Skylar's POV.....
My head rested against my knee, the cold floor beneath me doing little to numb the rising panic in my chest. Footsteps echoed beyond the door—slow, deliberate.
Voices followed, low and indistinct until one cut through the silence like a blade.
"Master Lucien said to bring the girl up."
The girl. Were they talking about me? Master Lucien—was that the name of the man behind this nightmare? My kidnapper?
It didn't matter. If they were moving me, that was my chance. I had to use it well.
The footsteps drew closer. I pushed myself up, backing away from the door. Metal clinked as keys jangled and scraped against the lock. My heart thundered.
The door creaked open. A man stepped in—tall, built like a wall, and scarred from cheek to chin.
His smile was a twisted, cruel thing.
"Up you go," he said, his voice rough, smirking like he'd already undressed me in his mind.
He gave me a slow once-over, eyes crawling over my body. I glared at him, but he only chuckled.
We walked through the dim hallway for what felt like forever. Something was wrong—I knew this wasn't the way out. We stopped, and the unease in my gut deepened.
"Lucien's got good taste," the man muttered, turning to face me.
Confused, I barely had time to react before he advanced.
I backed away, only to hit a wall. My pulse quickened. He was too close.
"Maybe I'll have a taste before he does," he whispered, trapping me between his arms as he grabbed my chin.
Disgusting.
I spat in his face. "Fuck off."
He didn't expect the blow—I kneed him hard, right in the groin. He doubled over with a growl of pain, and I ran.
I didn't look back.
I tore through the halls blindly, the sound of his furious curses chasing me like a storm.
I didn't know where I was going, only that I had to get out.
Then—finally—a lobby. Empty. Silent.
I followed a gut feeling and bolted toward the kitchen. Two maids stood near the counter.
I snatched a flower vase and hurled it in the opposite direction. It shattered. They turned instinctively.
I slipped through the back door.
Freedom.
I could see it. Taste it.
Then—
A single, deafening gunshot.
The man ahead of me crumpled.
Blood.
I froze. My mind fractured. My vision blurred. My knees buckled.
Darkness swallowed me whole.
---
Lucien's POV
From my room above, I reviewed documents that could alter the future of my empire—until something on the security feed caught my eye.
Her.
The girl I had ordered to be brought to me. She was running. Running.
Idiots. Incompetent bastards. They couldn't even handle a simple task.
I wasn't about to lose what I'd just gotten my hands on.
So I did what I had to do. I raised my gun, aimed at Donny—the fool who let her slip—and pulled the trigger.
One shot.
He dropped like a puppet cut from its strings.
She stopped. Shock painted her expression. Her legs faltered. She clutched her head as the world tilted, then crumbled to the ground.
Good.
Now she wouldn't run again.