“Run, you have to run, Sophia! You have to!” I panted, pulling my sister’s hand as I stumbled over dry leaves, sticks that pricked my bare feet, and stones that cut into my skin, making me wince. Everything hurt, it hurt so much, I could barely feel any new pain.
All I knew was that we had to run. This was our one and only chance. She could finally see it — the darkness, the unfairness, the ugliness of this place and her mate. She could see the brutality and the wrongness of them all. She could see we can never be happy, she could tell her child will never be happy. Nor will mine.
My hand was yanked back and I turned, opening my mouth to tell her to run again, when I noticed she was on the ground. Cursing under my breath, I tucked away the knife I was holding in my hand and kneeled next to her, helping her sit. She had landed on her side, protecting her swollen belly, but exposing something that I hadn’t seen before.
The blood.
Both our hands were smeared with it from attacking those guards and killing them, for fighting and clawing our way out through anyone who had tried to stop us. Michael wasn’t at the packhouse and neither were most of his warriors, so this had been our only chance. But I hadn’t noticed that somebody had stabbed her, nor that she was bleeding so much. Her pale yellow dress was drenched with dark blood and as seconds passed, more and more of the color left her face and lips.
“I can’t run,” she whispered tiredly, dragging herself to the nearby tree. I helped her lean on it and she winced, pressing one hand against her wound while the other gently caressed her belly. “You were right, Stella, you were right from the start. I just didn’t want to see it. I thought that once we were mated, things would change, he would change. I thought I could make him happy and with the child… the children on the way, that he will be content. But I see…” her voice cracked and the tears spilled down her face, smearing the dirt on her face. “I made you suffer through all of this… I was so selfish…”
“You are my sister, Soph,” I choked, crawling closer and placing my hand over hers on the belly. I felt my own stomach contract, the pain intensifying. She was almost due already, but I had barely got the news a few weeks back when I realized we had to get away. If either of us gave birth in that place, it would have been the end. We were never going to get out of there alive and our children… they were going to suffer the same fate or worse — become like their father. “Get up, we need to go! I know you are tired, but…”
“I’m dying, Stella,” Sophia whispered, her voice disturbingly calm and steady out of the sudden. I looked at her with panic, eyes darting to the wound on her side. “I lost too much blood and my stomach hurts too much. I can feel the baby struggling as well. I can’t run, you have to go without me.”
“No,” I shook my head, squeezing her hand tighter. “You can make it! Just a bit more and we can get to the highway and stop someone. Once we get away, I’ll hide us. I’ll…”
“Save my child, Stella,” Sophia said, reaching out and pulling the knife from my belt. She moved it into my free hand, her eyes finding mine. Her gaze was bleary, red veins running over the white of her eyes. “Take it out and run. Take it away from this place.”
“I can’t leave you here!” I snarled, barely noticing as the knuckles on the hand holding the knife turned white. “I will fight them! I will kill them all and then we…”
“You will not be leaving me, my dear sister,” Sophia said quietly, leaning her head back on the tree. “I will be gone soon. I don’t care what happens to my body. I just need to know that you will protect my child. You will get out of here, as far away from them as possible, and you will start a new life. You will raise my child and yours with love and laughter and freedom, and one day, when they are old enough, you will tell them about me. You are going to be a good mom, Stella. Promise me!”