e placated tone was unmistakable.

e murmured, his voice now thick with

soft sound

d back. "Soon, we'll have everythin

heir words hung in the air, colder and sha

ect

al f

soul-crushing certainty. This wasn't just punishm

hild. And my body... my body was a match for something she needed

nborn child, was conspiring to murder m

my dress was soaked in blood. My movements had torn something open, something vital. I could see the glistening

as o

stant, roaring ocean. The betrayal was a black h

ain, Kaeden. Not in thi

oom burst open with a loud

in the doorway, panting.

r as they landed on me. He gagged, stumbling back a ste

he breathed,

IT department at my company. A quiet, kind man I' d sh

came out. I tried again, forcing

e blood, the restraints, the electroshock mach

Kaeden's power was immense. These peop

he lie tasting like ash in my m

ad. My survival, and my baby's, now r

is voice firm with a resolve that gave me a flicker of ho

and left me to die, and a former coll

t his phone. "I

an't send an ambulance? This is an emergency!" He listened for another moment, his expres

ome. The whole area is locked down for s

He had locked down the whole distri

nally got the last restraint undone. He carefully, gently, scooped me into his arms. The

red, my head lolling

hoever did this to you is a monster. We'll sort that out

s quick and sure. We burst out into the cool night air of a parking gara

squealing, we were immediately stuck. A

ming his hand on the horn.

ght, stepped out of one of the SUVs. He walked s