Abandoning his weapon, he broke into a run and jumped off the stage closest to the doors and the deck, dragging Ily with him.
She screamed as she landed on all fours on the floor.
“Get up.Now!” Victor snarled, hauling her by her hair.
Choking from the sprinklers, she slipped and skidded as Victor dragged her toward the gardens.
“Don’t!” I fought and fuckingfought.
I couldn’t stop him.
I couldn’t do a damn fucking thing to stop him from hauling her into the night.
They vanished.
Another rumble. Another stone-shaking blast.
The scent of burning turned the heavy decadence of dinner into acrid poison.
Masters and guards spread out past the ballroom, the sounds of gunshots echoed further away, muted thanks to the torrenting sprinklers.
Twisting onto my knees, I yanked the fucking chain with all the strength I had left. I turned into a beast. An unhinged beast ready to chew through metal to chase after my heart.
Only…
Hands landed on my whipped, rain-dripping shoulders. My bandages had unthreaded, drenched with blood and water, unspooling around my waist. “Easy, easy. Hang on.”
My vision faded in and out, in and out, as Stewart dragged me back onto the chaise and stretched my arms back into position.
I fought him.
I frankly feared him.
But then the shackles fell away.
My wrists came undone.
And I ran.
Chapter Fifteen
………………………….
Ily
VICTOR WAS HURT.
I’d watched it happen with my own eyes. Yet…he moved as if he didn’t feel a damn thing. He fisted my hair and half dragged, half carried me as he carted me through the gardens.
Out here, the skies were clear, the stars exquisitely bright.
No water fell from the heavens like in his citadel. No smoke or bangs or rubble.
I shivered as the droplets on my skin soaked into me with ice. The cut on the side of my throat felt deep but not too deep. I bled but…not enough to die.
I hope…
I cried out as he jerked me forward, sending me onto my knees again. My kneecaps crunched and bellowed, agony throbbing through my bones.