Bad Sign: A Short Taboo Hitchhiker Romance by Rivenhall Kate

Author:Rivenhall , Kate
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-12T00:00:00+00:00

5

MÁIRE

My heart is stuttering so fast as we drive slowly through the streets of Covenant.

I can still taste my brother in my mouth, on my tongue.

I don’t feel frozen anymore. I haven’t since he laid hands on me, even though I didn’t know it was him.

I thought he was dead and he dares to be angry because I didn’t find him.

And now I find out he’s just been in jail, like a dumbass.

I seethe.

He snapped off the interior light, but I don’t need it to see him. He’s seared into my memory and has been for as long as I can remember. I’d recognize him anywhere. His long, thick blonde hair is pulled back into a short ponytail. Those ice-blue eyes are just as cold and domineering as they ever were, the harsh planes of his face rigid and unsmiling, his jawline looking like it was cut from glass. He was always bigger than other boys his age, and he’s even bigger now, his shoulders enormous, his back broad.

I direct Theo to park the car on the back side of what looks like an abandoned shop in the battered industrial section of town.

Theo hops out the door a moment before Strider does, then makes a lunge for him.

If he’d told me his plans, I would’ve told him not to bother. With everyone but me, my brother is cold, ruthless, and unforgiving.

He sidesteps Theo easily and grabs my fiancé’s shoulders, running him into the side of the car. With Theo staggering and grabbing his head, my brother starts dragging him by the back of his shirt into the building.

Strider turns around to look at me.

Come on baby girl.

I’m still fuming, but I follow him in. This doesn’t look like the best part of town and I don’t want to be left alone out here.

My brother leads us down a set of steps to the basement and turns on one single bulb. It emits a weird and yellowish light. The windows are already tightly bolted, with dark coverings. I can only see out through a narrow slit.

With one hand he grabs a chair from the side of the room, and with the other he throws Theo into it. Then he ties him to a chair, tightly and efficiently.

Then he turns to me, and I fly at him.

In contrast to how roughly he treated Theo, Strider grasps my hands gently, pulling me against his chest.

Do you love him that much? he signs with one hand.

I feel suddenly tongue-tied. It seems stupid to admit I don’t love my own fiancé.

It doesn’t matter, he signs jerkily, his eyes darkening. You’re still mine and I won’t let you go.

Suddenly he grabs my arms too, tying them together and throwing a loop of the rope over a beam. I’m suspended there, just a bit too high so I have to be up on the balls of my feet.

“Get me down from here, Strider Delecour!” I yell, because he’s looking at me. He’s always looking at me.

But he only gives me a shit-eating grin and walks back up the steps and goes outside.

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