Page 38 of Above All Else

Carter’s eyes flicked to the driver’s door, the dark tint disallowing anything inside to spring through. “I’m taking you home.”

My heart sank, and a cold knot formed in the pit of mystomach. “I can’t go back there, Carter.” I pulled my hands away from him. “Ethan’s dead body is in my bed, remember?”

Carter gripped the back of my neck and pulled me in as I tugged away from him, my hands flatting against his chest, the red, raised marks around my wrists a key reminder of my purpose here. “That’s not your home anymore.”

“What does that mean?” My eyes bounced between his.

“Your home is with me.”

My stomach leaped as though I’d bungee jumped off the zenith of the Burj Khalifa. “Wh...what?”

His nose brushed mine. “I’m never letting you go again. You’re coming home with me.”

“But Carter... I have a life here—“

“Youhada life here. You don’t anymore.”

I pushed against him, heat slapping my ears. “Again... thanks to you.”

Carter’s hand slid down and grabbed my upper arm, chauffeuring me to the passenger seat. “It’ll all work out in the end. Trust me.”

He opened the door and placed me inside, flipping my feet in before slamming the door, his cum trickling to the leather seats.

Trust him?

I was a fool.

The driver’s door opened, and Carter slipped inside and started the engine as the man in the hyena mask rushed towards his car.

Blood stopped in my temples, threatening my vision withdarkness as he approached. “He’s coming, Carter.” My hands trembled in my lap.

Is he going to force Carter to kill me?

How does this all work?

Nausea spun in my gut.

Paul held his arms out as Carter put the car in reverse. “Where are you going? The party isn’t over yet, and she still has a choice to make.”

He rolled down the window, his jaw tensing. “Fuck you and your party. In fact, fuck all of you, you sick bastards.”

Paul laughed. “I knew you didn’t have it in you.” He leaned on the window well beside Carter.

“You honestly think I would approve of everything this society offered? You forced me into it. I’m not you.”

He sighed. “I tried getting you to take that leap.”

Carter put the car in park, and my stomach flipped, my hand landing on his arm. “Don’t leave me.”

“I guess thatsomethingI needed to do has come tome.“ He pulled me toward him and kissed my forehead.

Getting out of the car, he squared off with Paul, who stood with a wicked grin across his face.

If Carter died, or they refused to let him leave, would they string me up like those above the glasses or drown me in the lake beneath the house?

Please don’t let him die.

Chapter 10