Chapter 13 #2
Yet … in some deep place of her soul, she knew that wouldn't happen. Voodoo was the real deal, she’d felt safer with him than she ever had before.
With her first ex, she was so young, so desperate for love and affection that she knew she’d ignored dozens of red flags.
With her second ex, she’d always been aware of how very different their lives had been, how much better he was than her, and she’d always tried to be on her best behavior, not wanting to let him down, which meant she’d never gotten to just be herself.
That wasn't an issue when she was with Voodoo. He didn't expect anything from her, didn't look down at her, didn't think less of her because she’d been abused so badly. All he saw was her, and when she was around him, she felt protected in a way she’d craved all her life.
Voodoo was safety, he was hope, he was life … maybe one day he could even be love.
Which is why she wasn't going to give up. Why she was going to keep fighting, give this everything she had.
As she ran, Indigo barely felt the rocks, sticks, and roots digging into the soles of her bare feet.
Since she didn't register pain, all she felt was the pressure of each item that jabbed into her skin. That and the cold. Not fully recovered from the infections that had been close to stealing her life, she still couldn’t seem to get her body to properly tolerate temperature extremes the way it was supposed to.
Wasn't just her feet that were cold, her entire body shivered even as she refused to slow down, wanting to put as much distance between herself and the crashed car as she could.
Her plan had worked.
Burning man had lost control of the car when she’d bitten him, and they’d careened down the embankment before slamming into a tree.
Because she didn't feel pain, Indigo wasn't sure if she’d been injured in the crash, and there hadn't been time to pause and take stock to check herself for injuries. She did know the impact had broken the plastic zip ties binding her wrists, leaving her free to focus on running.
The man in the passenger seat, the one who called her kitty, and who kept droning on about how much he would love to sexually assault her, hadn't been wearing a seatbelt.
His body had been flung forward, his skull colliding with the windscreen as the car impacted the tree.
There was no way he could survive an injury like that, so she knew he was dead.
But burning man had been groaning when she shoved open her door and climbed out. Because she’d been in between the back and front seats, in that little space on the floor of the car, as they hit, she was pretty sure she wasn't hurt. If she was, she didn't think she’d be able to run like she was.
And she was running like the devil himself was on her heels, because in a way that was exactly her situation.
Maybe Dr. Gardner wasn't the devil, maybe burning man wasn't either, but they were pretty darn close. Close enough that she was as scared of them as she would be of the devil.
If burning man caught her …
Maybe thinking about that wasn't such a good idea right now.
So Indigo tried not to think of anything as she ran. Just pictured Voodoo’s handsome face, the tenderness in his eyes as he gazed at her, the heat as he kissed her, the promise of more when she was ready in each touch, each caress, each brush of his fingers on her skin.
All she had to do was survive, and all of that could be hers.
Between the dark, the shaky feeling in her broken leg each time her foot struck the ground, and the heaving in her chest as her lungs begged her to take a break and allow them time to rest, she was struggling.
The drugs she’d been given gave enhancements to all of her senses, so her sight might be better than the average person, but it wasn't good enough to see normally in the dark.
To that end, it had always been only a matter of time before she hit something.
Turned out to be a broken tree branch. She ran right into it, bounced off it, and went down hard. A brief flare of pain quickly dissipated into nothing, and she rolled onto her back, struggling to drag enough air into her lungs.
Realistically speaking, how much longer could she keep running?
There was no way to know how badly injured burning man was. Sticking around and checking him over certainly hadn't been in her plan, she’d just escaped and run, but he’d been alive, and she had to believe he might be following her.
Was she just supposed to keep running until she collapsed? Until she was physically incapable of taking another step?
Rolling back onto her stomach, she managed to get to all fours before she swayed, the weight of standing too much. It would be so much easier to just curl up in a ball, let nature take its course, let whatever was going to happen just happen.
No.
That’s the voices in your head urging you to give in.
You can't listen to them. Can't let them win.
Out there somewhere is Voodoo, all you have to do is get to him and everything will be okay.
That was enough to get her back on her feet, and Indigo resumed running.
For a while at least.
Slowly, her falls got more frequent, and it was harder to get back up each time she went down.
The forest seemed to get thicker.
Darker.
Quieter.
Until all of a sudden, it wasn't quiet anymore.
“Keep doing what you're doing, bait,” a voice sneered.
It wasn't close, but she immediately recognized it as belonging to burning man.
Somehow, he must be following whatever trail she was leaving behind, because what were the chances that he would randomly wind up in the same part of the forest that she was in?
Stopping, hand pressed against the closest tree trunk to keep herself upright, Indigo did her best to keep her harsh breathing as quiet as possible. How far away was he? Could he hear her? Did he know where she was or only that she was somewhere nearby?
“Your stupid little car prank didn't change anything. They’re out there, and they’ll track you, you’ll lead them straight into a trap,” burning man taunted.
That was the last thing she wanted to do.
Finding Voodoo meant everything to her, but it was also selfish.
He was better off on his own, she was a major liability, and she didn't bring much to the table to even that out.
Her ability to not feel pain only benefited her, not anyone else.
It wouldn't help protect Voodoo and his team, nor would it help them fight against Dr. Gardner.
No.
Don’t listen to him.
Voodoo and the rest of Delta Team are going to destroy Dr. Gardner and anyone who stands on his side.
Taking off in the opposite direction from where she thought burning man was, Indigo refused to allow his words to affect her.
She refused to allow anything negative to affect her.
Voodoo had told her that just because her past had been dark didn't mean her future couldn’t be light, and that’s what she was going to hold onto.
Keep moving.
Don’t give in to the voices in her head.
Find Voodoo.
Destroy them all.
That was her plan, she just had to find a way to make it happen before exhaustion, weakness, the environment, and the man chasing her caught up with her.