Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 102754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102754 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
The door opened, and cold air rushed in, and I heard the kids crying louder—higher-pitched and panicked as they were lifted out one by one. I jerked against my restraints, heart in my throat, but stayed quiet. My instincts screamed to fight, to shout, to claw someone’s eyes out, but I had to be smart. I had to stay calm—for them.
A rough hand gripped my upper arm, hard enough to bruise, and yanked me out of the car. I stumbled, feet hitting uneven ground, and someone shoved me forward.
Being blindfolded while you’re being pushed is something I’d rather not do again. You can’t brace yourself and can’t anticipate where your feet will land. You have to trust you won’t fall or run into something—and I didn’t trust one of these bastards.
I was jostled along a short distance, and then someone gripped my arm again and guided me—this time down some stairs. They were cold and hard under my bare feet. Each step was a gamble, and I had to fight to avoid tripping. They didn’t care or slow down, they just forced me along.
Once we reached the bottom, they let go. Footsteps echoed around me, retreating, and a door creaked and slammed shut. And just like that, we were alone.
Aside from the soft cries of the kids and my shaky breathing, there was no sound.
I dropped to my knees and leaned against a wall, dragging air into my lungs and trying to think. I’d seen something once about how to escape duct tape restraints—something about moving your hands under your feet and using your teeth.
I gritted my teeth and shifted. It took maneuvering, bending at angles that made my shoulders scream, but I finally got my tied hands under my legs and around to the front. My arms trembled from the strain, but I didn’t stop. I leaned forward, grabbed the edge of the tape with my teeth, and pulled.
The skin on my wrists burned as I tore at the adhesive. It was slow and brutal, but it gave, inch by inch.
When the last strip tore free, I yanked the blindfold up to my forehead and blinked through the blurry light.
We were in a basement with a concrete floor and bare walls. I could just make out a heavy door with no handle on this side at the top of the stairs.
I turned to the kids. Kairo was curled in the corner, Kaida leaning into him, both of them still bound and blindfolded but safe and alive. I scrambled over and whispered softly to them as I worked on the tape around their wrists. My hands were shaking, and my heart was thundering, but I made sure my voice was steady.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you. You’re safe now. We’re together, and that’s what matters. You’re doing so good.”
Their sobs softened just enough to let me finish untying them. I pulled off their blindfolds one at a time and kissed their foreheads as I did.
And the whole time—I kept my voice soothing and stayed calm, pretending I didn’t want to kill every single person who had touched them.
But inside, I was raging.
It took everything I had to keep my voice soft and whisper calming things to the kids while seething beneath the surface. I felt like a kettle at full boil, barely holding the lid down. My heart was thundering, not just from fear but from fury that someone had taken us. Fury that they’d blindfolded children and tied their tiny wrists like they were criminals. They’d made them scream and cry and tremble in the dark, bringing out an emotion I’d never experienced before.
Everything I owned with even the possibility of helping Roque find us, was still in his house. I didn’t know how far we’d been driven or how long we’d been in that car. We could be on the other side of town or halfway across the state.
And then I saw a window, small and dusty with cobwebs clinging to the corners. It was set high up in the wall, near the ceiling, too high for me to reach without help. And worse—there was nothing in the room. No furniture or boxes, stray pipes or crates, nothing to climb on to get to it. Just a cold concrete floor and walls that seemed to lean in closer the longer I stared at them.
If I could get up there, I might be able to lift the kids through it, but they were too young and too little. Kaida wouldn’t know where to run, and Kairo was brave, but he was only three. Sending them out alone would be a death sentence.
No, that wasn’t an option. I wasn’t risking them like that.
So, I did the only thing I could do: I pulled them close. Their tiny bodies were still shaking, Kaida sniffling quietly, her head buried in the crook of my arm, while Kairo clung to me like I was the only thing keeping him grounded. I wrapped my arms around them and held them tight, whispering gentle, steady reassurances, words that meant more to them than to me.