Page 52 of The Burdens We Share (Satan’s Angels #3)

Calvin’s fingers caress my skin, commit it to memory and I feel nauseous.

I want to vomit right here all over him because it feels so incredibly wrong to be touched by him.

Selfishly, all I want in this moment is Dallas.

I want him more than anything to shield me from this the way he always has.

“I can’t believe I’m finally touching you,” he whispers.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited to touch you. ”

Buy time. Buy time. I remind myself. “Dallas didn’t poison my mind. He didn’t have to. I never would’ve wanted you,” I seethe, hatred clear in my voice.

I watch a flicker of something in his eyes and a split second later, he’s overtaken by that rage again.

Clearly, he’s volatile, unhinged. His moods are subject to change at every second.

His hands fall from my cheeks and land on my throat where he squeezes.

My eyes widen and I try to suck in a gasp, but my air is cut off.

His hands are so tight around my neck I’m already feeling the lack of oxygen in my head.

I grip his wrists so tight, trying to pry his hands off me, but they don’t move.

He holds me so firmly that my feet are barely touching the ground. Brody groans and shrieks behind me.

Fuck. I knew this would happen. I knew he was insane and yet, I still egged him on. I fucking knew he would kill me. Three go in, three come out. I remind myself. I can not die today.

He lowers his face to mine, “Do not ever lie to me again.” Well, I would say I’m surprised by how delusional a person could be, but I’m not. I knew he was deranged before all of this.

Spots start to dot my vision and I feel my eyelids growing heavier. Seeing this, he loosens his grip but keeps his hands on me. I suck in as many breaths as I can.

Come on, Aria. Where are you? I start to panic. She needs to act on her part of the plan now. A second longer and he could’ve killed me.

I need to start playing by his rules if I want to buy more time. “I’m sorry,” I force regret into my voice. Well, the irony here is that we’re on a movie set. It’s only fitting that I start acting.

He smiles once again, his volatility making another circle.

“It’s okay, darling. I forgive you. It’s him who’s to blame.

He took you from me, he got between us, he poisoned your mind.

It’s what he does.” Why does he speak about Dallas as if he knows him?

I don’t think much of it, not questioning the delusions of a mentally disturbed person.

I nod rapidly, “I know. You’re right.”

His fingers caress my collarbone and my skin feels dirty immediately.

His gaze falls to the gash in my chin and his thumb comes up to caress it.

I wince at the sting and watch as he pulls his thumb away, coated in my blood as he brings it to his pale lips.

I wince as I watch him suck my blood from his finger.

Calvin’s eyes never leave mine through the action. “Calvin, please let Brody go. For me?” I ask, batting my lashes at him.

He cocks his head at me and grins, leaning down to kiss my cheek. I shiver under his touch and feel bile creeping up my throat.

He steps to the side and kneels down before Brody, untying her.

“I’m sorry I had to get so aggressive with you.

You just weren’t listening to me. I told you I didn’t want to hurt you, but you wouldn’t listen.

” He shakes his head in disappointment. Brody would never comply with anything from this freak.

Calvin frees her and immediately she rubs her raw wrists. Once he removes the gag from her mouth, she seethes, “You complete psychotic fucking freak, I hope you burn in-”

He cuts her off with a sharp backhanded slap across the face. I gasp, my hands immediately flying to cover my mouth.

Brody’s face is turned to the side from the impact.

A moment of silence ensues before she ever so slowly turns her head to face him, an angry red mark on her cheek from his slap.

She gives him the angriest glare I’ve ever seen in my entire life before she grins at him, a wicked gleam in her ocean blues.

A second later, Calvin groans and arches his back in pain as he collapses to the ground.

As he falls, Brody’s smile falls as she knees him right in the balls from where she sits on the chair.

My head whips around so fast to find Aria with a microphone pole she must’ve found on the set somewhere. I stare at her in awe. She just hit him over the back of the head with that thing. I’m impressed. The three of us pause for a split second as Calvin clutches his manhood and groans in pain.

“We should go,” I rush out.

Brody and Aria nod in agreement and the three of us turn to take off, but a hand wraps around my ankle and drags me right to the ground.

Calvin mounts me and grabs my throat immediately, squeezing the air out of my lungs.

