He must have read the indecision on her face. “It is either this or B. Those are your choices. I will have your decision.”
Reyna opened her mouth and found cobwebs keeping her from responding. She couldn’t do it. She had no answer.
“Now, Reyna,” he barked.
“No,” she gasped out.
He stared at her in shock. He never in a million years thought she would utter that word. Not after what he had put her through. Not after what she had endured.
“You would prefer to lose your mind than indulge in luxury?”
“No,” she repeated, her voice warbling. “I’d prefer my own freedom.”
“You should disillusion yourself of that notion,” he said, standing abruptly. “You will never leave here. You signed your own prison sentence. I was willing to work with you. To give you a wonderful life. Remember that you were the one to toss it aside so easily. This offer will not come again.”
Reyna raised her chin defiantly. She’d made her decision. Consequences be damned.
Harrington backhanded her hard across the face and she reeled in shock and pain. Her vision was blurry, ears ringing at the sheer force of the hit. “You are a very stupid girl…and I will break you.”
Reyna blinked away tears. She hated that she cowered away from him. Hated that same fear deep in the pit of her stomach from her encounter with B. She’d thought that she was already broken. That what had happened had reduced her to ash. Yet somehow she had found the resolve to still deny him what he wanted.
Harrington stormed from the room and she watched his retreating form with tears running down her face. His threat was a promise. She just hoped she survived it.
“That was incredibly stupid,” Meghan whispered barely louder than a breath.
“What do you know?” Reyna snapped. “I can’t be his pet. I couldn’t live with myself. I’d rather die than live that life.”
Meghan’s smile only grew. “Time to go back.”
“We haven’t done the venom.”
“The machine isn’t working. We’ll have to come back.”
“Fucking great,” Reyna muttered under her breath as Meghan removed the IVs and cleaned her up. She was stuck with a chatty incompetent nurse. And she thought Nancy had been bad.
Meghan walked her back to her room and followed her inside.
“You don’t have to be in here. Go fix the machine or whatever,” Reyna grumbled. All she wanted to do was flop back down on her bed and sleep away the rest of the day.
Meghan glanced down at her watch. She was muttering something to herself. “Three, two, one,” she barely breathed. Then her eyes jumped back to Reyna and she produced a small metal gun.
“What the hell?” Reyna cried.
“Give me your arm.”
“Are you out of your mind? I’m not going to let you shoot me!”
“Reyna, now! We don’t have time.”
“What are you? Are you here to kill me? Do you want me to dead so Harrington runs out of blood? I swear, no matter what I said, I don’t want to die. Please.”
“Jesus Christ, I’m not here to kill you,” Meghan said, waving the little gun around.
“Then why do you have that?”
Meghan grabbed Reyna’s arm forcefully in her hand, her gentle nursing skills forgotten. She pressed the tip of the gun to Reyna’s forearm and then pulled the trigger. A little buzz shot across Reyna’s arm and she gasped.
“What the hell was that?”
“I deactivated the tracker in your arm. We have ten minutes,” Meghan glanced down at her watch again. “Nine minutes and twenty-seven seconds to get you the hell out of here.”
Chapter 7
“You’re…rescuing me?” Reyna asked in complete disbelief.
“Trying to.” Meghan rushed over to the breakfast cart she had wheeled in earlier and pulled a bag out from the bottom. She opened it and started throwing clothes at Reyna. “Change into these and hurry. We’re running out of time with the cameras down.”
“Are you with Elle?” she asked hesitantly.
“Yes,” Meghan groaned. “Now hurry!”
Reyna had a million questions, but the look of urgency on Meghan’s face said everything. There wasn’t time.
She stripped shamelessly and pulled on a nurse’s outfit. Meghan adjusted Reyna’s hair so that it covered some of her face, shouldered the bag, and then nodded. They moved to the door as one. Meghan checked the hallway and after finding it empty, hurried her out of the room.
“The cameras are down all the way to our destination,” Meghan whispered. “The entire feed should loop through that time and won’t arouse suspicion. If all goes as planned, we’ll have you out of here before anyone even notices that you’re gone. Are you ready?”
Reyna gave her a curt nod. She was ready to get out of here. Abso-fucking-lutely.
Meghan didn’t waste any time. They were all but sprinting as they moved together. Reyna just prayed they didn’t run into anyone. All she could do was hope that Meghan knew what she was doing. If this was a hoax or Harrington’s doing, she didn’t know how she would survive.