"What are you looking at? You really think you're going to see the young master?"
"Ha! Dream on."
"You lot, take her to the room. Time for the Final Trial."
The men nearby heard those words and broke into eager grins, rubbing their hands together as they closed in on me.
"No, please, just let me see him..."
"Please!"
They didn't listen. Two of them seized me by the arms and hauled me toward the building.
"Declan! Declan, save me!"
I screamed his name with everything I had, praying he would hear.
One of the men dragging me drove his elbow straight into my torso.
The world tilted. Every ounce of strength drained out of me, and my voice died in my throat.
They threw me onto a bed. The cactus thorns still embedded in my back were crushed deeper into my flesh, and the pain nearly dragged me under.
Through the haze, I heard Declan's voice.
"Did someone just call my name?"
My eyes shot toward the doorway, hope flooding through me. He was right there, just past the door, frowning down at his phone.
"You must've misheard, sir. Who would dare call you by your first name?"
"By the way, sir, how come you didn't take the helicopter back this time?"
Declan sighed. "I got into a fight with my girlfriend. I went to the train station to find her and apologize, but she wasn't there. Her phone's off, too."
He went to the train station looking for me?
I opened my mouth, desperate to make any sound, to tell him I was right here. But that elbow strike had left my breathing shallow and ragged. Something inside me was damaged. I could feel it. I was too weak to produce even a whisper.
"The young master's got a girlfriend? She must be something special. You've got to bring her back to the valley next time so we can all meet her," Barrett said, his tone dripping with false warmth.
"Yeah. I was planning to bring her home for the holidays, but I made her angry."
"Actually, Uncle Barrett, could you arrange a helicopter for tomorrow morning? I don't want her spending the holidays upset. I'm going straight to her place to apologize."
"By my estimate, she should be home by now."
I stretched out a trembling hand toward the door. I wanted to tell him I wasn't home. I was here. Right here. That if he left, I would die in this room.
But every word I tried to form dissolved into tears that slid silently down my face.
I couldn't just lie here and wait to die.
If Declan walked away, I had no hope left.
"Dec... lan!"
I poured every last shred of strength into his name.
Declan spun around, but before his eyes could find me, the door slammed shut.
Fists and boots came down on me again.
"You stubborn little witch, you still won't behave? Let us show you what happens when you don't listen!"
A kick sent me crashing to the floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a brick near the wall.
My fingers had barely reached for it when a boot stomped down on the back of my hand.
A raw scream tore out of me.
"What was that?" Declan's voice came from just outside the door.
The door swung open.
"It's nothing, sir. Just some wild animal acting up. The helicopter's all set. You should go find your girlfriend."
The room was dark. Two large men stood between me and the doorway, blocking me from view. Declan couldn't see me.
When he turned to leave, something inside me went cold and still.
