The Second Trap

That night, Garrick wanted me again.

By the time he fell asleep, my body was shaking so badly I could barely stand.

I waited.

His breathing deepened.

Outside, the village went still.

I slipped from the bed.

Near the door, my foot struck a metal hoe leaning against the wall.

It fell.

The crash split the night.

I froze.

Garrick snorted in his sleep.

Rolled over.

Did not wake.

I waited until my lungs burned from holding breath.

Then I ran.

The south pine woods lay beyond the goat pens and the dry creek bed.

Moonlight turned the trees silver.

Every shadow looked like a watcher.

I reached the edge of the woods and whispered,

“Felix?”

Nothing.

Then he stepped from behind a tree.

“This way.”

No greeting.

No apology.

Just motion.

I followed.

We moved through the pines, left, then right, then down a narrow path I had never seen.

At first, I clung to the hope like a drowning woman.

Then something shifted.

The path curved deeper into the woods, not outward.

Felix walked too fast.

He did not look back enough.

My skin prickled.

“Stop.”

He stopped.

Slowly, he turned.

“What?”

I stared at his face.

“You’re taking me the wrong way.”

“I’m taking you out.”

He blinked.

There.

That tiny blink.

Felix always blinked when he lied.

My stomach dropped.

I turned to run.

A hand clamped over my mouth from behind.

A filthy rag pressed against my nose.

Chemical bitterness flooded my throat.

I kicked.

Clawed.

Tried to bite.

Felix’s voice came from somewhere far away.

“Thank you, Ronan.”

Then the world disappeared.

When I woke, I was in another room.

Darker.

Cleaner.

Worse.

Iron chains bound my wrists and ankles.

A narrow bed.

A broken table.

Three low stools.

No window.

I pulled at the chains until my skin burned.

Useless.

The door opened.

Light cut through the darkness.

Felix entered.

Alone.

He sat beside me and picked up one of the chains, turning it between his fingers like jewelry.

He said nothing.

The silence terrified me more than Garrick’s shouting ever had.

“What do you want?” I asked.

Felix smiled.

It was not his smile.

“We’re playing, Lina.”

My blood chilled.

“You lied to me.”

“Which time?”

His voice was almost light.

I opened my mouth.

His hand closed around my throat.

So fast I did not see him move.

His eyes were bloodshot, wild, unfocused.

I clawed at his wrist.

“Felix—”

His grip tightened.

“Do you know what they made me do?” he whispered. “Do you know what I had to choose?”

I could not breathe.

The room blurred.

Just when darkness began crawling in from the edges, the door burst open.

Three men rushed in and dragged Felix off me.

I collapsed, gasping.

“He’s having another episode,” one of them muttered.

“Tie him.”

They wrestled Felix to the floor and bound his arms.

He thrashed once, then went limp, breathing hard.

I stared at him.

Another episode?

One of the men turned to me.

He was broad-shouldered, dark-skinned from sun, with a scar cutting through one eyebrow.

His eyes were flat.

“Who are you?” I rasped.

He snorted.

“A good man,” he said. “Would you believe that?”

I did not answer.

His mouth twisted.

“Smart girl.”

He looked at the others.

“Load her up. We hand her to the next buyer before dawn.”

“The next buyer?”

The words barely left my mouth before they unlocked the chains.

A sack went over my head.

My hands were tied.

I was dragged outside and thrown into a vehicle.

As the engine started, I understood.

Garrick had been only one stop.

Felix had not just sold me once.

He had delivered me onto a road.

A road where women were cargo.

And I had just begun traveling it.