Chapter 13
Consciousness seeped in—flashes of sight, sound, smell, and feeling. Several layers of warm blankets surrounded her, the fuzzy nap of the one closest to her skin a pleasant chafe. Nearby, the smell of smoke and a faint crackling sound reached her. She closed her eyes.
“I hope you’ve learned who’s in charge here.”
She didn’t open her eyes, but the voice chilled her, in spite of the nearby heat and the blankets. Beth lowered the sound of his voice, as it continued to a drone, and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
* * * *
When she awakened a second time, she found herself sitting on a ladder-back chair, its slats uncomfortable against her back. Clothesline had been looped around her chest and knotted behind her. Her wrists had been bound together on her lap, while each ankle
