So, I did the next best thing.
Slipping from the study, I ran to the main hallway and stayed close to the wall. There were three bedrooms I could hide in on the east wing but the balcony poised over the foyer would expose me. I should have been running for the exit, but even a rookie such as me knew it was the most likely avenue to get caught.
With careful steps, I slid along the wall, deeper into the west wing. Another set of doors like the master suite on the east wing was up ahead.
Fuck it.
I threw open the door and slipped inside. Looking around, it appeared to be just another guest room. This room, however, had small pieces of life to it, though not as much as the master suite.
This must have been Angel’s room…
“I’ll take the west wing,” I heard a hard voice call out.
Shit! Shit! Shit!
I was trapped, and from context, I gathered he wasn’t alone. I didn’t recognize the voice, which meant my childhood crush turned worst nightmare wasn’t the one hunting me. Standing in the middle of the bedroom, I knew the owner of the voice would catch me at any moment.
Hide.
I analyzed each potential hiding spot and acknowledged each as worse than the last…
Heavy footsteps drew closer.
Time had run out.
Since the closet was the likeliest place a person would hide, I chose the bed and wiggled my way under it with little effort. I guess being petite had its advantages after all.
Breathing became impossible when the shadow of the person’s feet stopped outside the door.
Maybe he could smell fear…
I wanted to shut my eyes, but I was more afraid of not knowing when my doom would happen.
The bedroom door opened.
The boots stepped inside.
I was no longer alone.
He waited, and I prayed.
Suddenly, his feet turned. He headed toward the closet. I listened as the door was snatched open and items were tossed aside as he tried to uncover my hiding spot. When it was clear no one hid among the cargo and dark jeans Angel had favored when we were kids, he moved to the bathroom. Finding nothing, he made his way to the side of the bed and stopped.
I closed my eyes for self-preservation, but it was too late. The stranger’s voice disrupted the silence.
“Come out. Come out. Wherever you are.”
I didn’t come out.
After a moment, his heavy footsteps plagued my ears once again. He must have discarded the possibility that an intruder would hide under the bed since most people stopped thinking it was a good hiding place after age ten.
I cracked my eyes open and stared at the open doorway. He stood in it, and I could tell his back was turned to the room. The door slowly closed and only then did I breathe again.
Until the unthinkable happened.
Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep Beep!
I froze, but it didn’t matter.
Two seconds later, my hiding spot was missing its key element when the mattress and support were ripped from above me and effortlessly tossed away.
I looked up into the startling silver eyes of the devil’s envoy .
“Hello, pretty girl.”
*
“ Should we fuck her up or keep her on ice?”
God, I was straining so hard that I wasn’t entirely sure exploding wasn’t the next step. I’ve been trying to make sense of the one-sided conversation since I was tossed over the broad shoulder of a man I hadn’t seen enter the room and was carted downstairs.
The one that found me had suffered a pretty hard blow to the kneecap so I could escape what was left of the bed.
Unfortunately, he’d managed to recover before I could escape…
“Give it up, girl. I’m bigger than you.”
I ignored his leering face and looked for an avenue of escape.
“Stronger than you.”
I scoffed and considered jumping from the window. Could I get it open in time?
“Faster.”
Guess not.
With no other option, I got into a fighting stance and prayed the meager training Angel gave me—one of the few things he did right—paid off. “So try me, bitch.”
The sudden glint in his silver eyes was my only warning a second before he launched.
Throwing myself out of the way just in time, I scrambled to put distance between us. He stood where I once was, and I moved closer to the door.
I expected anger and insults. The pretty man dressed in blue jeans and a fitted white tee stared back at me with interest. He certainly didn’t look the type to storm castles and scare little girls from under their beds.
Figuratively speaking, of course, since I did break in.
“Why are you just standing there?”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. His attention was no longer invested in me.
“Because you already lost.” The whisper came from behind, so close it tickled the hairs on my neck.
I’d forgotten he wasn’t alone.