Page 9 of Manacled Hearts

“Right. Well, if you need anything…” I take a couple of steps away. “I have to go.”

I rush to the door and grip the handle.

“I thought you had questions,” Katya says behind me.

“Later. I realized I have a previous engagement.”

“Date?” Katya raises the voice after me.

“Yeah, a date.” It’s a lie, but right now, I think it’s exactly what I need. A woman to take my mind off of… everything.

I’m out in a split second, snapping the door shut behind me, and I exhale so loudly, one would think I held my breath the entire time I was in there.

What happened in that apartment?

And do I actually want the answer to that question?

EVELYN

I stood pinned in place in Ekaterina’s living room for far too long after the blonde man—the man I now know as Finnigan—left. Only when Maya began to forcefully wiggle out of my grip did I snap out of the daze I was trapped in, and I realized I was still watching the hallway leading to the front door.

Why?

He looked like he couldn’t bear to be here anymore. To see my pitiful self. Like my presence was a stain on his pristine image. He walked out of here so fast.

Then why is his image still lingering in my mind?

Because it never left.

Not since the first moment I saw the cracks in his blue eyes. They stayed with me after the container doors closed for the last time. His image was burned into my retinas as my kidnapper separated me from the children. And it turned sour when his promise was broken… when the man with the lisp asked the others to pin me down so he could find a good vein. Even as I stared at my attacker, Finnigan’s face appeared like a mirage before my eyes, their faces blending together.

We’ll get you out before anything happens…

His words lost all their meaning then, as my reality began to break after the needle left my arm, and I was flipped to my front. His was the last face I saw when I closed my eyes as my pants were being yanked down. When my ass cheeks were being pulled open and spit hit the tight spot between them.

His beautiful blue eyes were watching in my mind as tears spilled from mine, and searing pain ripped my scalp and body before the colorful, confusing darkness took me away.

That’s why I can’t move. Because seeing him again feels like he’s still watching me as he repeats his broken promise to me. Over and over again. Through the haze of my attack… he’s there.

“Evelyn? I think you should come sit and eat something.” Ekaterina’s voice is soft as she gently attempts to grab my attention.

The frown pulling at her arched eyebrows doesn’t match the tone, though. She’s worried.

I’m not even sure how long we’ve been staying here with her. Two, three days? No, it can’t be. It’s been longer than that. Maybe a week. The drugs, whatever those men filled my veins with, should be gone by now. Then why am I still so hazy? So broken? So… thirsty?

Sweat drips down my spine, my hands turn clammy, my muscles heat beneath my skin, and my blood vessels… they scream at me.

They scream for that sickly rush. The disgusting pleasure it brought with it. For the haze that pulled me from reality, into a place far, far away, where my body wasn’t mine.

Where I was… not in pain.

“Evelyn?” Ekaterina’s voice is louder, and I flinch.

My whole back is wet now. My temples too. Air spasms in my chest.

“I’m sorry. I just need a minute.”

I stumble backwards and turn to rush through the short corridor. I reach the bathroom just as the bile sears my throat, and my knees hit the cold tiles.

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