Chapter Twenty-five

Emma

Noises registered before vision returned. It was as if I were trudging through a fog, a fog in the bayou. Every muscle strained. My body ached as if it had been battered. Each attempt to move was met with resistance and a deep ache and tenderness that radiated throughout my body.

My eyelids blinked.

A blindfold.

My heart leaped.

Rett. I was back with Rett.

Shaking my head brought excruciating soreness to my neck and shoulders. Even my jaw ached. It took a second for it to register that my mouth was held open with a gag. My tongue pressed against the now-wet material.

Something sharp poked beneath my chin. Reflexively, I moved away, lifting my chin. Despite the soreness within, I moved as far as I could from the sharpness. It didn’t seem to matter for the sensation followed.

“I could cut her throat.”

My heart seized. It wasn’t a voice I recognized.

“He wants her alive.”

He?