Page 156 of Hidden Echoes

Then I hear it.

An engine.

I turn just in time to see a sleek black car roll up at the end of the alley. The door swings open, and a sharp stiletto heel clicks against the pavement.

Tight dress. Blond hair in a perfectly styled bun.

Paulina.

Shit. Shit.

My stepmother strides toward us with the grace of a queen, her cold eyes sweeping over the scene like she already knows exactly what happened.

But her expression shifts when she sees me.

"Well, this is a surprise."

I take a step back. "Paulina, I—"

But then it happens.

The numbness.

A crushing weight pulling me down.

My heart races, but my eyelids grow heavy. My body sways. The world around me fades.

And then—

Darkness.

I wake up on a couch in a dark shed. My arms aren’t tied and there aren’t men watching me. Confusion floods my mind.

I could’ve sworn that Paulina—Carter.

I step into the main hall and freeze. Paulina sits there, lazily petting her dog, a bored expression on her face. But my gaze shifts past her. Carter is unconscious, covered in blood. My eyes widen in horror.

"You still have that little trouble sleeping out of nowhere?" Paulina muses, her tone laced with mockery.

"If you don’t let me go, I—"

"You what?" She tilts her head with a taunting smile. "Kill more people? Are you going to kill me? There’s no need, dear. You’re not even part of my job. You can go."

I halt mid-step, staring at her in disbelief. What?

"How can I just leave?"

"You walk through the door and get out of here," she says flatly, as if the whole thing bores her.

"You’re not going to drag me back to my father?" I ask, bewildered.

"No."

"But…" Is this a joke?

"Can I take Carter?"

"No, I have to deal with him."

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