Page 73 of The Masks She Wore

?This was thrilling.

?And maybe it was just the drugs talking, because I understood that I was in real danger, but the part of me that was listening to Jack breathe in my ear, that part of me loved this.

?He was coming for me. I believed that with everything I was. No matter what happened, I was safe from anyone and everyone in this world.

?Even in the midst of danger, I was safe.

?I turned another corner, pushing my lungs to the brink when I stopped short at the sight before me.

?I ran up to the chain-link fence, grabbing it, on the verge of throwing up with every gasp of air. “Dead end,” I spit out. I couldn’t get enough oxygen. Why did people run for fun? That was such bullshit. They were either crazy or from another planet because this was physically painful.

?“I’m almost there.”

?There was nowhere to hide. I was out in the open, back against a fence, but what were the chances that he was still following me?

?He had to have been wasted too, right? There were so many other willing girls out here. He wouldn’t waste the time coming after me, right?

?At the sound of gravel against the pavement, my hopes vanished.

?I turned to the fence, pushing on it. It had some give. Too old to hold me though, even if I did have the upper body strength to force myself up the nine feet to the top.

?“Fuck,” I whined, my panic growing. I looked around in a panic and froze. There. I could fit between the container and the fence. Great, let’s do that.

?I jogged over on shaking legs and shoved the fence back as far as it would allow. Tight squeeze, but it would work well enough.

?I slid my arms down to my sides and started inching my way in, shushing the fence when it creaked or groaned.

?When I managed to get my entire body shoved into the cramped space, I finally stopped, willing my breathing to slow, which only made my stomach twist and the drool worse.

?I needed water.

?Leaning my head back against the fence, I looked up towards the starless sky, tears dripping down from the corners of my eyes. I would be fine.

?I would be okay.

?This wasn’t how it ended. Not here, not by some drunk asshole at a party. I had so much more to do, so many things to accomplish. I was only 26, it couldn’t end today.

?I closed my eyes, shaking my head. Viv would get a kick out of this though. She would laugh at me, after her initial panic and freak out, that was. She would laugh and mock me for being so scared after all of my big talk about not being afraid of anything. But this was different. Especially after Max.

?God, did this make me a hypocrite? Just a couple of weeks ago I was being hunted by another man at a carnival, and I letthat manfuck me.

?This had to be karma.

?I opened my eyes, exhaustion sweeping over me as my breathing finally evened out, my heart slowing. But I couldn’t tell Viv about this. I wasn’t even sure if I was ever going to talk to her again. Believing Malachi over my own memories? That sounded ridiculous.

?I shifted on my feet a few minutes later, my body cramping, my free hand flexing. It felt like hours since I had called Jack. I glanced down at my phone. It was too tight a space to lift it and check to see if he was even still there. He probably was, giving me a lecture on how I shouldn’t have lowered my phone in a situation like this, but it was too tight a squeeze. I never would have fit with my arm up like that.

?How long should I stay here though? I was starting to cramp and despite the fact that I was still riding a high, I didn’t want to take the chance of passing out standing up—

?A hand wrapped around my throat and ripped me from my hiding spot, pain shooting across my body where the fence pulled at my fingers, my clothes.

?A scream ripped from me as the man slammed me up against the container and slammed a hand over my mouth and nose, effectively cutting off my air and blood supply.

?My eyes widened, the panic subsiding only a little when Jack’s dark blue eyes glared back at me, tears of relief filling my eyes.

?“Princess.”

?It was the first time I was able to see him without a single thing on his face. No mask, no paint, just Jack.

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