Page 95 of Crave

The word help twisted in my chest, but I stood anyway, my legs weak and unsteady.

“Is this another police officer?” I asked as he guided me out of the station and into the cool night air once more.

“Something like that,” Carter said as we left the spill of light outside the open door behind and stepped back into the darkness.

The street outside the station was quiet, lit only by the faint glow of a single street lamp.

“This way,” he urged, steering me toward the alley beside the station.

A faint warning bell went off in the back of my mind. But I followed him, too desperate and too tired to resist. At the end of the alley, a sleek black Audi sat idling, its glossy surface reflecting the faint light. A figure leaned casually against the hood, a cigarette glowing faintly between his fingers.

Silas.

The blood drained from my face as that figure pushed off the car and slowly turned. Even in the darkness I knew him and as his eyes met mine. Cold. Sharp. Unyielding. I stopped walking.

Panic clawed at my throat. My head snapped to Carter, a primal scream of terror resounded inside my head, but all I could manage was. “You called him?”

Carter didn’t meet my gaze. He just stepped backwards, putting distance between us and gave a hard shrug. “Sorry, kid,” he said with little remorse.

Sorry, kid?

That’s all he had?

That’s all he was going to giveme?

That hard lump in the back of my throat returned with a vengeance as Silas flicked the cigarette to the ground, grinding itout beneath his heel. He didn’t say a word as he started toward me, his movements slowly and deliberate.

“Get in the car, Angel,” he said, his voice calm, quiet, and utterly terrifying.

I stumbled back, shaking my head. “No,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

His lips curved into a faint, sadistic smile as he stopped in front of me and looked down, meeting my stare. “You don’t have a choice, do you?”

My knees locked as he pushed closer, the suffocating weight of his presence bearing down on me. I glanced at Carter, but he was already walking away, his shoulders relaxed, as if this was just another day for him.

Tears burned down my cheeks.

“You can’t keep running, Angel,” Silas murmured, his voice like silk. “You belong to me, every foul, sick, twisted version of yourself. You always have.”

And as his hand closed around my arm, dragging me toward the waiting car, I knew the truth.

There really was nowhere to run.

Nowhere to hide.

Not from him.

Not from any of them.

Chapter Twenty-Five

SILAS

She moved silently,heading to the passenger’s door. Her steps were hesitant, measured, like she was bracing for something, an explosion, a punishment…or worse, me. I reached around her, opening it before she quietly slid inside, her head down, her long hair falling like a curtain between us. She said nothing. Not a single word. Just slipped into the seat, small and uncertain, leaving me to close the door behind her.

Carter was long gone by the time I turned back. The man was smart enough to know what to do and smarter still to keep his mouth shut. People like him didn’t ask questions, they just disappeared when you paid them too. The call had been money well spent. My father’s regular donations to a select section of the Police Department had more than earned back…especially when it came toher.

My sister.