Chapter 67. Whispered Promises

I’m not going to leave this basement alive, I realized. They would be idiots to keep me alive.

Ace would find me eventually. No matter where I was or how far they took me, Ace would track me down and make anyone who hurt me pay.

They couldn’t let me go for the same reason. I would go running to Ace, Ace would see what they did to me, and he would make it his personal mission to make them suffer.

The only way to avoid facing Ace’s wrath was to wash their hands of me completely and make sure my disappearance could never be traced back to them.

I might never see Ace again. I might never see my family again.

“Where are you?”

“Dorothy.” Elias’s voice was muffled and far away. “Dorothy, look at me.” His hands fell on my shoulders and squeezed, forcing my eyes up. “You need to breathe. You’re panicking.”

Am I? Huh. I hadn’t even noticed. All at once, I became aware of my burning lungs. I was full-on hyperventilating.

“Breathe,” Elias said aga