I kick my legs, but it’s no use. I may have had him fooled momentarily before, but that’s all it was.

Momentary. He’s going to kill me now that I not only tried to run from him but had Aria here and completely disregarded his instructions.

I’m so fucked.

He lowers his face, “You can’t run from me, Ivory. You’re mine.”

I refuse to die without at least trying to fight for my life.

I don’t hear or see my friends, but I hope they made it far away and don’t have to watch me die.

I use my nails to claw at his face, hoping to scratch him or maim him in some way that has him loosening his grip on me for even a second so I can try to get out from under him.

I don’t think it would be much use though.

He’s a lot larger than me and a whole lot heavier.

I turn my head slightly and find the microphone pole discarded on the ground.

I use one hand to claw at his face frantically as dark spots cloud my vision.

I hear distant yells of my name and know Aria and Brody are somewhere close by.

I use my other hand to reach for the mic pole and when they finally wrap around it, I swing it up and hit the side of his head with it.

At the same time, Brody appears above me tackling Calvin right off of me and quickly rolling to the side so Aria can kick him in the ribs. God, I love my friends.

I gasp for air and turn to the side, clutching my throat as I cough and gasp. Brody drops down beside me, resting a hand on my shoulder, “You okay?” Her voice is frantic, full of adrenaline.

I nod rapidly, still struggling for air.

Her face looks so apologetic, “We thought you were right behind us, I’m so sorry.”

I shake my head and choke out, “It’s o- okay.”

“Hey guys, we really should make a run for it. Take two,” Aria calls out from where she’s still kicking Calvin.

Brody helps me up and I catch sight of Calvin reaching into the inside pocket of his ratty leather jacket. When I see gleaming silver, my heart stops. He has a knife. “Aria!” I shout. “Run!”

She sees it just as he swings his arm out, blade in hand, and tries to make contact with her shin. She jumps back, barely missing the metal, and runs full speed towards Brody and I. The three of us sprint together through the pitch-black set.

“What the fuck do we do?” Brody asks, her voice breathless from running.

I frett, “I really wasn’t thinking that far ahead when Aria and I made the whole rescue Brody plan.”

Aria adds, “I made the phone call and hung up right away just like we planned. They definitely got the call. We just have to run and fucking survive long enough for them to get here.”

“Who’s them?” Brody asks, hope in her eyes as she leaps over a bundle of wires on the ground.

“Sly, Dallas, and Harvey,” Aria answers.

I feel instant relief at the sound of Dallas’ name and I can tell from the expression on Brody’s face she feels the same, just for Harvey’s name.

My brief flash of relief is instantly snuffed out by the sound of footsteps behind us. “Where do we go? He’s behind us!” I shout.

Aria answers, “Follow me.” She leaps in front of us, running faster as she leads us through different twists and turns of the set.

She stops at a door and swings it open, ushering us inside before closing it quietly behind us.

We stop and catch our breath, listening for any footsteps, but nothing comes.

Aria takes a step back from the door, whispering, “You know, when I fell in love with horror movies, I never wanted to be in one.”

Brody scoffs, “Oh, like we do?”

I pant, “I’m so sorry, guys. This is all my fault.”

Brody places a hand on my shoulder, “This is not your fault. He’s a fucking psycho. It’s his fault. And when we get out of here, the guys and Selene are going to make sure he never sees the light of day again.”

I nod even though I’m still not convinced. “We should keep moving.”

Aria turns and glances around the room, “We should also find weapons or something we can use just in case.”

I look around the room in search of something to use and notice for the first time it’s the set of Selene’s office.

We were using this set to film the scenes where Selene announces Harvey would be babysitting Brody and the scene where Selene announces that Sly and Aria would be entering a fake relationship. There isn’t much weaponry in here.

Brody studies the room and I watch her because if anyone is going to find a weapon from nothing, it’s her.

She rushes across the room to the floor lamp that stands taller than me.

It’s on a skinny pole with two bulbs attached.

She drops to her knees and starts twisting the pole, screwing it out of the base.

She retrieves the pole, free of lights, and rises back to her feet, twisting the screw once again in the middle, now making it into two halves. She extends one to me, “Here.”

I accept it, “Thanks.”

Brody hands Aria the other one and asks, “What about you?”