Page 183 of Taming Seraphine
“Boss.” Sal follows me out of the infirmary.
“Give me your keys.” I hold out my hand.
“I’ll drive.” He darts back into the infirmary and reemerges, holding a set of car keys in one hand and a doctor’s bag in the other. “Do you know where we’re going?”
I scroll through my phone to the app that tracks all our vehicles and devices. Miko’s phone has stopped at a location in Alderney Hill. I find the house number and bark out the address.
Sal hurries to keep up with my long strides as I march toward the garage. I make a frenzied call to Roman, barely able to hear him over my racing heart. His mansion is half a mile away, further up in Alderney Hill, and he still owes me for the Capello job.
When he agrees to storm the house, I can’t even feel a flicker of relief. Not when Miko is handing Seraphine over to a rapist so vile that she had no choice but to bite through his penis.
If Seraphine gets so much as a scratch, I’m killing everyone.
SEVENTY-TWO
SERAPHINE
I can’t move, not even to blink. Whatever was in that tranquilizer is that strong. Even breathing is an effort, and the only part of my body that works is my overactive heart. Cold sweat breaks out across my skin as he drags me down the street to the back of his car, each movement making my flesh wound burn like a brand.
Is he taking me back to Leroi? A shiver runs down my spine. It won’t be Leroi. He’s injured. Miko is taking me back to Anton.
He opens the back door of a car and hauls me onto the leather seat. My breath hitches and tears burn the backs of my eyes. If I don’t find a way to overcome this drug, I’ll relive my last five years in the basement, only it will be worse.
There will be no Dad telling the twins not to break me, because Anton will be in charge. He’ll finally have the access he always wanted to my body, but he won’t make the same mistakes as Samson. I wasn’t collared that time I bit him—only bound by rope. Anton will bury a new chip somewhere so deep inside me, no one will be able to set me free.
The car pulls out and speeds down the road, jostling me around on the back seat. It reminds me of the first time Miko transported me out of Queen’s Gardens, when I was relieved to be leaving but a little wary.
Now, I’m terrified.
One sharp turn has me rolling off the seat and slamming onto the floor. Pain shoots up my spine, but it’s nothing compared to the fear gripping my heart. I try to scream, but my vocal cords won’t cooperate. I try to thrash, but my body won’t move. Miko has rendered me completely helpless.
As the car races down the highway, regret surges through my veins like acid. After leaving the basement, I could have escaped Leroi or killed him in his sleep, but I fell for the lure of finally having a protector. Leroi had played the perfect gentleman and had even refused my advances until Anton gave him permission to cross the line.
I’ve been so bloody stupid.
All this time, I fantasized about finding companionship and I even fooled myself that it might be love. Now, I see the truth. My time in Leroi’s apartment only brought me one step closer to falling into the clutches of Anton.
Bitter thoughts continue to wind through my mind as the car careens around the sharp bends of a hillside. Now, I can see the clues in the conspiracy that I should have spotted. Cold-blooded killers like Leroi don’t lose control of their emotions or break their own rules unless it’s part of an act. Leroi’s slow surrender was just part of his and Anton’s elaborate plan.
He probably isn’t even allergic to chocolate. That was just a ploy to make the fountain seem like a huge sacrifice.
The overwhelming scent of juniper trees seeping through the window tells me we’re in Alderney Hill. Terror grips my heart and my veins surge with icy panic. What if I miscalculated and Miko is taking me back to the Montesano mansion, and the three brothers want to punish me for killing their father? That would make sense, since I confessed the murder to Leroi. I don’t think I can survive another day of captivity.
The car comes to a sudden stop, jolting me back to the present. Miko winds down the window and has a hushed conversation with some men. Someone opens the back door and scoops me off the floor.
“Alright,” Miko says. “I’ve delivered the girl. Tell your boss to call off the hit.”
“He wants to see you, too.”
As I try to make sense of what’s happening, the man flings me over his shoulder and takes long strides toward a building. Each step over the gravel makes my gut churn. The drugs still have a tight grip on my muscles, but I can at least move my eyes.
With a muttered curse, Miko exits the car and has to jog to keep up with the man’s brisk pace. All I can see of my surroundings is the man’s back.
“Take her upstairs,” says a voice that makes the fine hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
Samson.
My breath catches. I don’t know if that’s better or worse. With no one to restrain Samson from his twisted urges, I’ll be facing an unimaginably brutal fate.