The sickened luna’s last chance

Chapter 72

Ella & Alexander

Ella

The world kept slipping in and out of focus.

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One moment I was sitting at the restaurant table, the next I was being carried out the back door, seeing Lilith’s bloodied head on the ground behind me, and then I found myself staring at the back of a car seat, my cheek pressed against cracked leather.

My head felt like it was filled with cotton. When I tried to lift it, everything spun.

“There we go, sweetheart. Just relax.”

The man’s voice came from somewhere above me, but it sounded distorted, like he was speaking underwater. Or maybe I was the one who was underwater, drowning, sinking. I tried to turn toward the

sound, but my neck wouldn’t cooperate.

“What…” My own voice sounded strange and slurred. “What did you…”

“Shh. Don’t fight it. Makes everything easier.”

I blinked hard, trying to clear my vision. The man was driving with one hand on the steering wheel, the

other reaching back to… to touch my leg.

I tried to pull away but my body wouldn’t listen. My arms felt like they weighed a thousand pounds.

“Get away from me…”

The man laughed. It was an ugly sound. “You’re not in any position to make demands, Luna.”

Luna. He knew who I was.

Terror shot through me, cutting through some of the drug–induced haze. This wasn’t random. This wasn’t just some creep who’d seen a pretty girl in a bar. He’d targeted me specifically.

I tried to sit up and get a better look at where we were going, but something was wrong with my wrists. When I looked down, I saw silver duct tape wrapped around them, binding them together.

“No, no, no…” I struggled against the restraints, but they held firm.

“Save your energy,” the man said. “You’re going to need it.”

The car hit a pothole, jarring me against the door. Through the window, I could see we were no longer in town. Trees flashed by in the darkness.

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Chapter 72

The man held up something small and rectangular. A camera

“Smile for me, sweetheart.”

The flash went off, temporarily blinding me./squeezed my eyes shut, but he kept taking pictures, the flashes hurting my drugged retinas even through my eyelids.

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Finally, the car began to slow, turning onto what felt like a dirt road. Branches scraped against the windows as we drove deeper into the forest. And then we stopped.

The man got out and came around to my side

of the car. When he opened the door, I tried to scramble away,

but my legs wouldn’t support me. He caught me easil

gag.

acrid scent of his unwashed

there. Don’t want you hurting

dragged me toward an old barn, maybe, or some kind of

wood looked rotten, and half the roof

He pushed open a door. “Nice and private. No one to

dragged across the dirt floor as he hauled

onto a pile of moldy hay, and I couldn’t catch myself with my hands bound. My shoulder hit the ground hard, sending a spike of pain through my

the man said, pulling out

me good shots.”

and again. I tried to turn away, but he grabbed my chin and forced me

him.

voice stronger now as some of the drugs

paying me very well to make sure you have a really

Someone was paying him?

I could process that information, he reached for

when the adrenaline kicked

feet. The barn door was still open, a rectangle of slightly less darkness against

I ran.

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my hands bound, I couldn’t balance properly, and the drugs were still making everything swim in and out of

hear

bitch!

I managed to make it outside and plunge into the forest. Branches

I tripped over a fallen

tongue.

“There you are.”

me to the forest floor. I could smell his

he panted. “Now

it. This was how I

dirt with

my mouth and screamed with

“Alexander!”

Alexander

was still trickling from the gash on her temple, and she looked

about you?” Liam

“I’m going after Ella.”

we should

time.” I slammed

alone outside the

called Gabriel.

call the police and put out the word,” I said without preamble. “Sophia’s red convertible is heading out of town. I need to know

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“What’s going on?”

Find that

I started the engine. Someone had taken my mate. He had drugged

of Sophia’s

pulled out of the restaurant parking

red convertible speed through about

was it

the forest

I floored the accelerator.

was driving through rural back roads with no streetlights and nothing

sheer luck a farmer had seen it turn onto Old Mill Road,