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Chapter 66

With the loss of rain, Mother Nature did a complete one eighty and brought the temperature up to a scalding, blistering heat.

The trees helped to shade us, but did nothing against the humidity. They blocked any breeze that may have come as a reprieve, and enclosed us in a natural sauna. Sweat soaked my shirt, my brow, rolled down into my eyes.

Drake's temper flared as if the heat itself were stoking it. The longer the day drew on, the worse he got. The men started to give him a wide berth after he lashed out the first time. They scattered about, no longer flies but dogs. Irritably hot, ugly well-trained dogs trailing behind the man that owned them.

We travelled like that for hours. All of us on edge. No one wanting to be the next one to piss him off.

I kept a steady pace beside Fred and stared at the back of Drake's head. The sun filtered through the leaves and painted the atmosphere in the same beauty I'd discovered with Bard the first time he'd brought me to this place, but it didn't give me the same feeling. I realized why. It hadn't been the nature I'd fallen in love with. It hadn't been the wildlife or the mountain. It'd been him.

A bead of sweat trickled down into my eye, and I lifted my shirt sleeve to wipe it away.

A snap echoed the air, and Drake let out a half-shout, half-roar.

I jerked my eyes back up and found him hung upside down, swinging wildly back and forth by his ankle. His head smacked against the trunk, and he grunted. It cut a gash across his forehead, and blood trickled towards his hairline and spread out like tree limbs across his brow.

His chest rose and fell heavily as he lifted himself up and tried to reach where the rope held him.

Everyone else stood frozen.

"What the hell are you waiting for! Cut me down!"

Two of the men scrambled into action, and rushed forward. Blondie wrapped his arms beneath Drake's back and shoulders, while the other pulled out a knife and cut the rope. The minute Drake was lowered to the ground, his hate filled eyes latched onto me.

I knew the look, and in a last attempt to save myself, took off running. I'd barely made it three steps, however, before one of the men grabbed me. I swiveled a kick across his ankle, but my position was too awkward. His leg only buckled an inch, his hold didn't loosen, and before I could strike again, Blondie took my other arm.

They drug me backwards, and I stared at the empty forest ahead of me. I could have made it. I could have gotten into the trees and disappeared. I could have been real quiet, like Bard was. I could have waited for night and left them behind.

I could have.

But I failed.

"Put her against the tree," Drake ordered.

"No!" I swung my legs up, kicked the air and jerked my arms. My chest tightened.

Not again.

Not again.

Not again!

No one batted an eye at my plea. The men all wore excited smiles. Fred was the only one to seem bothered, but with nothing he could do, only turned his back on the scene.

They spun me around, and Drake's eyes met mine. "I see you haven't forgotten me after all." He grabbed the rope. "Tie her."

Blondie jerked my hands up, while the other bound them to the same tree he'd hung from. The rope bit into my wrists and turned my hands an angry shade of red.

"Everyone leave."

I whimpered as the footsteps retreated. It was happening, again, and I was just as defenseless as I'd ever been.

Drake fingered the hem of my shirt, ran the back of his finger across my skin, then gripped and jerked it over my head. The rope kept him from removing it, so he pulled it down to cut across my throat. "Your backs all healed." His palm ran across my scars.

I gagged.

The urge to beg had never been greater, but I bit my tongue. Drake liked the begging. He'd enjoy it.

I locked my jaw, bit down hard, and vowed that no matter what he did, I would not cry out. He wouldn't get that from me. He could destroy my body, but not my spirit.

My soul was safe.

I'd given it to Bard.

I closed my eyes and pictured his face. I visualized those piercing eyes, that hair, the way his beard hung in just a certain way.

Drake stepped around and pulled at the front of my shirt. I cut my eyes open and looked at him.

He took the material in his hand and knelt down to wipe at the blood on his forehead. "You knew that was there," he said.

I stared at him, silent. He didn't need to know it could have just as easily been me the trap got. It'd been a small blessing from karma that it hadn't.

"Are you going to apologize?"

"I'm sorry you didn't watch where you were going."

His jaw twitched, and my heart thundered as he stepped out of view.

My muscles tensed. Drake took his time, let me wait, and with each second, the anticipation grew. It was what he did, all part of the game. He gave the fear time to cook, breathed it in like his favorite drug.

