Bile rises up in my throat and I have to swallow it back down a couple of times before I manage to ask, “So, how many people did I just help you kill?”
Fuck. I’ve never killed anyone before.
Out of the corner of my eyes I see Gabriel shrug his shoulders nonchalantly, like the body count is no big deal. “I’m not really sure.”
“Can you at least guestimate?” I ask a little too shrilly, the need to know bordering on hysteria.
How much blood do I have on my hands?
I sense him stiffening beside me before he offers slowly, almost carefully, “I don’t know. Probably less than a dozen.”
Probably less than a dozen… So I just helped him kill at the most eleven people…
My hands tighten around the steering wheel, finding the grooves he’s already made in it.
“Meghan,” he says, his voice heavy with worry. “Pull over, I’ll take over.”
I shake my head and my foot pushes harder on the gas. I can’t let him take over. No, I can’t let him have control.
Who knows what he’ll do next?
First it was the church… and now this… and who knows how many before I even met him…
He’s a psychotic murderer, and I fucked him.
Oh god.
I’m married to him.
I blow through three more lights, seriously considering pulling over, popping the door open and shoving his big ass out.
Guns don’t work, nor do knives. He’s like some horror movie monster that can’t be killed.
I doubt he’d survive though if I ran him over with the truck.
But then again, maybe he would…
“Take the next left,” he says, but I’m so stuck in my head I miss the turn.
He repeats my name a few times, trying to get my attention as I think of all the ways I could off him.
I know he didn’t use all the C4. If I can get my hands on what’s in the back, I could shove it down his pants…
“Meghan,” he finally growls menacingly.
My eyes snap to him.
“Take the next left.”
I’m half-tempted to take the next right out of sheer obstinance, but maybe once I get him to wherever he wants to go, he’ll get out of the truck and I can drive off into the horizon.
A girl can only hope.
“Now take the next right,” he says after we drive down the road a mile or so.
With a sigh, I hit the blinker and slow the truck down as I pull us into a parking lot.
He jerks his chin toward a dark building sitting at the edge of the lot. “Park in front of there.”
I do exactly as he says. I pull into one of the empty spots in front of the building and then put the truck in park.
Releasing a deep breath, I stare ahead at the building. The place looks like some kind of grungy dive bar. The sign reads: The River Waters.
I avoid glancing over at Gabriel as I wait for him to make the first move. I’m hoping he’ll get out without realizing I still have the truck running.
As if he knows exactly what I’m thinking, he reaches over and twists the keys out of the ignition.
Damn.
“Get out of the truck, Meghan,” he says, so close his warm breath brushes against my ear.
I shiver and immediately hate myself for still being affected by him. He’s a murdering monster, yet my body doesn’t seem to know or care.
The stupid thing still wants him.
Seeking to escape his presence, I yank on the door handle and quickly slide out of my seat.
Once my feet hit the ground, I’m filled with the overwhelming need to run. To escape this fucking madness.
Before I even realize what I’m doing, my knees are pumping and my lungs are aching as I take off across the parking lot.
Gabriel bellows my name.
I don’t stop though, I can’t stop.
I run so fast, so hard, I gas myself within a couple of minutes. I manage to make it to the very edge of the lot before I feel the ground thundering beneath my feet.
A second later what feels like an iron bar wraps around my chest.
I scream and flail as Gabriel yanks me off my feet and begins to drag me backward.
My heels drag across the asphalt as I wail out, “Let me go!”
Another iron bar wraps around me and his big palm slaps over my mouth.
I try to bite him, try to kick him, but it’s fucking hopeless.
Once again, I’m forced to face the crushing reality that I’m not strong enough to fight him off. This isn’t an action movie, and I’m not a genetically enhanced superwoman. Pure physics is working against me, and it sucks so fucking bad.
Gabriel drags me all the way back to the truck then pushes me up against the door.
Flipping me around, he drops one arm from around my chest.
“Where the fuck are you going?” he huffs out as he cages me in.