CHAPTER FIVE #2
The entire facility is outfitted with an automatic fly spray system along with so many other luxurious amenities that are really unnecessary. There’s never a fly in sight, which means Karin carries her handy-dandy flyswatter to smack people that are Moretti triplet shaped with it.
"You sure got sassy while I was gone." A laugh slips out before I can stop it, and for a second it feels like we're right back where we belong, teasing each other in the middle of the barn without anything bad looming overhead.
Paris laughs too, but it fades almost as quickly as it comes. Her bright smile softens, and I watch something heavier settle over her expression as she reaches up to smooth an imaginary wrinkle from Moonbeam’s forelock.
"I found out I'm slated for the third Choosing Ceremony." I can tell by the way she presses her lips together and blinks in quick succession; she’s trying not to tear up.
The words steal every bit of amusement from my chest. I’ve been so busy trying to survive that I hadn’t considered Paris. I can’t let them send her to Onyx Dominion too. I just can’t bear the thought of it.
I hug her spontaneously, and she hugs me back. I don’t know if she’s shaking or if it’s me; maybe it’s both of us. Everything sucks, but at least we have each other.
"She will not be traded off like livestock,” Benjamin says, his voice hard and unshakable.
“I don’t make a habit of getting in anyone’s business, but whatever is going on with you and Elijah needs to take a backseat to The Society.
We’ve been trying to find a loophole for years, and we’re running out of time. ”
I glance over at him when Paris and I pull away from one another.
I can tell that he doesn’t know I was at Onyx Dominion just by the way he’s speaking, which means Elijah probably doesn’t know either.
That eases my soul a little. When I was in there, they told me he was aware and wasn’t willing to visit me because I’d abandoned him by running away.
It’s terrible the way your mind can be twisted under extreme duress.
"It'll all be okay," Paris says when I don’t engage in speaking about Elijah. I’m not mad at him for hanging up on me when I called him, but I still have to keep my distance. I know that I’ve got more eyes on me than usual, and I don’t want to be the reason Elijah gets caught up for what happened to Jonathan that night.
"You should come ride with us," she says, gesturing toward Moonbeam with a tilt of her head. "I’m not riding, but we thought we’d take him out on a trail and get him desensitized before I try riding him out there."
"I think I just want to go see Beau," I admit. "Then I'm going to take the longest shower in the history of showers."
Paris laughs, the sound lighter than it was a moment ago, and nods her approval. "I fully support that, but make it a bubble bath." She reaches over and gives my hand one last squeeze before turning and clicking at Moonbeam to let him know she wants him to follow her toward the exit.
Benjamin doesn't say a word. He simply falls into step beside her, Moonbeam following obediently behind while Ben's attention never really leaves Paris for more than a heartbeat. I watch them disappear through the doors together, and I can't help but smile.
She’s got him wrapped around her pinky finger, and she absolutely knows it.
The heaviness that's been sitting on my chest all morning eases just enough for me to breathe a little deeper just by being here.
With renewed determination, I slip into Beau’s empty stall. The familiar space welcomes me like it always has, and I duck through the door leading into the private tack room attached to the back.
My riding clothes are exactly where I left them months ago. I don’t plan on riding, but I’ll do anything to get this stupid Saints-tainted uniform off.
I reach for my breeches, pulling them from the shelf just as I hear the heavy stall door slide shut with way too much force.
I shake my head, because it would not be the first time that Buster, the only mini horse on the property, escaped wherever he’s supposed to be and found himself rooting around for treats.
I walk back through, expecting to see Buster, but someone is standing there.
They're dressed entirely in black. A black hoodie hangs loose over dark jeans, and covering their face is a glowing black mask with glowing pink X's where the eyes should be.
For one impossible second, my brain refuses to make sense of what I'm looking at. I can’t get past them, and my only option to escape is the private turnout on the back of Beau’s stall. I’d have to turn my back to them, and I know that's a bad idea.
The figure advances on me, and I scream. The sound tears out of me before I can stop it, and almost immediately I know I've made a mistake.
My chest tightens.
No.
Not now.
Under my chin begins to itch, that familiar warning spreading deeper with every panicked breath I can't seem to catch. I try to force air into my lungs, but it feels like someone is wrapping invisible hands around my airway, squeezing tighter every second.
My shaking fingers dive into the pocket of my uniform skirt until they close around the familiar shape of my rescue inhaler.
Relief floods through me as I yank it free, lifting it toward my mouth—
The figure moves, and before I can press down on the canister, the inhaler is ripped from my hand.
"No..." The word comes out as little more than a rasp.
The masked figure turns the inhaler over once in their hand before leaning closer. They tilt their head slowly to one side, watching me like they’re enjoying watching me gasp for air.
Without a single word, they straighten, back away, and walk out of the stall.
The door slides shut behind them. I lunge toward it, but my knees give out before I make it halfway. I hit the floor on my hands and knees, dragging in desperate, wheezing breaths that never seem to reach my lungs.
My fingers tremble so badly I can barely hold myself up, and black spots creep into my vision.
I know if someone doesn’t find me soon, I’m going to pass out.