Page 46 of Exile

The entire time I’m checking in, I’m paranoid that when I return Serena will be gone. I know her, and I know how selfless she is. She doesn’t want me to get in the middle between her and Dom, because she’s afraid of what he will do to me. What she doesn’t realize is nothing he does to me will ever hurt me as much as what he’s already done to her.

When I get back to the car, relief floods my system when I find Serena still sitting right where I left her. She’s staring out the window into the woods, lost in her own thoughts, so when I open the door, she startles. “Jesus, Kai, you scared me.” I give her an apologetic smile in return.

“Sorry, come on. I’ve got us a room. Let’s get inside before you freeze in those tiny pjs. Shit, we should’ve gotten you some clothes before we left.” I kick myself for not thinking of that before dragging her out of the house, but the sight of her covered in bruises had my fight or flight instincts in overdrive. While she gets out of the car and comes around to meet me, I reach in the back, grabbing one of my hoodies and a backpack with my gym clothes. They’re still clean, since I never made it to my workout today, so I can let Serena wear them to stay warm.

When Serena reaches my side, I tug the hoodie over her head before we head to our room. It’s too big by two sizes. Serena is dwarfed by the sweatshirt, but she smiles when she tucks her hands into the front pocket. “Ooh, thanks Kai for my new favorite sweatshirt.”

“Don’t you dare get any ideas, ReRe. That one is mine.” I level a stern look at the gorgeous girl in front of me, knowing full well I’m full of shit and more than willing to give her the shirt off my back if she asks for it. She just rolls her eyes at me.

“Sure, whatever you say, Kai.”

“Come on, brat. Let’s get inside before you freeze.” Wrapping my arm around Serena’s shoulders, I lead her to our safe haven for the night, feeling slightly better after seeing a glimpse of the girl I know still hiding under the shadows Dom cast over her.

CHAPTER FORTY

SERENA

Entering the motel room and taking in its retro, sixties mod décor causes my body to release some of the tension I’ve been holding for the past three days. It feels safe here. After Dom lost his shit on me when we got home on Friday night, I’ve been living in terror of setting off his temper again. I never got my purse or phone or car keys back, so running was out of the question.

I’ve been biding my time, hoping to earn back his trust enough to gain a chance at freedom. I even let him fuck me when he “apologized” for losing his temper, hoping maybe it would be enough to placate him. Joke’s on me. The way things went after that, I realized what an idiot I had been to imagine I was letting him do anything. He considered he had a green light to use me any way he wanted with impunity. Honestly, if Kai hadn’t come looking for me, I wasn’t sure if Dom would let me return to my life at all.

“I’m sorry we left before we could grab your stuff, but I’ve got my gym bag with me, an extra pair of sweats if you want them.”

I turn to look at Kai and the way he is holding up his gym bag in offering is almost bashful. Like he feels bad for rescuing me from my abuser with nothing more than the clothes on my back.

“Gosh, Kai. Next time you come to rescue a damsel in distress, be a little more prepared.” Kai looks crestfallen and I regret the sarcastic quip as soon as it leaves my lips. He doesn’t deserve my anger. He’s not the reason I found myself in the clutches of a monster. That was all my dumbass decision-making.

“I’m sorry, Kai. I didn’t mean that?—”

Kai cuts me off before I can finish. “I don’t want to hear that word out of your mouth again, Serena.” Kai’s stern use of my government name takes me aback. “You have nothing to be sorry about. If you need a punching bag to work your anger out on, then use me. If you need someone to scream at, scream at me. If you need someone to hold you while you break, then let me hold you. But don’t you dare apologize for what you are feeling. I’ve got you ReRe.”

Unsure of how to respond, I grab Kai’s gym bag instead. “I’m gonna go take a shower. I need to wash Dom’s touch off me.”

Kai nods and lets me retreat into the bathroom, despite how much he looks like he wants to protest. I’m grateful he allows me some space to get my bearings.

Sequestered in the bathroom, I lock the door behind me. Leaning against the plywood door, I close my eyes, inhaling a deep breath, trying to calm my jittery nerves. Even though we are well outside of Birch Falls’ city limits, I can’t help but feel like we are still at risk of being found. When I open my eyes, I see my reflection in the mirror, and it turns my stomach. Dark bruises dot along my arms in some sort of sick dot-to-dot pattern. My throat is ringed in bruises too. My eyes are bloodshot from all the crying I’ve been doing, and my skin is pale and ashy like I have the flu. In short, I look like shit.

Unable to bear my reflection another moment, I turn to the shower and turn the on water as hot as it will go. I grab Kai’s body wash and tie my hair up on my head before stepping under the scalding stream. I don’t know how long I stand under the water—trying to scrub the ghost of his touch from my skin—but by the time I’m done, my skin is red and raw.

Leaving the bathroom in a cloud of steam, bundled in Kai’s oversize sweats and hoodie, I find him sitting on the bed staring pensively at his phone. He looks up when he hears me enter the room, his face tight with concern.

“What’s going on? Did something happen with Dom?” My stomach pitches in worry, scared we have been found already.

“He stopped by my folks’ house, looking for me. Didn’t tell them why he was looking for me and he didn’t mention you, so I think he’s keeping it on the DL for now. Ma called me to ask why ‘Serena’s cop’ was looking for me.”

My knees go weak at Kai’s words, with concern for his parents getting sucked into my relationship drama. “Oh God, Kai. I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to get Grace and Luther involved.”

Kai raises a displeased eyebrow at me. “What did I say about that word, Serena? Don’t worry about them. They’re fine. They have plausible deniability. I told them we were safe together and that we aren’t in town, but I didn’t tell them where we are. I want to keep our whereabouts under wraps until we come up with a game plan.”

Taking a seat next to him on the bed, I bury my face in my hands. “What is our plan, Kai? You know he’s going to be looking for me. He probably has his cop buddies looking for your car. We can’t go back into Birch Falls without him finding out. We don’t have any food or clothes. I don’t have any ID or money. We are fucked.” Kai nudges my leg with his knee in the way he does when he wants my attention.

“I took care of the food while you used up all of the motel’s hot water.” I follow his line of sight and see a pile of vending machine snacks and several bottles of water on the desk. “It’s not much, but we can make do for tonight. Tomorrow I was thinking we could go to Poplar Springs and pick up some supplies…” Kai trails off like he’s afraid to finish his thought.

“Pick up some supplies or…” I prod, waiting for him to finish.

“Or go to the hospital and get your injuries documented and file a report.”

My blood runs cold at Kai’s suggestion. The thought of going to a hospital and talking to someone about what Dom did to me causes my chest to tighten in panic.