Page 94 of The Devil's Fire

On the ride up, my stomach growled with the type of hunger that made me indecisive about what to order.

Fuck it. I’m going to order the entire menu.

I took my time walking down the hall to our room. My foot was still aching, but the way Damiano had massaged it made it feel a lot better.

“Seriously.” I groaned under my breath when I realized he didn’t give me the keycard.

I was about to turn around when a sudden noise made me freeze on the spot. My eyes almost popped out of their sockets when our room door opened.

A man dressed entirely in black, his face covered except for his eyes, stepped out of the room. My body refused to budge, even as my mind screamed at me to run.

I let out a shaky breath and swallowed hard, taking a step back. But a heel slipped out of my hand and dropped to the floor with a thud.

His head immediately snapped in my direction.

Our eyes met, and time seemed to stand still for a moment. Then he ran towards me. Fast.

I felt a knot form in my stomach before I finally let out a piercing scream. He didn’t let it slow him down and instead picked up speed. My mind was in a state of panic, screaming at me to move, and my body finally responded with a jolt. I chucked the other heel at him, turned on my heels, and ran.

I ran as fast as I could towards the exit door, knowing the elevator doors wouldn’t open in time. I grabbed the handle, throwing my weight against the door to force it open. I was almost out when a pair of rough hands grabbed me from behind, throwing me to the ground. The force of his throw was so strong that my head hit the floor, leaving my vision blurry.

I cried out in pain when he grabbed me by my hair and yanked me to my feet.

“Let me go!” I screamed. I thrashed around, trying to pull free from his iron grip, but I was no match for his strength and silenced me with a hand over my mouth.

Fear and panic consumed me entirely. His arms wrapped tightly around me from behind, trying to still me. My mind was racing with thoughts of escape, leaving me with only one thing I could do.

I threw my head back, hearing the sickening sound of my head colliding with his nose.

He loosened his grip on me with a grunt, enough for me to break free. I pushed him away, only to stumble and hit the ground face first.

My body was trembling as I tried to crawl away, tears forming in my eyes. Every time I tried to stand up, my dress would get caught under my feet, making me stumble and fall.

“No!” My nails dug into the floor when his hand clasped around my ankle, flipping me on my back.

I didn't have time to think, but my body knew what to do and kicked him hard in the face. He let out a low groan, stumbled backward, and the object he was holding slipped from his grasp, clattering to the ground.

The sharp, glinting blade of the knife made my heart stop.

Reacting quickly for once, I clumsily crawled to retrieve it. He immediately noticed and leaped for the knife. With the knife in my hand, I turned around, and my scream got stuck in my throat when he pounced on top of me.

Right into the knife.

A guttural sound escaped him as the knife plunged into his stomach. I stared at him in shock as his blood soaked through my hands.

“Oh, God…” My voice trembled as I saw him lose consciousness. With a gulp, I wiggled out from underneath his heavy weight.

I stumbled to my feet, my breaths coming in ragged gasps, and ran towards the elevator, stabbing at the button until the doors slid open. I kept my eye on him, making sure he wasn’t making any sudden moves. As soon as the doors closed, I let out a sigh of relief and leaned back against the elevator wall.

My legs were weak, and I struggled to stand. I glanced at my trembling hands. They were drenched in blood. His blood. No matter how hard I tried to wipe it away, it only seemed to smear and spread across my arms.

It made me sick.

Shock and confusion overwhelmed me when the doors opened to the parking lot. My mind was blank, but my legs kept walking on their own. I felt a warm trickle down my face, and the metallic scent of blood filled my nose. I put my hand up to my face to wipe it away, only to see the deep red color of blood on my fingertips.

I stopped walking abruptly, my hand still trying to wipe away the blood that stubbornly kept trickling down my face.

“Althaia!”

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