Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 130761 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 654(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130761 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 654(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Meister was going down, and I was getting back my bitch.
There was no other choice.
Chapter Nineteen
Phebe
I did not know how long we were in the van, but it felt like hours. Grace had cried in my arms until she fell asleep, exhausted. But I never let her go. I kept her tightly to my chest as I thought of what lay ahead.
Fear. I had nothing within me but pure fear.
The van came to a stop, and I tensed when I heard voices outside. The voices were low, but deep and most certainly male. I trembled when I heard the sound of feet moving to the doors of the van. Grace woke and raised her head, a confused look on her pretty face as the doors flew open.
The men who had taken us reached inside and tore Grace from my arms. Grace screamed and reached out for me. I jumped out of the van, trying to get to her, but a hand wrapped around my hair and wrenched me back. “No!” I screamed, fighting to be free. “Grace!” I broke down in tears when the men led her into a building and out of my sight.
I looked all around me and did not recognize the place where we were. The air was as hot and sticky as the Hangmen’s home, the sky still as clear. Fields of green were all around us. A water tank sat in the middle of several buildings, but there was nothing else for miles.
“He wants her in Building Two,” one of the men said. With his hand still in my hair, I was dragged down a dirt path. I lashed out, trying to see around me for Grace, but there was nothing. Worse, I could no longer hear Grace’s screams.
Just silence.
Why was she being so quiet?
We stopped at a building. The man holding me opened the door and threw me inside. I landed hard on the stone floor but scrambled to my feet just as the door shut behind me. I bashed my clenched fists against the wood, yelling to be out. But after minutes and minutes of trying, screaming . . . I broke down into sobs and slid down the door.
What have I done?
I looked around the room. There was nothing but an old table and chair in the center. Then I thought of the man’s order. He wants her in Building Two . . .
He . . . Meister.
On my hands and knees, I crawled into the corner of the room. I curled against the wall and tried to picture Grace. What were they doing to her? What would they do to her?
Meister. He had coveted her in New Zion. And I had just delivered her to him on a silver platter.
I chased back the vomit creeping up my throat. Lilah . . . she would never forgive me for this.
What have you done, Phebe?
The sound of the knob turning in the door made me freeze. I held still, my heart beating a frantic rhythm. I kept my eyes fixed on the door . . . then lost all strength when Meister walked though. He was just as big as I remembered. He looked at me across the room, his blue eyes meeting mine, and a wave of memories rushed to my mind. I remembered being chained to a bed . . . I remembered being kept naked, only given clothes when he claimed I had earned it.
I choked on a cry when I remembered being in a bar of some sort. On Meister’s lap, riding Meister in a room full of people . . . then I turned . . . I turned and . . .
. . . AK?
Kind eyes.
The tree . . .
. . . my AK.
The soles of Meister’s black boots stepped toward me on the hard ground. My muscles trembled as he stopped before me. I heard every breath I took echoing in my ears. I felt the pulse in my neck, temple and wrists race in an unsteady beat.
He bent down. I closed my eyes, yet I still felt his gaze on me. I felt the daggers his eyes threw and the tension he held in his enormous body. I flinched when a finger landed on my face. My nostrils flared as I desperately tried to control my breathing. I wanted to throw his hand from me, I wanted to lash out and hurt him.
But fear held me ransom.
“Where have you been, my little whore?” his deep, rough voice asked. I froze, my tears falling down my cheeks. A short laugh spilled from his lips. “But I know, don’t I, Liebchen?” His hand left my cheek and pushed into my hair. Suddenly, my head was ripped back and I felt his breath on my face. “Open your fucking eyes, slut,” he demanded. I automatically did as he said, and my gaze clashed with his.