Page 82 of Through The Woods

My heart began beating faster and faster—not only from the snow, but because I recognized his voice. He was the one who’d driven the knife into my side and left me to bleed out on the floor. I wanted to run, but the high was indescribable. Within seconds, the pain and fear in my head were replaced by euphoria.

I didn’t care.

Everything was okay.

As if testing his theory about fucking me against my will, Blade’s hands roamed across my breasts and belly before he reached down and cupped between my legs. I was blissfully numb to all of it. “You feel so fucking good. You let that motherfucker, Charm, inside of you—maybe I should take a turn. After all, you belong to me now.”

My limbs were made of Jell-O, but I summoned enough energy to spit in his face. “I belong to me, asshole.” The words were heavy on my tongue and I was beginning to feel different; not at all like I’d ever felt before. It was as if I was hovering just above the floor, defying gravity.

Blade wiped the spittle off his cheek and smiled down at me. “Do you know how much work I’ve put into getting what I deserve? That money was meant for me. It was always going to end up in my hands. Once they were gone, I just had to eliminate you.”

My breathing grew shallower as I stared through him and toward the ceiling. “What m-money?”

He rocked back on his heels near my head, pulling his hand free from the waistband of my sweatpants. “You’re shitting me, right? The fucking life insurance money, Neve. The inheritance they promised you—all of it. It’s mine and I’ve come to collect.”

I kept waiting for the feeling of invincibility to hit as it always did after a bump, but I was becoming weaker as the seconds ticked on. “I don’t know about the money,” I panted in short little bursts.

“Did you really think the fire was an accident? Clint got in deep with me; swore that he’d pay every dime back. I gave him a deadline and all of a sudden, he wanted to take you to visit your folks. I was prepared to cap him until I looked into it—you were the only child of two very rich fucks. Not only would Clint be able to pay me back; I was going to come out of it a very wealthy man.

“He called me up three days in to tell me that all of the money was tied up in stocks and real estate though. I simply pushed him in the right direction—a little something extra in everyone’s drinks—and the whole thing was set in motion. I wasn’t worried about the coroner finding Ambien in their systems—they both had prescriptions for it. Apparently, knowing that your daughter is strung out a few states away makes it hard to sleep at night.”

I sucked in a shallow breath as tears ran down my face. He’d killed them—he’d taken away the only family I had in the world. For what—money? He’d scarred me physically and emotionally over something that hadn’t even existed.

Blade continued, oblivious to the pain I was in. “Cell phones overheat all the time—I rigged yours for Clint; the plan was for him to hold a pillow over your face until the fire had spread. You were supposed to be unrecognizable—he was going to stick by your side and marry you, making him the heir to their fortune. You’d fade away from your injuries and we’d be free and clear. Apparently, you thrashed around and your boyfriend suddenly grew a goddamned conscience; dragging you outside to safety like some hero.”

I’d blamed myself for that fire—had lived the last year with the burden of their deaths on my shoulders. And this motherfucker was responsible for all of it. I was filled with rage, yet my body was no longer responding.

When I tried to form a fist with my hand, it was as if my limbs were no longer attached to me. Dizziness swept over me in waves, distorting Blade’s face until it looked as if he was behind a funhouse mirror. My ears began buzzing and I looked at the ceiling expectantly, waiting for the swarm of bees to materialize.

A window broke near the front of the clubhouse and Blade reluctantly moved away from my body to investigate. I tried to swallow the saliva in my mouth, but my throat had suddenly gone numb and I panicked when, instead of a clear breath, I began gurgling.

My eyes teared up as I struggled and fought for my next breath. My body, sensing that I was choking, forced the contents of my stomach out, but I couldn’t turn my head and ended up vomiting onto myself. I was going to die, lying on the floor of the clubhouse. This would be what Charm would find when he got home.

He would think I went back to it.

Just like his sister.

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and realized it was Axel. He didn’t hesitate to roll me to my side, pounding on my back until I managed a weak breath.

“Fucking hell, Neve. I gotta get you out of here. The alarm tripped at our facility over on Main and I didn’t realize until I got there that it was a trap. I drove as fast as I fucking could, but he got here first. Do you know what they hit you with?” He spoke in a harsh whisper, trying to keep his presence hidden.

I caught movement over his shoulder and shook my head violently from side to side, doing everything I could to warn Axel.

He’d shaved his head and there were now open sores on his face where it’d once been clear, but I would’ve recognized him anywhere. I knew now, without a doubt, that I hadn’t imagined seeing him at the biker gathering a few months ago.

Clint.

Instead of ambushing Axel, Clint dropped to his knees and brought his hand toward my throat. I wanted to squirm out of his grasp, but I couldn’t get my body to obey me.

“Her pulse is low. We need to move now,” Clint hissed the words before prying my eyelids open. “Neve, baby, stay with me.”

I tried to speak, but the words got stuck to the roof of my mouth; so, I shook my head, an act that required every bit of my focus.

Why was he here?

And why was he trying to help me?

“What was she dosed with?”

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