Page 110 of Captive Promise

I start toward the hedge, my steps measured and careful. I don’t want to frighten her, and I don’t want her to realize that this is anything more than a game. But with every step, the sense of wrongness grows, a prickling unease that settles in the pit of my stomach. The grounds are too quiet, the only sound is the distant chirping of birds and the rasp of my own breath in my lungs.

Then I hear it. A shout, coming from the direction of the main gate. Then another, and another, the voices harsh and angry.

My blood runs cold, a sickening lurch of fear. I freeze, straining my ears, trying to make out the words.

“…breach in the perimeter…”

“…multiple hostiles…”

“…find the girl!”

Oh god. Oh god, no.

They’re here. They’ve found us.

I break into a run, my heart slamming against my ribs. “Seraphina!” I scream, abandoning any pretense of calm. “Seraphina, come here now!”

But she’s still giggling, darting deeper into the maze of hedges. She thinks it’s all part of the game. She doesn’t know. She doesn’t understand.

I run faster, my lungs burning and my legs aching. I round a corner, then another, the twists and turns of the path seeming to mock me with every step.

And then I hear it. The roar of an engine, growing louder by the second. The squeal of tires on gravel, the slam of car doors.

They’re in the garden. They’re here.

“Seraphina!” I scream again, my voice cracking with desperation. “Baby, please! We have to go inside!”

I round another corner, my breath coming in sharp, painful gasps. There she is, crouched behind a rose bush, her little face alight with mischief.

“You finded me!” she crows, leaping to her feet. “Your turn!”

I don’t answer. I just snatch her up into my arms and start running again, back toward the house. The faint sounds of shouting get louder. Seraphina starts to squirm in my arms, her playful mood shifting to confusion and fear.

“Kat?” she whimpers, her little hands clutching at my shirt. “What’s wrong? I scared.”

“Shh, it’s okay,” I pant, even though it’s the furthest thing from the truth. “We’re just…we’re playing a new game now, okay? We have to see who can get inside the fastest.”

I feel her nod against my shoulder, her tiny body trembling. “Okay,” she whispers, her voice small and frightened. “I fastest, Kat.”

I tighten my grip on her, blinking back the tears that burn my eyes. “I know you are, baby,” I murmur, pressing a fierce kiss to her temple. “I know you are.”

Then I’m running again, the house looming up ahead of us like a beacon of safety. If I can just get her inside, if I can just get her to the panic room…

But even as the thought crosses my mind, I hear it. The crack of gunfire, splitting the air like a thunderbolt.

Seraphina screams, her cry of terror piercing my heart. I stumble, nearly losing my footing on the gravel path.

But I can’t stop. I can’t falter. I have to get Seraphina inside. I have to keep her safe.

But even as I’m racing toward the house, I see them. Men, scaling the east wall like it’s nothing, dropping into the garden with a fluid grace that speaks of training and purpose.

They’re not Nico’s men, I realize with horror. They’re not here to protect us.

I burst through the front door, startling Marta, Seraphina’s nanny, from her panic in the foyer as she searches for us. She takes one look at my face, at the way I’m clutching Seraphina, and leaps to her feet.

“Take her,” I gasp, practically throwing Seraphina into her arms. “Take her to the panic room and lock the door. Don’t open it for anyone except Nico, understand?”

She nods, her face pale but determined. Seraphina starts to wail, her little hands reaching for me, but I force myself to step back.