Then, he delivered.

A tree limb hit hard and cut into the already mangled skin across my back.

Fuck. It hurt. The pain was so much more than I remembered. I'd gotten soft, gone too long without it. My tolerance wasn't what it'd been, and it took every ounce of willpower I possessed to bite back the cry that so desperately fought to break free.

I clenched my eyes back shut and conjured that image into my mind. Blinding smile. His rumbling laugh. The feel of his hands across my skin.

Another hit, harder this time. I sucked in a breath and held it. I wanted it to stop, but not if it meant I'd just walk away to wait for the next. I wanted it to stop completely. All of it. Without Bard, there was no point in fighting, and I couldn't go back to the way things were. Never again.

Maybe, he'd be waiting for me in whatever place we go after we die, and everything would be okay again.

Another hit across the first cut set fire to my skin.

I hissed between my teeth, and a small sound broke free. It was too much. I was too weak.

Those eyes. His eyes. Think about him. Drake couldn't touch me. He couldn't beat me. I was stronger now.

Another hit, and my mouth opened around a silent cry. The sound caught in my chest, clogged my throat and stole my breath.

"Dammit you've gotten tough!" Drake hit me twice in quick succession, once on each side. "What the hell have they been doing to you out here?"

I didn't respond. My back burned with an all too familiar sensation, and I cursed myself for ever believing this would end. How could I have ever thought I'd escaped? I'd never escape. He wouldn't let me. Not so long as blood still flowed through my body.

Drake moved closer and put his face right up against the side of mine. "Do you love him?" he asked, voice soft. I knew better than to trust the tone. Nothing about Drake had ever been soft.

"I do," I rasped. "He's more than you'll ever be."

Drake grabbed my hair and slammed my face into the tree. My nose crunched, vision swam, and warmth trickled down to my lips.

He broke my nose...

This was bad. Drake never messed with my face. He always stuck to my back. Never anything that he would be forced to look at. The change in behavior let me know...

He's going to kill me.

I laughed.

"Is that funny?" The branch struck harder, over and over. My mouth opened wide as he beat away at me, fury evident, until his breaths grew heavy, and his pace slowed.

I broke.

An anguished cry ripped out of me, echoed the air and sent birds flying from the trees.

Drake hummed. "There it is." He finally stopped.

I sagged, hung limply against the trunk and floated through the pain, drowning in it.

Drake reached up and cut the rope, letting me fall to the ground in a heap. "You're my girl, Jessie. Always have been. Always will be." He nudged me with the toe of his boot. "Get up."

I tried. I really did, but nothing worked. I flopped back down, body broken.

Drake jerked me up by my arm, and the action sent a jolt of pain searing through my shoulder. He didn't speak, just dragged me along without even pausing to pull the shirt back into place.

When we met up with the men again, they gaped at the sight of me. No humor filled their gazes. Even these men had their limits, but not one would speak up for me. They bowed their heads and looked away. Survival reigned supreme, and I wasn't worth risking their lives for.

Drake dropped me to the ground. "One of you build a fire. We're going to stay here tonight."

I balled myself up as small as I could and tried to ignore the burn. Drake took a seat beside me, then reached over and yanked my shirt back into place. It felt like a million ants bit my flesh at once, but I didn't move.

Soon. I had to believe it. He'd finish me off soon, and it would all be over.

The men scattered about, and busied themselves collecting wood for the fire.

Drake touched my hair, pushed it away from my face. "I love you, Jessie. You know I do. This had to happen. You knew it would before you ran."

I kept my face safely hidden from view, and swallowed all the vile words itching to come out.

"You were nothing when I met you. You had nothing. I saved you. I took you in. Me! Not him." He gripped my hair.

I froze and waited for the next blow.

It's gonna end. Eventually, it will be over.

Drake hand loosened and ran across my head. "Be honest. You missed me. Remember how it used to be? In the beginning?"

I loathed the feel of him touching me, gently caressing my hair as if he cared. As if this was all normal. It churned my gut and tightened my chest.

"Don't you remember?" His hand moved to my cheek, across the dried blood still covering the lower half of my face. "You said you loved me."

"I lied."

He gripped my hair again, tighter.

I sealed my eyes shut, waited for the pain, but it never came.

Instead, the crack of a shotgun rattled the atmosphere.

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