Page 78 of Seal My Fate

I try to roll over in bed, to grab a glass of water from the nightstand. Then I realize that I’m lying on the ground, with nothing but cold hard stone beneath me.

Where the hell am I?

I pry my eyes open, making my head pound even more. Dim light filters in, and I squint around, realizing to my horror that I’m in some kind of bare, empty room.

No, it’s a dusty brick cell, more like a dungeon.

Oh my God...

Panic grips me as I sit up. There are iron bars on the door, a stone floor, and nothing but a small opening, way up by the ceiling, about fifteen feet off the ground. Bars block it, but I can see grass, and daylight filtering through.

I’m underground, somewhere. A mattress lays in one corner of the cell, along with a bottle of water, and a bucket.

My blood turns to ice.

This is where they kept Wren.

It’s exactly the way she described to me, pieced together from her fragments of memory. The site of all her worst nightmares.

And now I’m the one locked inside.

How long have I been here?

I frantically try to remember what happened. I was at the wedding, with the bridal party. Imogen was saying something about private jets…

In a rush, it all comes back to me.Hugh.He attacked Wren. He’s involved in all of this—and he’s not alone. His accomplice injected me with something and helped him drag my body out of the building before anyone could see.

I shiver with fear, remembering the look in Hugh’s eyes. He was terrifying. Just the memory of it chills me, so cold and unrecognizable.

What is he planning for me?

And what about Saint? The thought fills me with new panic. He doesn’t know his friend has betrayed him. I didn’t have a chance to warn him, and now…

Now he’s in danger, too.

I scramble to my feet. I’m still strapped into one jeweled sandal, and I kick it away, standing in my bare feet as I scan the small cell again, desperate for some escape. Then I see something, high in the corner, mounted on the ceiling.

A camera.

The chill turns icy. What the hell? Is Hugh watching me right now?

Or is this for later, to record what’s coming next?

I try to hold back the wave of nausea rising in my throat. I can’t panic right now, not if I want to make it out of here.

Breathe.Think.

I need to find a way out—before Hugh comes back for me.

I search the cell again, carefully this time, tracing my fingertips over every wall, looking for loose stones or anything I can use as a weapon.

No luck.

I turn my attention to the door, instead. I grip the bars and shake them, hard. They’re clearly old, the metal rusted with age, but they’re embedded firmly in the wood, and don’t budge an inch.

“Hello?” I holler into the shadows outside. “Are you there, Hugh? Are you watching this? You better pray to God I don’t get my hands on you. I’ll kill you myself! Bastard!”

My voice echoes uselessly. Wherever I am, Hugh wouldn’t have been dumb enough to stash me where anyone would hear. I could be in a basement somewhere in London, or hours away. I don’t even know how long I was unconscious.

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