Page 65 of Bloody Bones
Briella
Staring down at the card for the millionth time, I waited at the side of the road.
I had thought when the flowers arrived that they were from Tommy. A big romantic gesture on his part.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
A chill prickled up my neck, and I glanced behind me, sure I was going to see someone standing there. The street was empty, but still I couldn't seem to shake the feeling of being watched.
Instinctively, I knew it wasn't Tommy, or Raze for that matter. Both of them would have had me back in my motel room before I could even squeak. This was different. Colder and more menacing. It made me shiver under the heat of the midday sun.
Hugging myself tightly, I fought back the urge to rush back into the room and barricade myself inside where I could wait for Tommy to get to me.
But I couldn't do that.
Tommy thought saving the children wasn't possible.
Even Raze with his promises to help me hadn't looked so sure. And even if he could help me, could I really ask him too? He was Tommy's friend. It would put a rift in their relationship.
And I couldn't live with myself if I did that to him. No matter what had happened in the past or what happened in the future, I loved Tommy. He needed his friend. He needed him more than he could ever need me.
Which was why I was waiting across the road from the motel with that damn embossed card in my hands.
As much as I loved Tommy, I needed to save the children. Or at least try, I wouldn't be me if I didn't try.
I didn’t notice the car until it had pulled up beside me, the engine idly quietly. Any moment of doubt evaporated. This was the right thing to do. The only thing to do really. Any chance I had of escaping had gone the moment the car had slid up to the curb. Just by being there I was agreeing to his terms.
I was agreeing to be his.
I swallowed hard, forcing down the lump that had lodged in my throat and glanced at the motel. Raze would have told Tommy that I had said yes to going home by now. Was he already on his way? Close by even? What would his reaction be when he found I had gone?
Would Tommy come looking for me, thinking I had run away again, or would he finally give up? Part of me wanted him to give up.
It didn't matter how much I wanted to be his. Before the sun went down, I would belong to another.
The door in the back of the limo opened and without thinking I slipped into the frigid darkness of the back of the car.
After today I would cease to be Briella.
I would just be wife of Acco.
* * *
It tookme several seconds after my backside hit the cold leather of the back seat for my eyes to grow accustomed to the darkness. It seemed unnatural somehow, how utterly black it was.
My heart was impossibly loud in my ears, a rapid uneven drumming that seemed to drown out the noise from the road around us. Or maybe that was the soundproof glass. I didn't know. But my brain fixed on the sound anyway. It was easier hearing how scared I was than actually living it.
Taking a deep breath, I forced my eyes to stay open. I needed to focus. Needed to keep my wits about me. And the first thing I needed to do was see.
Squinting, I leant forward. My knee brushed against another person and I tumbled back with a shriek.
There was someone sitting right next to me. So close and yet I hadn't seen or felt their presence.
The sound of sniffing suddenly filled the air. Without meaning to, I shrank back from it, trying to make myself as small as possible as I curled my body into the closed and locked door.
I knew it would be locked. I didn't need to try the handle.
The moment I had stepped inside the vehicle my fate had been sealed. I had agreed to Acco’s terms.
