Page 110 of Hero Unbound

She ran.

35

Bare feet and the drugs still residing in Eva’s system made running more difficult than normal. Plus, she had no idea where she was. There were no houses anywhere nearby and wherever Gareth had parked the car, she couldn’t see it.

She would have to worry about finding her way out of the wilderness later. Right now, she needed to put as much distance between herself and Gareth as possible.

She ignored the pain in her feet and the scratches of branches as they hit her and just ran. She ran until she couldn’t breathe anymore and had to stop.

The vomit she’d been fighting when Gareth had touched her refused to stay down any longer. She dropped to her knees and retched until there was nothing left.

“That didn’t sound pleasant, baby.”

Eva let out a sob. Gareth was way too close. If she hadn’t gained much distance from him while his wounds were most fresh, then she hadn’t done significant damage at all.

And now her chances of getting away were dwindling by the second.

She got back up and began moving again, praying she wasn’t heading back toward him. She tried to keep her breathing quiet, but it was impossible. The sound of her own terror filled her head.

When she spotted a river flowing ahead of her, she ran toward that. She didn’t know if it would help her get away, but at this point, it couldn’t possibly hurt. Maybe the water would be easier on her feet—she didn’t have to study them closely to know they were ripped and bleeding. Hell, if the water was deep enough, she would swim. She was a strong swimmer.

She never made it to the river.

She let out a scream as Gareth tackled her from behind and slammed her into the ground. “I’m not letting you go that easy, baby.”

She fought, but facedown, there wasn’t much she could do to get him off her. He was too big, too strong. Her body was too tired and still fighting the effects of the drugs he’d given her.

“I’m bleeding now, but we’ll both be bleeding soon.” She felt his hand slide the dress up the side of her thigh as his other hand pushed her face into the ground. “I knew you liked it rough. This just proves it. Say it.”

She said nothing but kept fighting even as she grew weaker with exhaustion.

“Say it, baby.” She sobbed as he gripped her hair in a painful fist. “You like it rough. Say it.”

No. She would never ever give him the satisfaction of hearing those words from her again.

“Go to hell!” She screamed the words with every bit of strength she had.

Because she knew she didn’t have enough physical strength to stop him. She closed her eyes. All she could do was muster her strength to survive. She felt the cool air on her thighs as he jerked her dress up farther.

And then Gareth’s weight was gone from her body.

It took her a second to figure out he hadn’t just shifted. She opened her eyes and found him rolling on the ground…

WithTheo?

She scrambled up onto her knees, trying to wrap her head around what was going on. It was obvious Theo didn’t need her help. He wasted no time getting in multiple punches that sent Gareth to the ground, then rushed over to her.

“Evie, Evie, sweetheart, are you okay?” He helped her get to her feet, looking her over when she winced. “How badly are you hurt? You’re bleeding.”

She gripped his arms. “I-I think I’m okay. Just my feet. How did you—”

“I’m going to need you to step away from my fiancée, Lindstrom.”

They both froze, then looked over and saw Gareth was getting back to his feet with a gun in his hand.

“I know you have a weapon. Put it on the ground.” Gareth spun his gun so that it was pointed directly at Eva. “If you try anything, she dies.”

Eva swallowed a sob. “Theo, no. He’ll kill—”