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Herises to his feet and throws the glass.Liquidsplashes, and glass shatters on concrete near the pool. “Youchosewrong,” he yells at me, eyes blazing. “Thisis gonna be the biggest mistake of your life,Steph.”

Furydrags my features down. “Thebiggest mistake of my life was leavingSanAntonioforAtlanta.”

Tyhuffs, reaches for the decorative garden stone in the middle of the table, and smashes it against my temple.

Chapter42

“Nightmares”

–Not Enough Space

Asharp,throbbing pain radiates from my temple into my eyes.Bursstick to my bare skin and clothes, and fallen branches and dead grass scrape up my legs.

Blinkingthe blurriness away, trees pass by likeI’mbeing dragged.

RealizingIambeing dragged,Itry snatching my arms down and pushing myself up onto my feet.

Someonekicks my legs out from underneath me and dizziness lays my ass back down on the ground.

“IguessIhoped too much for us,”Ty’svoice says above me, “butIdidn’t count on you bein’ so fuckin’ stupid.”

Iwince at the fiery bolt of pain flashing through my head. “Whatthe hell are you doing?”

Hegrunts as he drags me along, skirting around cactus patches. “Ithought y’all said theDevil’sBridgehere had been destroyed.”

Myeyes shatter wide open. “Itwas.”

Tyscoffs and yanks me harder. “Sucha goddamn liar.”

Myheart stutters into overdrive.Idig my heels into the clay below, trying to slow him down. “Don’ttake me there, please!”

“Why?”Hejerks me forward, loosening my heels out of the dirt. “’Causethat’s where you made your deal with the devil and you’re scared of what’s comin’ for ya?”

Isniffle, tears welling up and blurring my eyes. “Youdon’t have to do this.”

Ifall flat on my back when he lets go of my arms.Hissilhouette blocks what little light there is in the sky as he stands over me. “Youshould’ve fucking told me the truth.”

“Youshouldn’t be here!”Iyell, voice straining.

Thesilence out here is uncanny; there are no crickets or cicadas, there’s no wind blowing through the trees—nothing butTy’sheavy breathing.Myown comes in shallow spurts as the tension grows heavier than the heat and humidity in the air.

Hebends over and roughly snatches my wrists, pulling me up to my feet.Myhands are bound together, zip-tied.

Hegrips my arm tightly. “Walk.”

“Whyare you doing this?”Iweep.

“Becauseif you’re choosing them,Ihave to choose me.”

Thelight of his phone lights the way through the thicket.

Tearsblur the dead trees. “Hateme all you want,Ty, but please don’t take me to the bridge.”

“It’stoo late.Thedevil found me because of you, and nowI’minvolved.”

“Itold you to leave!”Iscream, thrashing about. “You’rethe one who wouldn’t fucking listen!”

Heshoves me hard, slamming me against a tree. “Shutup!Justshut up!”