Callie continued to berate herself, unable to stop, as she got angrier at her own stupidity.
What did Evander even see in her? She was never this accident-prone, but then again, he did have to save her from being nearly raped in the back of the freaking strip club. Was she really this big of a mess?
She kept her hands clenched tight and stayed perfectly still. Even as she breathed in and out and took her time, she also tried not to be too loud. Her heart felt like it was pounding inside her chest. She couldn’t erase that sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, or the horrible feeling that no matter what she did, this was going to end in disaster.
She had no idea where she was, what was happening, or what she should do. All she could do was wait. After this, would Evander even want her? He said he loved her, but could he love someone who seemed to always be in danger?
She heard the sound of scuffling, and she froze, hoping it was Evander coming back to let her know all the danger was gone and they were going home.
It shouldn’t be this hard to stay safe. She tried not to panic, but nothing was helping.
It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s going to be Evander again and we’re going to leave, and everything will be more then fine.
She didn’t even dare speak aloud, for fear of jinxing herself.
“Well, lookie, lookie, what do I have here?”
Callie cried out as she turned, only to be hit across the face. Stars burst across her vision and she collapsed to the ground, attempting to guard her head, but her assailant only went on to kick her hard. She cried out from the sudden pain.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” he said. “Your mother made a mistake trying to blackmail me. I just wish she was here to witness what’s going to happen to you.”
What was he talking about? Callie didn’t know how Byron had been able to escape from Evander, but he grabbed her hair and started to pull. She couldn’t contain her scream, and she let it out.
She had tried to stop making him angry, but nothing worked. This man was pure evil. He was going to hurt her, possibly even kill her. She thought his issues were with Evander, but he was talking about her mother. If she didn’t do something now, she was going to die, and then Evander would have done all of this for nothing. He didn’t deserve that.
Filling her lungs with all the air she was going to need, Callie rent out a scream, and she didn’t stop until she got slapped across the face, spun around, and a foot slammed onto her stomach, making her gasp.
This was not going to stop her. She hadn’t suddenly become immune to the pain, but she was not going to allowherself to be taken by this monster. She was done making this easy. Even as she coughed up some blood from his kick, she didn’t allow herself to stay down for long. She breathed in again, screamed, and she didn’t stop.
Even as he went to kick her, she didn’t just lay there and take it, she attempted to dodge it, and at one point even reached out to grab his ankle. She sunk her nails into his skin, tearing at his flesh. He let out a growl and tried to hit her, but she pulled hard, making him stumble to his back.
Callie got to her feet and ran. Even though every fiber of her being was telling her to get to Evander, she took off running. She couldn’t make out the location. There were broken metal and car frames absolutely everywhere.
Callie didn’t know how long she was going to be able to evade him. She just needed long enough to make it to safety. Tears ran down her cheeks, and she didn’t even feel like she was crying. She was just trying to survive. Her heart raced and she felt sick to her stomach.
She rounded a corner and cried as a gunshot rang out, and without checking to see if she had been hit, she just kept running in the opposite direction. All she wanted to do was live.
She was tired of people trying to hurt her, or kill her, or constantly tell her she was nothing. Every single person but Evander had told her how useless she was, that she should just accept her lot in life. Well, that was over, and it ended now. She was done playing this way, or being this way. She was not going to take this lying down. Byron was not going to kill her.
Callie didn’t know if it was stupidity, plain luck, or she was truly at the end of her tether, but glancing down at the floor, she saw a metal rod. She had never used one in her life, but she picked it up. She was done with this game of cat-and-mouse. She was done being hit and kicked.
It was time for Byron to understand he had messed with the wrong woman.
****
Evander looked down at the bodies and he wasn’t happy. None of them were Byron. The slippery little weasel had managed to evade him, and it was pissing him off. He wanted to kill him. Actually, he wanted to make it slow, to erase him from existence.
“Fuck me, there is no way he escaped,” Bastian said, standing up after being crouched over several of the bodies, and he scratched his head.
He ran a hand down his face, as he attempted to think of the best way to locate Byron. Only, he heard a scream, and he knew instantly it was Callie.
“What the ever-loving fuck?” Bastian asked.
“It’s Callie!” He didn’t stop as he suddenly took off, making his way outside, and of course, Callie wasn’t where he fucking put her.
The screaming had lasted for a few seconds, or had it been minutes? He didn’t know. The sound kept going off inside his head, and he kept trying to figure it out, but nothing was helping him right now.
He locked and loaded his gun while running, because Byron was not leaving these grounds. This ended tonight. Bastian was at his back, and he heard footfalls close behind.