Page 166 of Unwrapping Deviance

“Hello?” I breathe as low as I can drop my voice. “Please, you have to help me.”

There’s a pause then,“Who is this?”

I glance up at the hatch, half expecting Dirk to be standing there, watching me through the maze of bodies.

Nothing.

“My ... my name is Mira Celestino. I’ve been kidnapped. I’m in a hunting lodge—”

“Oh, fuck.”

The line goes dead.

I stare at it, heart hammering, tears prickling.

No. No! I will not cry. I won’t. I need to keep my shit together. I need to get home to my boys.

Sucking it up, I poke the screen. The phone that had rung has a lock. Useless to me. The other one doesn’t.

I steal a peek at the hatch.

Still nothing.

I swipe the phone open and dial911.

It rings.

Loses connection.

I stare at the zero bars.

“No!” I whine.

I am crying now. I can’t stop it. The tears run down my face in hot streaks. WhoeverJayis, isn’t going to help me. Christian and Daniel have no idea where I am. Lucy is going to hurt them and I’m in a basement full of broken girls.

I’m not getting out of this. There’s no way.

And as if the universe agrees with me, the hatch flies open, and the dark opening is flooded with sharp, blinding light.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

JAMESON

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There’s a lot I regret. Murdering my brother is third on the list.

Not that I would ever tell anyone. Even Clem wouldn’t understand and she’s the sweetest person I know.

I stare at the phone in my hand. The screen blank. My own reflection judging me from the cold plastic.

“My ... my name is Mira Celestino. I’ve been kidnapped. I’m in a hunting lodge.”

Fuck.

I lift my gaze to where my sister is leading the search party for the girl I just hung up on. She’s bundled in a wool coat and a soft, green scarf. She’s got the whole town gathered on the edge of the woods, creating grids and buddying people up to look for a girl in the complete opposite direction.

The MacAllister boys are standing nearby, not too close, but close enough to hear Lucy’s directions.

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