Page 30 of Dark Knight

The rope around my neck tightens as I'm hoisted higher and higher until just the tips of my toes touch the ground. “I have no choice. If word gets out, we’re ruined.”I don’t care.I want to scream it, but the air gets sucked from my lungs.

She caught me from the other side of the fence while I took a moment to wallow in my pity. I didn’t hear her coming, nor did I have a chance to fight her off. As soon as my head lifted, she had the rope around my neck, and the next thing I knew, she was attempting to hang me.

“It has to be suicide,” she grits out as she pulls harder.

Planting my feet on the bottom of the fence, I grab the rope above my head and yank with all my might. I don’t want to die. I haven’t even lived yet. This can’t be the end for me.

“Bea!” At first, I imagine I hear Nolan’s voice. He can’t be here. He doesn’t even know where I am. Nobody does. But then I hear it again. Louder. “BEA!”

I look up this time, and there he is, every bit the dark knight they kept referring to him as. I’ve never seen him so enraged, and with a gun in one hand and knife in the other, he looks like an avenging knight.

“Nolan!” I attempt to call his name, but my throat is hoarse, and it hurts. I needn’t worry, however, because the man with him makes one gigantic leap, and he’s climbing up and over the fence to land on the ground next toherwhile Nolan catches me as the tension from the rope gives out.

I collapse in his arms, and he drops to his knees with me. The cool steel of the blade as it cuts the rope around my neck eases me. “What the fuck happened,” he hisses.

“I knew you’d come.” I think I say it out loud, but my throat feels funny, and I know my voice is raspy. With the ringing in my ears, everything feels off. My body grows weightless, and my mind is light.

Strong fingers cup my jaw, lifting my head as Nolan gazes down at me. The fear and anger swirling in his gorgeous orbs are addicting. “Talk to me, little girl.”

My mouth opens, but I don’t think anything comes out. Scooping me up in his arms, he starts talking to the man who came with him, and I turn my head to see he’s got Dr. Laura on the ground face first with a knee in her back.

A moment of guilt hits me because she was the only person I trusted for the longest time—years. I told her everything. I thought she had my best interest at heart. The betrayal slices so deep I’m surprised there isn’t blood pouring out of my chest from how far she dug her knife in and twisted it.

We’re moving now, and I close my eyes as I cuddle into the warmth of Nolan’s body. Despite the rain and how I’m soaked to the bone from it, I find comfort in his body heat. In the way he cradles me to his chest and in the way he can’t stop kissing my temple.

Lulled into a state of comfort, I’m blinded by light and startled awake as I feel him climbing steps. Opening my eyes, I recognize the front doors of the facility and begin to struggle, wiggling so violently to be let go that I’m flipped around.

“No,” I hiss. “No, I won’t go back. You can’t make me go back!” I scream and climb to my feet, sprinting down the stairs and towards the front gate. To freedom.

Until I’m scooped up from behind and spun around, coming face to face with Nolan. “You’re here,” I whisper, and he frowns.

Dropping me to my feet, he brushes the wet hair off my face. “Bea.” The word comes out soft, sympathetic. “What just happened?”

My brows pucker as my eyes dart from his handsome face to the facility and back again, then slide towards the woods and the fence lining the property. Fingers at my throat, I feel the abrasions from the rope.

“I-” My mouth opens, but nothing comes out.

Cupping my face in both of his palms, Nolan captures my mouth in a furious kiss. A kiss meant to soothe. A kiss meant to bring me back to life.

“I forgot, and I remembered all at once,” I finally murmur against his lips.

Gripping the backs of my thighs, he picks me up again. My legs wrap around his waist, and my arms go around his neck as he explains what’s going to happen.

“You’re safe, Bea. You always will be with me.” I know that. I hug him tighter. “We’re going inside so you can get some dry clothes on. The police are on their way with medical personnel to shut this shithole down, and then I’m taking you home where the family doctor can look you over and tell me you’re okay.”

My entire body clenches as we approach the building again. I’d rather stay outside and freeze than go back in there. But I trust Nolan, despite the betrayal I’ve suffered since he’s been gone. I know he’d never hurt me.

Chapter13

Nolan

It’s been a couple of days since I rescued Bea…well, she rescued herself at first. She was given a moderately clean bill of health. Just some abrasions on her wrists from the restraints used on her for nearly a week and on her neck from the woman who tried to murder her when Easton and I came upon them. She was dehydrated, starving, and had sprained her ankle from the fall out of her room window. But, otherwise, her body will recover fine.

It’s her mind I’m worried about. Falling asleep has become a chore. She’s terrified of the nightmares that plague her and even more worried she’s going to wake up without her memory. She refuses to take a sedative—not that I blame her.

I enter the dungeon in the basement of the castle we all grew up in. Bea is now resting in my old room with Lake and my mom. Hadley and Aria were by earlier, and even Scotty had FaceTimed to meet the woman who stole my heart.

Lake and Bea bonded over their love of drawing and sketching, and I think they’re working on something together now while Mom knits, watching over them.

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