Page 110 of Taste of Forever
The van drove for what felt like hours. It was impossible to gauge distance or make sense of turns and stops without being able to see. The passage of time worried me too. It was early in the night, but Laith only had until dawn to find me. What if these men kept driving past sunrise?
On and on my thoughts spiraled. No matter how much I tried to come up with a rational plan for escape, coherent thoughts turned to frantic worry about the vampire I loved.
Great time to figure out that you love him.Of course it would dawn on me now, after seeing him injured and being kidnapped.
I’d known Laith for a fraction of the time that I’d known Justin, and I justknew. From the very beginning, he’d been all in. He showed his care in every touch, every joke he cracked, and every single action toward me since we met. I found what had been missing in my last relationship and so much more. A love that could truly last forever.
After what felt like hours of driving, the van slowed to a complete stop and the engine shut off. I curled into a fetal position, bracing myself for whatever would come next. All I could do for Laith now was stall. Buy enough time for him to come find me.
I heard the van doors open. Someone grabbed my leg and dragged me toward the end. I kicked and flailed my arms, and managed to catch my bound hands around some indent in the van wall, probably the wheel well.
“Quit being a pain in the ass,” one of my captors groused.
A fist enclosed around the hood at the back of my head, catching a good chunk of my hair and yanking me out of the vehicle. I yelped as he continued to drag me by the hair once my butt hit the ground, never giving me a chance to stand.
“Should have tied her hands behind her,” another voice said.
“Yeah, whatever. Fuck you.”
I dug my heels into the ground, which felt like slightly damp, packed earth. It wouldn’t buy me much extra time, but hopefully it would make an easy-to-see trail as the guy dragged me.
He pulled me across a threshold. Instead of bumpy dirt under my butt, I felt the smoothness of hard flooring. I split my legs wide, trying to catch my feet on the doorframe. My hands also managed to grab one side and hold on.
“Jesus fucking Christ!”
The guy who’d been dragging me released my hair, giving me relief for one split second before something solid slammed down hard on my temple. His fist probably. The impact rocked through my skull and made my head bounce once on the floor, and my body went limp.
A ringing sounded through my head and it was suddenly much harder to stay conscious.Can’t fall asleep. Gotta give Laith time. Stay awake, stay awake…
“Hey, watch it.” I could barely hear the other person over the distorted noise in my head. “Soren wants her alert.”
“She’s pissing me the fuck off.”
“Well, relax. She’s out of it now. No more hits to the head, though.”
Someone yanked me roughly by the arms and then I was up in the air. Vertigo made me want to kick and thrash, but my limbs wouldn’t cooperate.
“Wish I could throw this bitch down the stairs.”
The voice was extremely close. The guy who hit me was currentlycarryingme, and the fear of that fact gave me a much-needed dose of clarity. My head continued to pound painfully, but some of the fog lifted.
I was being carried down a flight of stairs and my captor made no effort to be gentle. My head rocked on my neck with each heavy, creaking step. The air became stale and musty, like we’d entered a basement.
Finally, we hit the bottom and a familiar voice spoke up from across the room. “Took you long enough. Put her there.”
Soren.
My exhausted, aching body couldn’t help but tense up as my captor brought me closer to him. I was deposited in a chair, and then the hood was removed roughly from my head, taking a thick lock of my hair with it.
“Damn it, Hills. You didn’t have to rough her up so badly.”
I blinked at the sudden brightness, squinting at Soren’s fuzzy image as he came closer to inspect me.
“She pissed me off,” was the grunted explanation.
Soren made a motion with his hand. “Guard upstairs and leave me alone with her.”
Oh fuck. I had expected Soren, but the last thing I wanted was to be alone with him. Even though these men had already hurt me, something about him truly terrified me.
