Chapter 12

RAINA

The pounding in my head made it hard to think, like my skull was caught in a vice. I tried to lift my hand to ease the ache, but… I couldn’t. My wrists were bound to the arms of a chair, and my ankles were tied together, holding me in place. Panic twisted in my chest as the memories came flooding back: Eliza, her cold smile, the way she’d looked at my son. The vile threat she'd made against Liam, as if his life meant nothing.

My breathing quickened. Liam. The ache in my head faded beneath a sharp spike of fear. If she got to him before I did, if she carried out her plan, then all my efforts, every piece of this painful journey, would be for nothing. No! I couldn’t let her get away with this. I thrashed against the bindings, calling out, my voice cracking with desperation.

"Help! Please, someone! My son is in danger. He… he’s going to die if I don’t get to him!" My pleas echoed off the walls of the dark room, empty of any sympathy, of any signs of life.