Elaine
I sucked in a shaky breath, my chest heaving as I tried to ignore the icy bite of the wind against my skin. Snow clung stubbornly to my lashes, blurring my vision as I blinked hard, willing myself not to fall apart. The air reeked of tension and blood, thick and metallic, pressing down on me like an invisible weight.
Carla’s voice cut through the heavy silence, sharp and venomous, like the crack of a whip.
“Hurry up, Kave. Just agree. You know there’s no other way out of this.”
Her tone dripped with impatience, her words like poison, and I felt my stomach churn. My pulse thundered in my ears, drowning out the world as my captor shifted behind me. Her presence was suffocating—an oppressive shadow that lingered at my back, cold steel pressed far too close to my fragile skin.
“Oh,
