Evading Darkness (The Darkness Duet Book 1) by K.M. Baker

Author:K.M. Baker [Baker, K.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-01-29T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Callie

Iwake up in a bed that doesn't look familiar, and my head is pounding. It's been a long time since I've had an episode that extreme. I almost forgot what the aftereffects feel like. The tightness in my chest lingers, along with the raging headache and nausea.

If I had the energy, I would get up and run as far away from here as possible. My fight or flight response has kicked in something fierce. Thinking about Maxton makes me feel as if I was 18 all over again. I try to make sense of the conversation at dinner, but I'm not sure I can. Sebastian is Maxton's brother.

We had been together for years, and he had never mentioned a brother. Sebastian said that he had just found out about him and that they shared the same father. I met Maxton's father. He never seemed like the kind of guy who would have a child and leave him alone to be raised by their mother.

Maxton's father died from a massive heart attack a few months before Maxton was killed. I helped him through his father's funeral and was there for his mother during her time of grief. I can't even imagine the amount of pain she went through after Maxton was killed and I fled. She had nobody there to help her, and that pang of guilt is enough to consume me. I roll onto my side, grasping at the covers, when I hear the door creek open.

Barrett walks over to the side of the bed and sits next to me. Looking down at me, he pushes a strand of hair behind my ear. "When did you start having panic attacks?"

I sigh and feel the tears well up in my eyes again. Just like with Kyler, I feel a weird sense of safety with him. He makes me feel like I want to open up and expose this part of my life. In the past, this is a feeling I've always run away from.

The way he's looking at me right now, he seems tender, almost like he knows exactly what I am going through. In some ways, these guys already know more about me than the man I was going to marry did.

"I was 18 when I had my first. They don't happen often anymore unless I am reminded of..." I trail off, anger welling up inside me. No, he doesn't deserve to know. These men have done nothing but treat me like disposable trash since I've been here. They planned on using me to barter with my father. Why should I give them what they want? When they find out Maxton’s dead, everything’s going to change. They're going to send me back to him. I know it. I shake my head. "Why they started isn't important. They happen, and I have no control of them."

He nods in understanding. "I haven't had one in years, but I used to have them a lot while I was in foster care. The toll they take on your body is unbearable sometimes.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.