She shook her head, tears welling in her eyes.
“I told you if you ever broke your promise, the consequences wouldn’t be pleasant. But”—his smile chilled her worse than Thaddeus’s—“I’m willing to forgive you under one condition.”
The smile dropped. Evil shadowed his entire being as he brought his face even closer to hers. His grip on her neck tightened abruptly, cutting off all air. She coughed, clawing at the back of his hands, thrashing against the vehicle,prayingsomeone would see her. Rescue her. Take her away from this nightmare.
“Drop the fucking charges, Rori. Let it go. Don’t bestupid. You’remine. Nothing will keep me from taking you back. Certainly no court order.”
His nostrils flared. Fear unlike any she’d ever known poured through her like liquid ice. He was insane. Completely, utterly unhinged.
She had to escape.
Desperation rode the heels of panic as her lungs began to burn for oxygen. Her punches and scratches weakened, and her muscles ached.
“Drop. The. Charges. Do you understand?”
Rori nodded. Over and over, tears running down her cheeks. Rich stared at her, his dark eyes soulless pits. After a moment, he smiled.
“Good little girl.”
His hand at her neck loosened, but didn’t let her go. She gasped in air as he pulled his hand from her mouth, prepared to scream at the opportunity, only to suffer the brutal crush of his mouth, the plundering possession of his tongue, choking her in a whole new and disgusting way. He devoured her, sucking her tongue until she whimpered in pain. He bruised the inside of her lips with his force. Sucked her bottom lip between his teeth.
Bit.
Hard.
Blood slid over her tongue. She squeezed her eyes closed and tried to hold back her cries. Rich was so focused on brutalizing her that he failed to notice when she dug into her bag and pulled out her foldable metal clipboard.
Without hesitation, she put all her strength behind slamming the edge of the clipboard into the side of Rich’s face.
“Fuck!”
As he stumbled away, Rori unleashed a kick to his crotch, sending him to his knees. She bolted down the aisle, fumblingfor her keys. She threw a single look over her shoulder as her car beeped, doors unlocking. Rich rolled on the ground, a stream of blood flowing from a gash at his temple, curled up in a fetal position.
Rori trembled so bad the door handle slipped from her hands. Trying again, she threw open the door, dropped behind the wheel, started the car, and peeled out of the spot, the lot.
Only when the hospital faded in the rearview did she let out a shaky sob, followed by a loud wail. She clung to the steering wheel with both hands, knuckles white, arms stiff. Tension rode through her shoulders and back. Blood oozed from her lip, torn worse when she’d hit him with the clipboard and he’d jerked away. A throb developed at her throat and arm where Rich had held her.
God, the tremors needed to stop. She couldn’t drive like this.
But she did. She drove recklessly, her mind spinning, replaying the events, fear so potent she couldn’t simply wipe it aside. It penetrated her, infiltrated her to the marrow. Fear was all she knew in those moments.
She had no recollection of her route, or how she managed to find her way to Cael’s complex. Cael. The very Fae her conscience struggled to balance. Brandon was home. She should go there. To someone who understood her situation and would protect her.
Cael helped rescue you from Rich, and you told him you’re coming over. Whether you like it or not, he’s more capable of protecting you than anyone else.
He had protected her and Cassy from Thaddeus, hadn’t he?
Once she’d parked, Rori sat in her car for close to ten minutes, calming herself down. She poured water from her cup onto a napkin and wiped off her face, then dabbed at hertender lip. It still bled, and she considered the likely possibility of needing stitches. She took a few moments to survey her neck, where a dark red mark had had time to form. A mark that would surely bruise by morning.
She pulled her hoodie from her bag and tugged it on, zipping it up as high as it would go. The mark was still visible, but shadowed. Her lip, on the other hand, would demand an explanation.
“Combative patient. That’s all he needs to know,” she whispered to the stranger in the mirror. Hair ruffled, eyes glowing with adrenaline and fear, reddened from tears. “He’ll know. I can’t hide this from him.”
Despite the dismal realization, she turned off the car and climbed out into the muggy evening. The briny air met her, riding off the music from the ocean’s waves. The gentle swish and occasional squawk of a seagull. Her muscles began to loosen. She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let the sounds and smells fill her with a sense of calm. As her mind cleared, she realized she’d need to let Cassy know not to go back to their apartment. Not while the attack was still so fresh.
Rich would be on the hunt.
Trying to relieve some of the tension by rolling out her shoulders, she headed up to Cael’s unit, this time keeping her eyes peeled for any threats. She wouldn’t put it by Rich to have figured out where Cael lived, but she didn’t think he’d consider she’d come here. With that thought, she sent a short text to Brandon warning him Rich might try to stake out his place. She promised to explain later.
