Nightfall (Devil's Night 4)

She hesitated, searching for words. “I didn’t know you were here until I saw you running for your life through the forest on our first night. I spotted you from a window as they gave chase,” she said. “We couldn’t get out until the crew got here, and you were already discovered, so...”

So you stayed hidden.

I had been sedated when we arrived because I was brought here against my will. She was smuggled in and probably awake when she entered the house. She had intel, blueprints, and supplies. She ran and found a place to hunker down, no doubt.

“I…” she paused and then continued. “I kept an eye on the situation from my vantage points, ready to swoop in if needed.”

I studied her. That made no sense. She wouldn’t have been able to stop anyone from hurting me at any moment. She could’ve dived in at any time, collected me, and hidden me somewhere. Why leave me in their care? Every moment that she did was a gamble.

“What if Will doesn’t want to leave?” I ask her.

He wasn’t even remotely content, but he’d given up. Suited to his lot in life of perpetual sidekick, whether it was to Michael Crist, Kai Mori, and Damon Torrance, or Aydin Khadir.

Alex was quiet for a moment as she looked for the entrance to the next passage. “We just gotta wake him up.”

Maybe.

Maybe seeing Alex would snap him out of it.

Another wave of jealousy rushed over me. He would listen to her.

I heard a voice through the walls and some pounding, and I trained my ears.

“Shh,” I told her.

“Emory?” Another knock in the distance.

I darted my eyes to Alex. Shit!

Spinning around, I ran back for my bedroom.

“Emory, no,” she whispered after me.

I spun around, looking at her as I walked. “The chair is under the door handle,” I told her. “He knows I’m in there. He’s going to wonder how I disappeared if he breaks in and sees me gone.”

He couldn’t find out about the passageways.

I ran back to my room, calling behind me, “Go to Will. Come back for me.”

Pushing the picture open, I leapt through, closed it, and ran to my door, scooting the chair out from underneath the knob.

Opening the door, I saw Aydin standing there with a stack of clothes in his hand.

I swallowed the heavy breaths pouring in and out, so he wouldn’t wonder why I was out of breath.

“Why didn’t you answer the door?” he asked.

“I was asleep.”

His eyes thinned on me.

But he didn’t argue further, handing the clothes out to me.

I wanted to take them, since everything I had was wet, dirty, or ripped, but…

In my clarity, I was a little pissed.

“My brother used to bring me presents, too,” I told him. “After he made me bleed.”