Page 149 of Deserter

“Hello?” a sleepy voice answered, and I sighed in relief.

“Daddy?” My voice was nothing more than a whisper.

“Celia?” He was instantly awake. “What’s wrong?”

“I—I need you to come get the girls for school. I’m—I’m not feeling well.”

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong? What happened?”

I dropped the handset back onto the base with a whimper and began dragging my body toward the bathroom. After resting for a minute, I reached up and flipped the lock.

No one could see me like this.

Jamie had witnessed his mother losing a baby when he was ten and it scarred him for life. My girls could never know.

I gripped the edge of the countertop and pushed myself up onto my knees with a cry. Nausea made another reappearance and I got sick in the sink before lifting my head toward the mirror.

I immediately shrank back in fear.

That wasn’t me.

I lowered myself back to the tile floor and wept as I slowly crawled over to the shower, leaving a bloody trail in my wake.

I was Icarus and Jamie was the sun. I’d known what it would cost me, yet I’d chased after him anyway. I’d flown too high, convinced that he’d never let anything happen to me; certain that I’d never come back down to earth.

But I had.

The wax that had held my wings now ran down my body and pooled on the cold floor beneath me. I imagined letting myself drown in it; convinced it was better than the alternative of living with the knowledge of tonight.

How ignorant it had been to assume I was bulletproof.

My bladder released, feeling like alcohol against my skin. It stung and burned its way down my legs to mix with the blood underneath. I didn’t even have the strength to clean it up.

These men had stolen something from me—something I’d never get back. I wanted to slip into oblivion, but they’d threatened to harm my daughters. That fact alone had me clawing my way back to the surface.

I sucked in lungfuls of air and finally let myself fall apart, comforted by only one thought.

Jamie was going to kill every last one of them.

To be continued…

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