The idea of waiting when one was in danger had to hold one of the most thorough fears. The terror seemed to be eating me from inside, my breath wavered, and each time I tried to whisper prayers, I busted into tears.Sitting with my arms around my knee, my chin pressed against it, my eyes wide open in the darkness, waiting and hoping for something, anything.I could hear Salvatores phone continuously ringing in the car, and I prayed in my head for it to just stay silent.When the sound of another car stopped close to mine, I covered my mouth with my palm. To make matters worse, the stench of the boot was getting to me; it smelled of blood and rotting pieces of flesh."Shit," I heard my pursuer curse, I knew his head was poked into the opened window of the car, but his footsteps couldn't be heard again. I blinked in the car, was he gone? Was he not?It's been more than twenty minutes being in the place, and my clothes were drenched from the sweat, and each sound I heard against the car,
AUTHOR'S POV [ADLER]He felt her fear, her trembling, but it didn't surpass his when he called repeatedly, and nobody picked.It didn't surpass his when he had let Kyra find Salvatore while he and Rune searched for her, tracking Salvatores landline while struggling not to cause a major accident on the road as he drove past red lights and incoming trucks.The terror he felt when he came to the sight of the car, in the middle of nowhere, shut with no one in it, the urge to yell into the air, was so evident. Had they gotten her? Was she dead?Until he heard the silent sniffle coming from the car trunk, knocking against the windows, hoping to listen to it again, hoping it wasn't his hallucinations playing tricks on him.Now that he held her in his arms, breathing in her scent, it was hard to explain the feelings. They seemed to cascade out from him; when he thought he could explain one out, it became stronger.Only her mattered right now, this human, wetting his shirt with her tears, her
[ADLER]Nothing gave him a thrill like hunting alone, and that the hunt had a reason was just satisfactory, like the reason for the stench filling the car he rolled into the Bratva's domain.Although the rage hadn't yet subsided, especially when the thought that if he was a few more minutes late, something would have happened to her had his hands tightened around the steering wheel harder than was needed.It was her voice, filtering from the speaker, that had him temporarily paralyzed, unable to move for seconds, but then like everything that had to do with her, the next minute, had him jumping into the car on a highway to either hell or her.He reached her, yet the anxiety of what might have occurred continued to strike him unexpectedly.He stopped the car, in the den he was in, there were fewer men in the compound than he had hoped there would be; surprised and on alert, he stepped out of the car, looking up and around him, seeing the figures in the dark, he smiled _Thought so_He
AUTHORS NOTE.DUE TO GOODNOVEL NOT SUPPORTING THE ITALIC AND BOLD FEATURES, TO WHICH I USE IN DIFFERENTIATING FLASHBACKS AND THOUGHTS, HERE'S THIS PUNCTUATION — —.THANK YOU.***LILY'S POV.—When things get dark, you know.It's in the pain, the heaviness of the heart. It's in the first raindrop and the tears. It's in the fear of the night. It's in the terror of the phone ringing."I'll protect you, Lily, I promise." he kissed me, full on the lips, his fingers caressing my hair, "Just trust me, that's all you have to 𝒅𝒐, 𝑻𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒕 me..."Ha, big mistake."You think you're fucking better than me, Lily." the blood, more blood seeping from the cut, drenching my panties. With each thrust he made, the pain...Intensified. I felt foolish. I trusted. Again.—Knock"Lily?"Knock knock"Lily, are you in?"***I sprang onto my bed, chest heaving as I struggled to catch my breath. I pushed my hair off my face, staring at the blue sheeted bed I was in. I touched my face and cotton shirt. Go
[ADLER]—"Adler," He heard Priest's voice behind him, and he frowned; what did one need to give to get alone time in the damn Manor, "Your father has been looking for you,"His added pressure to the little blue orb he was working on on the paper; seeing he had created smudges, he glared at Priest, only to see Rune behind him too.He ignored them, focusing on the grotesque image."Adler, what are you doing?" Priest's voice cut in, "Are you drawing?""No," he snapped just so they left; how could he have forgotten to lock the door, slammed with another full memorial image of her? That was it.When the hand got thrown across his shoulder, he fumed."Oh my my," Rune crooned, "Look who suddenly decided to take on art, Addie, that's who,"He turned to them to find Priest's face filled with worry, the crucifix he just began wearing resting against his chest, "What are you two doing here? I don't even care," he began to roll up the paper.But Rune stepped before him, leaning down and peering i
LILY'S POV.I didn't sleep that night. Instead, standing in front of my mirror, I stared at my reflection, struggling not to let the memory hit, but in seconds I was wincing at the sudden jolt of it slamming into me.What was wrong with me? What had I done?I would rather have remembered my near-death experience with the Bratvas than the memories with Don Adler, but then my brain cells had their way of making me go through the worst time of my life."Goddamnit, Lily, I tattooed your name on my fucking chest!"Well, not like I expected him to spit it out like that, but still, it was no answer to my question. But did I even ask a question? I was more like accusing.Walking to bed, I fell face-first into it, screaming my frustration into the sheets. I had to be going crazy.But still...I sat up, staring at the far end of the wall, it was the way he had kissed me, drawing me in, like he was bent on giving me instead of taking, and when I tried to push him to go hard, he had...Pinned me
[RUNE]The human moaned behind him, "Where are you dragging me to? I learned Tae Kwando, you know.""Lily, even if you did, you won't be able to implement anything being this skinny, so shh shh." He rolled his eyes,"Hey! Do not..." But even with the words she spewed, she never physically resisted being pulled away. He smiled discreetly. She was so simple. "Don't act like I'm taking you to the guillotine; it's just breakfast.""I can have it in my room, you know," she whimpered as the dining table came into view, "Rune, you know what? I'm not even hungry, aw Rune.""If I didn't know better, I'd think you're frightened of seeing someone in the Manor" That she was behind him made it easier to pull that off. The sly tone reached his voice when her wrist went rigid in his hold. "Or are you?""O-of course not," she stuttered as he pushed her down on a chair in front of an already-filled plate, "W-why would you say that?"Enough reasons, the manor was in a mess since her encounter with Ad
[ADLER]The note was a trick. Either that or they had been too late.It read:'TOO BAD THE OLDIES ARE GOING TO DIE BECAUSE OF HER." XX RUSLAN.That he was at the top of the concrete roof, looking around at the empty compound and seeing no signs of Ruslan or the Bratvas told him what he hated to come to terms with, He had been tricked.He heard the footsteps behind him and turned to see Rune, holding another sealed envelope, waving it at him just as Kyra had done when she walked into his room that morning."He was here, Adler, left you another note."He snatched the note from Rune's hold, but then he couldn't bring himself to open it just yet. Could it be that he underestimated Ruslan or whoever the fuck his name was? He was no ordinary assassin; No assassin would take a job this personal. Adler dropped his hand to the side; the main question was, who was this Ruslan?"I called the men at the shore, and there was nothing, no interference. The custom ha