I wasn’t pregnant. I was sure of it. I couldn’t let him know that. Not yet.
Grasping for something—anything—I blurted, “What if the baby is Isaac’s?”
Jay stilled, his hand still resting on the pregnancy test as he set it carefully on the nightstand. “Was there anyone else, besides Isaac?”
“No.”
He relaxed, dropping the test and readjusting the collar of his shirt the way he always did when he was calming his temper. “Then it doesn’t matter. His blood is my blood.”
“This isn’t you, Jay. I know what Saul did to you. I know everything and—"
He moved so fast I couldn’t see it. Suddenly, Jay was towering over me, eyes wild, face elongating in that terrible, otherworldly way.
“You don’t know me.”
He crossed the room, his lip twitching as he said, “Now I’m going to see my cousin.”
“Please don’t!” I jumped up from the chair, racing after him.
“Larson will give you thirty minutes to take that test. If you don’t use it, there will be consequences. For both of you.”
The door slipped between my fingers as it slammed shut. “Don’t hurt him! You don’t have to do this!”
I twisted the knob, realizing too late that it had been reversed, putting the lock on the outside of the bedroom.
I raced into the bathroom, digging through drawers until I found a bobby pin.
I fiddled with the lock until my fingers cramped. The pin hit the floor with a quietclink.
The window was next. I pulled the curtains back, swallowing a scream when I saw the man from the SUV standing just a few feet away from the glass.
His grin was animal, his features sharpening in the way I was coming to recognize.
I whipped the curtains back into place, backing up until I hit the bed.
My lungs seized. Stars danced in my eyes.
The pink plastic of the pregnancy test stood out on the dark wood of the nightstand. I took it between my fingers, chewing the inside of my cheek.
I rushed into the bathroom, kneeling in front of the toilet and dry heaving. My elbow hit a row of cleaning products, knocking them to the floor. I stared at the blue bleach spilling out of the cap, my mind racing for a way out.
Okay. Thirty minutes.
I knew what I had to do.
Chapter 23
Blood Runs Thickers
Isaac
Blooddriedbetweenmyfingers, leaving them sticky and cool. A soft breeze wove between the trees, making me sway with the branch I was bound to.
With enough force, I might snap that branch, pulling it to the ground and letting it take me with it. The real problem was the chain between my hands. It was built for this—to restrain a beast.
Running wouldn’t be impossible, but fighting might.
There were two wolves a distance away. One leaned against a tree, spitting dark streams of tobacco into the dirt. I recognized the other. The kid who ambushed Tara.