Page 49 of Gilded
MALIA
I come awake suddenly, confused and terrified, but I can’t remember why.
I’m in a box with bizarre equipment and walls of clear storage holding strange things I don’t recognize.
A man in some kind of uniform holds me still while another sticks a needle in my arm.
My mind darts back to what I learned on the internet about how they often drug women so they don’t fight sex trafficking.
“No!” I let out a terrified scream. A top-of-my-lungs howl. My mind is splintering, shard by shard. The man sticking me is talking, but I don’t know what he’s saying or who he’s saying it to. I can’t stop screaming. Can’t stop thrashing against their hold. “No, no, no!”
The man gives up on my arm and grabs something else from the boxes on the wall. I look down and find myself covered in blood. My mind jumps back to the memory of Soren’s knife in my father’s neck, my hands on the handle, blood jetting out around the blade.
I don’t know if this is reality or a fantasy. I just know I can’t get out.
Something sticks my arm, but I barely notice. A siren kicks on, spearing my ears, and the box starts moving. It’s a vehicle of some kind. And the man in the uniform is tying my hands to the bed.
“ Malia .” The voice cuts into my hysteria, and Luka comes into view. Luka.
I stop screaming, stop fighting, but I still can’t breathe. I feel like I’m drowning. “ Luka! ”
A sudden fatigue hits, and my nervous system settles. My brain fogs. “What’s happening?”
“You’re in an ambulance,” he says, his gray eyes focused and serious. “You’re going to the hospital to make sure you’re okay. You’re safe. I’m here.”
“What…” I can’t think. Ambulance? Hospital? I don’t understand, but my eyes can’t stay open. “My father…”
“He’s dead, love. He’s gone. You’ll never have to see him again. You’re free.”
I whimper, and tears slide down my temples. I try to lift my hand but can’t. Luka slides his fingers into mine and squeezes.
“Don’t go,” I manage as darkness drags me under. “Don’t leave me.”
He presses a kiss to my head. “I’ll never leave you, love. Never.”