Trey - Shandi Boyes Page 0,68

gun, but more times than not, battles like this are mind over matter.

Since my head is still woozy, I miscalculate my landing. I skid more than necessary across the highly polished concrete floors, only stopping when my head colliding with the solid wall almost knocks me out.

While dabbing my head with my hand, praying the large bump under a mess of blonde curls doesn’t burst open, I clutch the shard of glass in my hand then twist to face the door.

The jagged edge of the mirror digs into the skin Dok glued together yesterday, when my wooziness clears enough, I see the sickening image confronting me. A second man is standing next to Achim. He’s holding Trey off the ground by a fierce clutch of his hair. Blood is dripping off Trey’s chin. I can’t see where it’s coming from, but there’s enough for me to be concerned my endeavor to protect him has come too late.

“No!” I shout in Czech when the man clutching Trey’s hair strikes him over the head with a tire wrench, causing a large crack to both Trey’s skull and my heart.

My voice is so loud, the women huddled in the corner of the room break into a painful sob. It’s the same whimpered response they produced when they spotted Achim sneaking me past them so he could place me in a spot I’d be easily found.

This was a set-up. My overdose. The takeover bid that emptied Clarks within minutes. Achim’s apparent annoyance about Trey’s protectiveness. It was all a set-up. The only thing I can’t work out is why. What benefit does Achim get from this?

My stomach rolls when the truth smacks into me.

This isn’t about Ana or me.

It’s about Trey.

It has always been about Trey.

“What did he ever do to you to deserve this?” I shout at Achim in Czech. “It was India who couldn’t say no to the Corbyn men. She’s the one you should be angry at!”

“What about you!” he roars back, his veins bulging. “You deceived me by giving your virginity to him…” he spits out ‘him’ like it arrived with a fresh batch of vomit, “… a lowlife thug who thinks he’s better than he is.” When a grin tugs on his abhorrent face, the color drains from my cheeks. “I thought a few years in a dungeon would have taught him his place.” He shakes his head in a demoralizing way. “Some people never learn.” His comment is for both Trey and me. He hates that he found me in Trey’s bed just as much as he hates how fiercely I’m fighting for Trey. I’ve never shown him the grit I’m displaying now. “There’s only one solution for disobedience. Death.”

The reasoning behind him speaking his last word in English comes to light when the dark-haired man next to him raises his tire wrench for the second time.

With a roar of a woman with nothing to lose, I spring to my feet, ready and willing to send Achim to hell before he can amass another undeserving victim.

I’m halfway to the door when Achim commences closing it. Its vault-like locks clicking into place are as heartbreaking as Justine’s scream when the whack of a tire wrench fracturing a skull booms through the door only a second later.

Although panicked about what I may see, I bob down to peer out the keyhole. Blood is oozing out of Trey’s head, but the tiniest flutter of a pulse can be seen in its ripples. When they commence dragging him down the hall, unaware of my watch, I strain my eyes to the furthest point before seeking another way to spy on them.

The wall across from me takes up most of the view, but since it’s dark, the industrial lighting wired throughout the compound bounces shadows off the stark white paint. They reveal they enter a room a few doors down from the one I’m trapped in. I can’t tell exactly how many, but I am assuming five or six spots down.

When a terrifying scream rips through my ears not long later, breaking my heart further, I search the room for another exit point. My head is thumping so fiercely it feels like my brain is about to drain from my ears, and I’m unbelievably dizzy, but I can’t give in like I have so many times the past six years.

It’s time for me to show my strengths.

Within minutes, my only-just-gathered determination gets squashed. A large window spans one wall of the dormitory, but