hard.” Kayleen shakes her head—a gesture I’m sure she probably thinks is comforting—as she helps me back up. “Just please, be calm.”
I ignore her and focus on the driver. “You don’t understand. Baron would never allow this.”
He just laughs. “I don’t take orders from Baron. I take orders from Celeste.”
“Please,” I beg him, feeling my chest tighten. “He’ll want me back. I never leave his side.”
“You think you’re the first one to try this?” he mutters, letting out a laugh. “Believe me, honey, they all thank me when they realize I’m rescuing them. You’re safe now. You’re going to a better life.”
He doesn’t understand. He doesn’t know who I am. “I’m Sapphire!” I tell him. “You must have seen me. Baron makes me paint my face, you won’t recognize me, but he wouldn’t want me gone. I never leave his side. You have to…” My voice trails off, losing some of my enthusiasm when he slows the car to a stop and yanks up the handbrake.
My nerves go on the crawl when he opens his door and jumps down. I back away from my door as he swings it open, but there’s not enough room to get out of his reach. His hand grips around my neck and when I try to kick, he only squeezes tighter. “Shut. The. Fuck. Up. I will not tell you again. One more peep out of you, and I’ll tie you to the tow bar and make you run the rest of the way. Understand?”
He releases his grip just enough to let me nod my head through huge gasping breaths.
The man narrows his eyes and stares at me for a moment, then drops me and jumps back in the driver’s seat. Kayleen’s hand creeps over the seats and slips into mine, giving it a squeeze.
And my stomach feels heavy.
If I don’t get out of here, there’s a chance I’ll never see him again.
Would he know where I’d gone? Would he have the resources to come and get me?
Would he even bother?
That’s the thought which has something aching inside my chest.
And it barely makes any sense, because until an hour ago I thought he was a monster. I thought I’d have to leave him, in order to protect the part of us both that is growing inside me.
Tears prick my eyes as a sense of hopelessness settles in the pit of my stomach.
Maybe one day, I’ll look back on all of this and realize it was all just a nightmare. A trick of the mind, like how Baron explained. Stockholm syndrome, nature's way of helping you cope.
My hands become numb as we drive farther and farther away from the place I only ever wanted to escape from. I look out of the window and watch the sunset.
Only when night has almost fallen does the car roll to a stop.
I lean across in my seat, trying to see what’s up ahead through the gap between the seats.
A large mountain range looms in the distance, almost black against an almost blacker sky. But I can just vaguely make out an opening.
And I know that opening.
The Carnival Cave.
The Carnival Cave?
32
Baron
I don’t do anything. Not for a long time.
Who knows how much time has passed since I walked in here? Minutes? Hours? Could be either. Could be none.
All I do is stare at the empty pile of blankets on the floor where she should be sleeping right now. There should be an outline there. The gentle rise and fall of her chest. She likes to wrap her fist around the blanket and tuck it under her chin, leaving only the smallest hint of her dark hair peeking out.
Sometimes, she’s awake when I come to her, and that is fine. But my favorite nights are those when she is already lost inside her dreams.
Those nights, I sit on the chair where I sit right now, and I watch her. I wonder what she dreams about. I wonder what scares her.
But she’s not there. There is no little fist wrapped in a blanket, no sliver of dark hair.
I blink.
Blink again.
Maybe I’m just hallucinating.
I have known stranger things than hallucinations to happen. I can barely remember what is to pretend to be sane anymore. Maybe the madness has finally caught up with me.
That must be what's happening. She is here, but my mind is playing a ghastly little trick on me.
It has to be.
Because if she has really been taken from me, I will burn the ashes of the world down all