Page 82 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable

The phone buzzing startles me. I pause and take a deep breath before looking at the screen. I know it's Levi or Z checking on me.

I also know that if I don't respond, they'll come back. They'll look at me with those eyes full of fear and determination—and sadness—and it will break my heart a little more.

Reluctantly, I swipe the screen to check the message. The name that appears stops me cold.

Jade.

My fingers shake as I click the notification. An image loads and a scream builds in my throat, trapped behind clenched teeth. I bite it off before it can escape.

It's Jade. My strong, beautiful friend who never backs down from anything or anyone is gagged and bound tightly on some filthy mattress. Her usual perfect makeup runs in dark rivers down her cheeks. Her eyes—God, her eyes. I've never seen herlook scared before. Not like this. Raw terror radiates from the screen.

There are marks on her skin. A dark purple bruise blooms across her cheek. Red welts and scratches cover her arms. But she's alive. She's alive and mostly unharmed and—

The message beneath the photo makes my heart stop.

"Trade?"

The phone slips from my numb fingers, landing face-down on the bed. The room spins around me as his voice fills my head.

You're mine, Princess. Always have been. Always will be.

He's right. He's always been right. Everything else—the safety, the love, the family I thought I'd found—it was just a beautiful lie I let myself believe.

It's not something I was ever meant to keep.

How It Ends

Chapter Thirty-Six

Sunny

Istareatthephone, my vision blurring around the edges. The image of Jade burns into my retinas—her terror, her pain, the evidence of what he's done to her already. My stomach heaves, but I swallow it down. I can't fall apart. Not now.

My fingers trace the edge of the screen, hovering over Garrett's message. That single word waiting for an answer, "Trade?"

A bitter laugh escapes my throat. As if there's any choice here.

The phone buzzes again. Another message from Garrett—"Tick tock, Princess."

My hands shake as I type back, "Where?"

His response is immediate, "That's more like it. It’s time for you to come home."

Home. The word twists in my gut like a knife. Because he's right—this is what I've been running from. Not just him, but the truth. That no matter how far I've run, how much love I thinkI've found, how safe I've felt—with him is where I belong. He made sure of that the day he killed my father and took my family. Made sure I knew it the first time he held me down and took what he wanted from me.

The next message contains coordinates and instructions. Simple. Clean. A few numbers that are about to destroy my entire world.

I look around the room—our room. Zane's laptop rests on the nightstand. Levi's books are stacked neatly on the dresser. My favorite blanket is thrown over the foot of the bed. All pieces of a life I fooled myself into thinking I could have.

Standing feels like moving through wet sand, every motion slow and heavy. I quickly change into plain clothes—jeans, t-shirt, and boots. Nothing special. Nothing that matters. I don't take anything else. There's no point.

I slip my arms into my jacket, the familiar weight settling on my shoulders. My fingers brush against something in the pocket—the small tracker Z gave me right after Jade disappeared. His voice was firm and left no room for argument when he slipped it in my pocket.

"This is just in case. It will let us find you if we need to. Keep it on you."

I turn the cold, hard plastic disk over and over in my hand. It would be useless for me to take. Garrett isn’t stupid. One of the first things he’ll do is search me thoroughly the first chance he gets.

He'll take my clothes, my shoes, check every possible hiding spot.

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