Chapter 10

Now, what Kattie needed to do was to urge Jasper to escape as soon as possible. Otherwise, she would have to watch him die at Viktor’s hands once again, and she didn’t want that.

She wanted to run away with him, but when she looked down at her swollen ankles, her determined thoughts were dampened. She couldn’t. Her heavy footsteps brought her closer to Jasper, and she spoke, her heart aching:

“Run, please run. Leave me behind. You must survive. If not, I will be a burden to you.”

Jasper stood there saying nothing. He couldn’t understand why she was saying this or what danger she was talking about. He looked at her and realized she was in distress.

“Even though I didn’t know the connection between you and that man, I could see the fear in your eyes. I couldn’t leave you here alone,” Jasper reassured her.

The pounding on the door outside grew faster and more relentless, echoing like a hammer in Kattie’s heart. She wished he would run. If Viktor saw him al