Save Your Breath (Morgan Dane #6) - Melinda Leigh Page 0,43

Even if she got to the steps, she wouldn’t be able to outrun him. He’d catch her before she reached the top.

She couldn’t see his face, but she noted as many things about him as she could. He was over six feet tall and muscular. He wore khaki pants, boots, and a black jacket. A knife was sheathed on his belt. The mask covered his whole head, so she couldn’t see hair color. His eyes were far enough behind the holes in the mask that she couldn’t determine their color either.

“Why—” She tried to ask why he’d taken her, but her throat was too dry to speak, and the word came out as an unintelligible croak.

He stood still for a moment, facing her, his posture stiff. A cold pang gripped her empty belly. Her sore cheek throbbed. He knew how to hurt people.

“What do you want from me?” she wheezed, her teeth chattering as she spoke.

He took three steps forward and slapped her. The blow stunned her, both the speed of his hand and the sting of her already-bruised face.

“Shut up.” He spoke in a throaty whisper, odd and raspy, as if he was purposefully disguising his voice. He lifted the white bag. “Come here.”

She limped forward, feeling like a hungry dog that was regularly beaten but still relied on an abusive human for food. Like a feral animal, she drew closer to the smell of hot food in spite of the risk.

“Stand up straight,” he commanded.

She shifted her weight and winced.

He held the bag over her head, just out of reach. “Ask nicely.”

Olivia sensed that refusing would be the wrong move. “May I please have the bag?”

He lowered the bag into her hand. Tucking her water bottle under her arm, she opened the bag. It was a sandwich, wrapped in foil. When she removed it from the bag, it was warm in her hands. She unwrapped the foil. Hot ham and melted cheese on a long roll. Despite her nerves, the smell made her stomach rumble.

She took a tentative bite. Her shortness of breath made eating difficult, but she took a second bite. She had one protein bar left. Who knew when she would get food again?

After three bites, a coughing spell interrupted her meal. She sipped some water, needing to catch her breath before she continued eating.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked in a disgusted tone.

“Asthma.” She lowered the sandwich. She could feel her airways narrowing. Without access to her medicine or a way out of this cold, damp basement, she would grow worse. “The air is too cold in here. I need my—” A cough cut off the word medicine.

He propped his hands on his hips, his posture tensing. “You have a blanket.”

The thin cotton throw was insufficient for the temperature in the cellar, but that wasn’t the real problem.

Still short of breath, she shook her head. “It’s the cold air in my lungs.”

“Don’t try to bullshit me. I’m not stupid.” He stepped closer, leaning forward. His body vibrated with rage.

Olivia’s next breath whistled. Her pulse scrambled, and her stomach cramped around the sandwich.

The backhand came faster than she could react. It hit her bruised cheek with an explosion of light and pain. She stumbled backward. Her sandwich and water bottle went flying. Her injured foot gave out, and she fell backward. Pain rang up her tailbone. The impact expelled what little air she had managed to suck into her lungs. She sat still, gaping like a fish, struggling to draw a tiny bit of air into her chest when her rib cage felt like it was made of steel. Her lungs refused to expand.

“I bring you a hot meal, and you repay me by lying.” His whisper had turned hostile. “That’s not how it works here.”

Olivia couldn’t respond. She couldn’t do anything except try to breathe.

He picked up the sandwich and stuffed it back in the white bag. “Next time, you’ll be respectful. Not that I should feed you. Only the strong survive, and you don’t seem very strong.”

What did that mean? Was there going to be a test of some sort?

Taking the sandwich with him, he stomped back up the steps. On the way out, he slapped the light in the stairwell, extinguishing it. The doors slammed shut with a bang that seemed to rattle the ground, leaving Olivia shivering, gasping for air, and alone in the dark.

She crawled toward the steps, feeling ahead with her shaking hands and using her memory to guide her,