CHAPTER 13
The flight home was a blur.
I’d spent the entire time staring out the window, replaying the fight with Asher until the words bled together into nothing but static in my head. By the time the plane touched down, my body felt hollow, like I’d left a piece of myself thousands of feet above.
I’d booked a car service to take me home, and a driver was already waiting when I stepped out into the night air, holding a little sign with my name on it. His cap was pulled low, face shadowed under the dim airport lights.
“Miss Sinclair,” he said politely, opening the door.
“Thank you,” I murmured, sliding into the back seat.
The car smelled faintly of leather and something sharp, like cleaning chemicals that hadn’t quite aired out. I didn’t think much of it. I just leaned back against the seat and let the exhaustion
wash over me.
The city blurred outside. Streetlights streaked gold against the windows. I found myself comparing it to the calmness in Miami. I closed my eyes, breathing in and out, trying to steady myself.
Home. I just needed to get home.
But minutes passed, and the car didn’t turn where it should have.
My eyes flicked open. I leaned forward, peering out the glass. “This isn’t the way to my house.”
The driver didn’t answer. His hands stayed locked on the wheel, steady and unflinching.
A chill skittered up my spine. “Excuse me, I said you’re going the wrong way.”
Nothing.
“Stop the car.” My voice sharpened. “Do you hear me? Stop-”
The locks clicked down.
My stomach dropped. I lunged for the handle, yanking at it, but it wouldn’t budge.
Before I could process anything, the driver’s arm suddenly shot back, pressing a white cloth over my nose and mouth.
I shrieked, muffled against the fabric, thrashing in my seat. My nails clawed at his sleeve, at his wrist, but his grip was iron firm.
The chemical stench filled my lungs, sharp and suffocating. I tried to hold my breath, but panic betrayed me. My chest heaved, my throat burned, and the corners of my eyes smeared to black. “No-” My voice cracked weakly. My body spasmed once, then everything went limp.
–
When I came to, it was like waking from the bottom of the ocean.
My chest rose in frantic gasps. My lungs were burning, my head was pounding. The air was damp and heavy with mildew. My arms ached. My wrists were bound tight against the arms of a chair, and the rope was biting deep into my skin. My ankles were tied too.
I blinked, disoriented, squinting into the gloom.
From Drakan Enn.
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The room was concrete and didn’t have a window. A single bulb swung overhead, its weak light casting long, jagged shadows across the walls. The drip of water echoed somewhere in the darkness.
It was so cold. And dead silent.
Panic surged in my veins. “Hello?” My voice cracked, echoing back at me, thin and hollow. “Somebody! Please! Help!”
The silence swallowed my words.
I jerked violently against the ropes, but the chair only groaned under the strain. The fibers duc deeper into my wrists until I felt the skin break.
“No, no, no…” My chest heaved as hot tears blurred my vision. “This can’t be happening.”
I tilted my head back, staring up at the single bulb and forcing myself to breathe. One inhale, one exhale. Think, Jada. Think.
But my thoughts were a blur of terror. Who had done this? Who wanted me here?
Asher’s face flashed in my mind, sharp and vivid. He’d been angry and distant. Did he even know I even left Miami yet? Would he know where to look? Why didn’t I listen to him and work things out? Would I die here and leave him forever wondering where I was?
My voice broke again. “Help!”
The sound bounced off the damp walls and came back to me, useless.
Time went by, slow and suffocating. My throat was raw from screaming out. My arms trembled from fighting the ropes. I felt small and powerless, trapped in some nightmare that had no exit.
Then I heard it.
A sound.
The heavy groan of hinges.
It was from the door.
I froze. My pulse slammed so hard against my ribs it hurt.
A strip of light cut across the floor as the door creaked open. Footsteps followed, echoing through the chamber.
Two silhouettes emerged from the light, framed in the doorway.
I blinked through my tears to see better, and my stomach dropped to my feet.
They weren’t strangers.
They weren’t some faceless kidnappers.
It was worse.
It was Uncle Henry, and Maya.
Both of them were smiling.
My blood turned to ice, and I forgot how to breathe for a second.
The door closed behind them with a resounding thud, plunging the room back into suffocating shadows.
And in that moment, staring at their grinning faces, I realized, this was only the beginning.
CHAPTER 13
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