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F ilak dragged Daisy down Dusbury’s empty streets, one strong hand still clamped to her arm, the other around the back of her neck. Her feet stumbling, her breath heaving, her eyes wildly straining and searching the moonlit street.

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening. Why was this happening?!

“Filak!” she gasped, against the screeching wheeling panic. “ Why ? What is this? What are you doing ?!”

But there was no response, only his nostrils flaring, his head twitching back and forth — and then he yanked Daisy down a side street, into a dark narrow alley. Pulling her faster, harder, she couldn’t see, couldn’t think, could scarcely stay upright. He was taking her, kidnapping her, dragging her off to — to hurt her? And he couldn’t, this was illegal, she needed to run, to escape, something, please —

She sucked down a deep breath, a gust of desperate courage — and then she hurled herself backwards. Snapping sharp, dangerous pain down her neck, Filak’s grip wrenching, his claws dragging away. Just for an instant, just enough for her to stagger a step away, to reel in a harsh hitching breath.

“Help!” she called out, her voice strained, broken. “ Orc ! Kidnapping ! Help !”

Filak’s furious growl scraped against her ear, his hand again clamping hard and hot against her mouth. And wait, was that a voice down the alley, it was, a man hollering, please, please —

But then — the world tilted. Swept up hard and sideways. And then Daisy was somehow hurtling through the air, gasping and unmoored, because — Filak was carrying her. Carrying her like a child, tight and trapped in his arms, as he whirled around, and sprinted straight into the main open street. Running so fast the street was nothing but a blur of moonlit shapes and shadows, rushing and vanishing behind them, but with no people, no help in sight, no, no, no —

Daisy kicked and squirmed, but Filak’s hold was sharp, painful, relentless. And when she opened her mouth to shout again, something shoved deep between her lips. Something hard and crumpling and uncompromising, something that tasted like — paper. Like one of her papers, he’d shoved a ball of paper into her mouth, one of her own damned drawings, oh gods. Why was this happening, what was happening, what had she done…

Daisy attempted in vain to spit out the paper, and then to bite down on it, to shout as loud as she could around it — but her voice only came out as a muffled groan. While the streets kept sweeping past, dark and silent, and growing increasingly wider, the buildings further and further apart. Because they were approaching the edge of town, Filak was carrying her back out into the woods, the wilderness, where he could do whatever he wanted with her, no …

Daisy kicked and flailed again, pushing and twisting against his hard uncompromising body, but his sharp hands only grasped her tighter, his long legs sprinting faster. Carrying her further and further away from the apartment, from Lew , from any other living soul who knew her, who could help her, or save her, oh gods.

But there was no escape, nothing but this, this ongoing horrifying nightmare. And finally Daisy just sank into the implacable grip of Filak’s arms, and blinked up at his face. His pale, sharp-featured face, gleaming with sweat, rigid with tension and rage. His shadowed eyes fixed straight ahead on wherever he was taking her, whatever he was going to do to her…

“Filak,” Daisy tried to say, but it was only more meaningless muffled noise, spoken against the increasingly soggy, vile-tasting ball of paper. “ Please .”

He didn’t even look at her, though finally his pace was slowing, first into a jog, and then into a swift, rolling walk. They were fully out of town, now, beyond where anyone could help her, and they’d long ago left the road, too. And now there were only fields, and trees, and silver moonlight dappling Filak’s hard angry face. The face that had looked at her only moments ago with such longing, such approval. Such … understanding .

And curse her, but Daisy had been so sure they’d understood one another, back there. So sure she’d been able to trust him. So sure he would take care of her.

But there was no care in his eyes now. No kindness, no affection. Only contempt, and coldness, and rage.

And finally Daisy turned her face away, and sagged heavier against his hard forbidding chest, still so warm, still with his heartbeat thudding beneath it. The orc who’d come to her, who was supposed to save her, supposed to protect her and rescue her and care for her…

Hurting her. Destroying her. Crushing the last of her hopes and dreams beneath his claws, beneath his horrible whims, just like he’d done since the first moment they’d met.

Of course he hadn’t wanted her. Of course he hadn’t cared about her art. Of course it was only good enough to use against her, to block her voice, to make her choke…

Gods, she was stupid. So , so stupid.

And with that bitter certainty screaming through her skull, Daisy closed her eyes, and wept.