Page 74 of Ravaged From Fate

As Juniper said, find your people. Maybe East Springs and Elsa and Cyrus and Juniper are my people.

As I spot the bar on the corner, a car speeds past me, going the other way. I scowl at whoever is the reckless owner of the vehicle.

But then I recognize the car. It’s the one from the road. The one that pulled me over. The one owned by the gang.

Fuck. What’s going on? Why are they here in town?

Whatever it is, it isn’t good.

And then I see who’s inside the car. There’s the leader with the tattoo across his face, the asshole. He’s got something metal in his hand. A gun, maybe? I wouldn’t put it past him.

And then I catch a glimpse of someone moving around behind him in the car. Someone clearly struggling. It’s a quick flash before the car shoots past me, but I would know who it is sitting in that back seat any day of the week.

It makes my body go rigid.

Elsa.

36

ELSA

“Why are you doing this?” I ask.

The answer I get is the barrel of the gun placed against my forehead.

“Sit still.”

This comes from not the tattooed leader, but one of the other gang members in the car. He pushes the cold gun against my head, forcing me to stop squirming in the seat I’ve been ordered into. I was hoping to show my face to the window. To call for help somehow. Anything to do to alert someone to what is happening to me, but now the sinking realization washes over me that I can’t do anything and I am stuck here in this vehicle with these men seemingly intent on doing me a whole lotta harm.

And I am scared more than at any time in my life.

I recognize the five men sitting in the car with me. There’s not enough space for all of us, so no one is wearing seatbelts and we’re all cramped in together. They’re the same guys Caspian beat up at the bar. Their leader – the one with the sword across his face – sits in the front passenger seat.

He slowly turns to face me.

“Welcome,” he says with no hint of friendliness in his voice. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“What do you want with me?” I ask. I try to focus on the here and now, and not on what might happen to me. There lies dark thoughts.

Don’t panic, Elsa. Don’t freak out. Not yet.

He bares his half-missing teeth at me. “Oh, we need vengeance on that asshole, and we know you’re his girlfriend. I’m sure you can understand perfectly why you’re here.”

His words make a shiver of fear run down my spine.

Focus on what you’re doing. Don’t lose control. Don’t cry.

“I’m not his girlfriend.”

Think.

The man chuckles, but his eyes betray no emotion other than hatred and contempt for me. “Word gets around, Elsa Barlowe.” He knows my name? Obviously, of course he does. How else would he know to pick me up outside the bar and clinic? “We’ve been following the both of you for the last few weeks. You both very much act like the perfect little couple, don’t you?”

“And you’re doing this over a stupid little bar fight?”

“It wasn’t little, Elsa. It made us look weak on our own turf. We’ve got to reassert our dominance. Come on, you’re a smart gal, you should see what we’re doing is justified.”

“What? Kidnapping me?”