Page 24 of A Fate Everlasting

The hallway seemed to close in on me with each step. Laughter from the bar blurred into a low hum behind me, likeI’d slipped underwater. I couldn’t breathe, or think. It was like the seconds slipped through my fingers before I could decide how to use them.

“Tough break,” Ruby murmured. “You don’t understand Dorian. What he really is. That offering is going tosuck.”

“Yeah, yeah I’m sure it’s all veryfreak-show,” I tucked my bag under my arm. “I need you to distract them for five. I’m calling my lawyer.”

“I mean that literally,” Ruby warned, folding her arms.

“There’s a phone behind the bar, I’m sure.” I started toward the bathroom door, but Ruby blocked me.

“They won’t let you use it. Dorian tips them well so they let us hang out here, but they’re terrified of us. Don’t do this, Arabella.” She brushed a hand against my shoulder, pitying. “Mabel survived. You saw. What’s your lawyer going to do?”

My throat tightened with shame. Maybe she was right. Maybe my plan wouldn’t work. “Get meoutof here,” I seethed, trying to push past her.

“No they won’t.” Ruby shook her head.

“Of course they can.” I frowned, but it was clear that I’d never be able to use the phone here. Ruby wasn’t willing to be a distraction.

The white-tiled floor was like a flytrap. Damp toilet paper clung to the tiles, but I locked onto the only thing that mattered. An open window, just above the sink. It was small, but not impossible. Dorian and the others would never let me walk out the front door.

I caught my reflection in the cracked mirror. My hair was a little damp with sweat, mascara slighty smudged beneath my eyes. I looked like I’d been crying. Ihad.I had never felt so lost, so confused. If I just had a note, a reason for being here, maybe I could stay. But I had nothing.

I didn’t know the area and I didn’t have a phone, but I couldfollow the road. It would take me to a village where surely,surelysomeone would let me use their phone.

I didn’t have much time. My heart hammered as I hauled myself into the sink, awkward, desperate, feeling bruises blooming at my shins. Almost there. Just a little more.

“Are you serious?” Ruby yelped. “Arabella!”

Too late. I hit the ground, pain jolting up my knees, but I was already running. I tore through the gravel lot, lungs burning as I raced toward the road. For a moment, all I could hear was the sound of my heartbeat and the slap of rain against the gravel. My hands shook. I didn’t even know where the road would take me but the thought of staying, of sitting across from Dorian again, felt worse than being lost with nowhere to go.

“Stop!” She called after me through the window. “This is only going to make thingsworsefor you!”

Her words echoed after me, but I didn’t stop. The night air was cool in my lungs, the gravel crunching underfoot, and for a moment I believed I could outrun all of this. I turned, starting down the road flanked by tall hedges, my cardigan nearly soaked through as I tore into the night—and directly into someone’s chest.

“Is there a problem?” My lungs suddenly felt too small.Dorian.

The rain had soaked through his shirt, the fabric molding to every sculpted plane of muscle. A raindrop traced a slow path down his temple, catching on the cut of his cheekbone before slipping over his lips. He watched like he was waiting for me to realize something on my own. “You didn’t really think I’d let you leave, did you?”

“Let me?” I froze, the road spinning, the adrenaline crashing as fast as it had come. Of course he’d followed me. The idea that I could escape had been nothing but a fantasy. This was obviously acult,and cult leaders didn’t let their people leave.

His fingers skimmed my wrist for just a moment before they closed around it, but the warning pulsed through his grip if I dared move. His violet eyes dragged over me, soaking in my wet clothes, my ragged breath, and the failed escape written in every trembling muscle.

“Leave us, Ruby.” He didn’t look at her as he spoke, his eyes still trained on me. I was paralyzed, too afraid to move or swallow. Ruby hesitated, a flicker of defiance in her stance, but it lasted only a heartbeat before she melted into the darkness.

“I told you, Davenant.” His voice was a whisper, a promise, a verdict already passed. “You owe me an offering.”

I didn’t speak, or move. I couldn’t. The world shrank to his words, the slow tightening of his grip. For the first time, I realized this wasn’t about the game or even the rules of Evermore. This was about power,control,and mine was slipping through my fingers like sand. I had nowhere to go, and Dorian knew it.

“You can run all you want.” His lips quirked, a dark shadow crossing his face. “But you should know. Ialwayscatch what’s mine.”

11

Brick bit into my spine before I could scream. His fingers barely touched my jaw, but my head tilted anyway. Dorian’s violet eyes shifted, flashing blood-red for a moment.

I struggled, but his grip was iron, his breath ghosting over my throat. His mouth hovered right over my pulse, lips brushing over the space where it thundered. An offering. What did that mean? I didn’t know what he was doing, only knew that I couldn’t let him see how afraid I was.

I scented the peppermint on him immediately, then something deeper like the bite of smoke in cold, winter air. I should have felt terrified. I should’ve shouted, or pulled away, but something in me didn’t want to.

“This won’t hurt.Much,” he murmured, lips brushing my neck. “But if you want me to stop… say so.”

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