my way up the stairs until my hand is brushing against the old wooden hatch above me. I give it a hard shove and it takes everything I’ve got to open it enough so that I can slide my body through the small gap. I’m left with no choice but to fall forward onto the hard earth as the hatch comes down on top of me, crushing me from above.
I snake my body through the opening, using my arms to drag me along the dirty ground until I finally pull free. With a raw, pained cry, I pull myself to my feet, and smelling the sweet taste of freedom in the distance, I stumble forward, hoping that I can make it far enough before passing out.
29
ROMAN
The Escalade comes to a screeching halt, skidding along the dirt road as Shayne appears in my headlights. My eyes bug out of my head as Marcus’ hand snaps out, bracing himself against the dashboard to keep from flying through the fucking windshield.
“Is that …?”
“Fucking hell,” Levi mutters from behind me, throwing his car door open and lunging out into the dirt road. Marcus follows as I hastily cut the engine and race after them.
Shayne stands in the middle of the road, her clothes torn and hanging from her blood-soaked body. Tears stain her beautiful cheeks and as she watches us race toward her, she drops to her knees and falls to the ground with heaving sobs.
Levi reaches her just in time, catching her limp body in his arms and scooping her right into his chest. “SHAYNE,” he roars, gently shaking her shoulders as her eyes threaten to close. “Shayne, baby. Tell me what happened? Where is he?”
Her body droops in his arms and he looks up at us, his wide eyes petrified that she’s not going to make it, but just looking at her now, blood pouring from her wounds, I can tell that she’s a fucking fighter. She hasn’t come this far and gone through all the shit we’ve put her through to call it quits now. She’s going to be alright, I can feel it, but in order to make that happen, we have to come through for her.
I drop down beside Levi as Marcus hovers over me, his hands balled into tight fists, more than ready to make this fucker pay. “Where is he, Shayne?” I demand. “Open your fucking eyes.”
Levi shakes her again, gently rattling her awake and as those gorgeous blue eyes open and I see the extent of her torment, rage pulses through me. “Come on, little one. Tell us where.”