Page 23 of In The Darkness

When he finally took that last step into the grass, she held her breath, terrified one of the men would be waiting for them. Looking around, she frantically searched the backyard for anyone who would try to stop them but saw no one.

Nick walked toward the gate at the end of the backyard, careful to stay in the shadows the trees on the side of the property offered. He said nothing as he carried her through the night toward the freedom he’d promised to give her again.

As much as she wished she could focus on that, all Persephone could think about was how she’d stared up into his eyes as he thrust into her and saw nothing in them that said what he was doing bothered him in the least. She suspected he’d claim he had to do that to her so no one else would, but that didn’t make it better for her.

And the fact that he’d rescued her and now carried her to freedom in the dark of night away from those monsters didn’t either.

He pushed the metal gate in the chain link fence open, but it squeaked so loud he stopped before walking through. Turning around to look at the house, he waited a moment before turning back and hurrying out of the yard.

They were just a few yards from the house, but they were free.

“Put me down. I think I can walk,” Persephone said as he walked into the woods near the house.

Nick stopped and set her gently on the ground. Her legs wobbled a little, but she wanted to be free of having to depend on him to get away.

“Come on. We need to get further into the woods before they realize we’re gone,” he said pointing into the darkness of the forest.

But she didn’t want to be trapped in there with him.

“I’m fine on my own now. I’ll be sure to tell my father you did your job so you can get your money,” she said angrily as she looked around for which way to go now that she was free.

He grabbed her arm and held it tightly as he shook his head. “No, you’re not. You barely can walk after being in that chair all those days. I promised your father I’d get you home, and that’s what I’m going to do, even if I have to carry you all the way there myself.”

Persephone tried to yank her arm from his hold, but he was too strong. Her emotions on edge after all that had happened, she lashed out at him and pounded her fist into his chest.

“After what you did, I never want to be anywhere near you again! Let me go!”

Clamping his hand over her mouth, he scolded her. “They’re going to hear you if you keep yelling like that. You don’t have much choice in the matter, so you’re going to have to trust me and let me pick you up.”

He lifted his hand, and she said, “Like I trusted you before and you…”

The words got trapped in her throat, and she stood there as her emotions began to unravel inside her. Nick winced, like her words bothered him, but he said nothing before simply picking her up in his arms and walking off with her into the woods.

The last thing Persephone saw of that house they’d escaped from was a light turning on in the upstairs room where she’d been held. Tapping Nick on the shoulder, she pointed toward the house.

“They know I’m gone.”

He stopped and looked back, and she felt his entire body stiffen. But if he was as afraid as she was, he didn’t show it as he began walking faster into the darkness, saying nothing to her.

Persephone didn’t knowhow long they traveled into the woods, but even being carried began to make her legs ache like they had for every minute she’d been tied up to a chair. She knew he had the harder job carrying her and had to believe he needed to rest.

“Can we stop for a minute? You have to be tired, right?”

He shook his head and continued walking. “Not yet.”

“My legs hurt. I just want to stretch them for a minute.”

Turning to look at her, his face no more than a few inches from hers, he narrowed his eyes in anger. “I said not yet. There’s a cabin up here about a mile away.”

He trudged up a hill, bouncing her up and down with every step and making her back ache. “I just want to stretch. I’ve been stuck in that seat for two weeks.”

Still, her pleas fell on deaf ears. Nick shook his head and continued walking toward the cabin he claimed existed somewhere out in these woods. The man had a lot of nerve refusing her even this tiny request after everything that had happened.

“I’m not going to run away, if that’s what you think.”

Nick turned to look at her and smiled. “That’s exactly what I think since you told me you wanted to go off on your own back there. I can’t let you do that.”

Frustrated, she said, “You know, you’re no better than those animals back there. No better.”

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