Page 79 of Altered

Hope:Oh god.

Teagan:Move your ass, Carter. I heard him talking to Noah in the basement. He's not back for long.

"Where are you going?" were the first words I heard when I stepped off the bottom step of the stairs on Thursday night.

My heart sank into my butt.

I thought he'd be passed out by now.

That was the norm, after all.

Not bothering to respond, I continued rummaging through my purse for my car keys, dutifully ignoring him.

The need to find Hunter was choking me.

I had to find him.

Speak to him.

The need to see Hunter overrode all my fears and worries. I could figure those out later.

Right now, I needed to get to him.

"I asked you a question, Hope," Jordan continued, breaking through my thoughts as he stumbled down the staircase, hot on my heels. "I'm talking to you!" Following me down the rest of the steps, he reached out and grabbed my forearm, halting me in my tracks. "Answer me."

An overwhelming amount of fear swept through me, all linked to the hand he had wrapped around my arm.

Get off.

Get off.

Get off.

"Don’ttouchme," I warned him as I tried and failed to yank my arm free from his hold. The stench of whiskey on his breath was stifling "Let go."

Twenty-nine days.

I had spent twenty-nine days holed up in this shithole of a house, having abuse hopped off me like shit off a shovel.

Spending every hour of every day being devalued and persecuted.

And I was done.

Done being beaten into submission with blackmail antics and dangerous threats.

I was so through with living in fear of drug dealers, angry outbursts, and being blamed for him slowlykillinghimself, and then getting slapped around when I tried to help.

He wouldn’t let me call his father, threatening to break our deal if I did, and his mother never got back to my message. I was all out of options. And pity? I had run out of that, too.

I wasdone, period.

With all of it.

"Tell me where you're going," he repeated flatly.

"I'm going to see Teagan," I lied, glaring at the hand he had wrapped around my arm. "Or would you rather I stay locked up in this hell hole for the rest of my life?"

"Willhebe there?" There was a glazed over look in his eyes and he was swaying on his feet. "At Teagan's?"

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