Tangled

142 Lisa: Chained

The sound of water dripping is the first thing to break through the darkness of my mind.

Plink.

Plink–plink.

Plink.

It’s an erratic rhythm that leaves me uncomfortable.

The voices come next, soft, sibilant whispers. Evil. Whoever they are, they’d be the villains in any story.

Eventually, I realize the darkness is really just pain. Pain that throbs and aches in half my face. But why?

Vampires.

That’s why.

My eyes fly open when I finally remember, and I struggle to sit up, blinking into the darkness.

I can’t see anything.

Are my eyes open?

My hands won’t reach my face, yanking against

17:36

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142 Lisa: Chained

something cold and hard around my wrists.

Manacles?

Swiping my hands around, I can feel the heavy, rusted chains holding me down, bolted to the floor.

Fuck.

This is…

Really not good.

Ava. Is Ava here?

but there’s

plink–plink of

voices

Plink.

Plink–plink.

Plink.

incessant sound slithers into my mind, coiling around my heart and squeezing with a mania of isolation

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142 Usa Chained

the sound

into my wrists. Pain sears through my arms, but I don’t care. I have to get out. I have to

skin tearing, blood trickling down my forearms. Sobs wrack my body, each one tearing out of my throat. It’s

can barely stand, the shackles forcing me to hunch

Plink. Plink–plink.

try to force my eyes to adjust to the darkness. Shapes slowly emerge from the inky blackness. Rough stone walls, a small window high above my head. The barest hint of moonlight

in a

A fucking cell..

142 Lika Chained

chained up in some vampire’s dungeon like a gothic romance heroine. Except there’s no

1. am.

Plink–plink–plink.

up pace, as if mocking my S~ᴇaʀᴄh the Findɴovel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and

to rage against the unfairness of

strength hidden deep

Humans are weak and helpless against

I hate this.

thoughts drift to Kellan. I’d hated how he was always around. Hated his grim determination to keep us safe,

wish desperately that he was here to tell me

his smugness over this any day

can he possibly find me

142 143 Chalice)

where

I let them fall, too

loyalty. She won’t give up on me. She’ll

enough? Can they really go up against vampires

don’t know. I don’t know anything about

I know is that I’m scared. I’m so fucking scared and I don’t know what

Plink.

Plink–plink.

Plink.

fills my head, driving out every other thought. It’s maddening, the irregularity of it. I want to

my lip hard enough to taste blood and focus on the pain. It grounds me,

342 LISA Chamed

will find me. That Lucas and the Westwood pack will tear

believe that. Because the alternative is too terrifying to consider.

imagine his arms around me, his voice in my ear

for a moment, just a moment, I almost believe

Plink.

fills my mind and I

biggest concern just a while ago was his weird breeding kink and the biting. Of how he wasn’t great at foreplay. Of the slightly–better–than mediocre sex and then the aphrodisiac that had elevated it to good sex.