Whatever they injected into me back at the apartment was just enough to take the edge off my awareness, but not enough to knock me out cold. My mind is slow, but not numb. My body feels like a lead weight, but I’m still aware of every bump in the road as I’m jostled against one of the other girls in the back of the van with me.

Time is like quicksand, slipping away but all the while not getting anywhere at all. I’m in a half-consciousness that makes my situation more torturous than anything before.

Everything I ever knew to be true up until now, is gone. It’s all been ripped away from me in a cruel twist of fate, and now, there’s nothing.

No hope.

No life.

No love.

Vaughn has betrayed me in the worst way possible. I thought he wanted to protect me all these years. But he was feeding a sick, perverted obsession, and killed everyone that was ever important to me along the way. He killed my mom and brother to get to me, making me vulnerable and in need of his comfort. He killed Mac because I was getting too close to him, and that fucking destroys me. He didn't deserve that. No one deserves what Vaughn Campbell curses them with. Jealousy has fractured his composure and blackened his soul even further. He cultured a twisted madness that I lived in for years, for all of my adult life and some of my youth. I encouraged it without even being aware I was doing it.

I don’t know where I'll end up. I can't get my head around someone wanting to buy me. I've heard about human trafficking, but I didn't think it would happen to me. One thing I do know is that unless I can find a way back into Ramsey’s arms, with my new family, the only family that’s ever truly felt like home, I might as well be going to hell.

I’m giving up. The fire in my belly is fizzling out, and I don’t know how to get it started again. It's being suffocated by evil.

The darkness doesn’t even bring the stars this time. It brings nothing but pain and despair.

I push a scream from my chest, putting everything behind it and hoping that someone will hear me. But it’s hopeless. Nothing but a weak cry slips from my lips. A cry that turns into a sob, that in turn racks my whole body with the most painful realization of all.

I’m sold.

I drift in and out of consciousness until an excruciating pain pulses through my skull, and my hair feels like it’s being yanked from my head. The rope around my ankles is released, and I try to kick out as I'm dragged against the cold, hard ground, battling with the darkness in my head, fighting one last time for my freedom.

But a voice grabs ahold of my awareness, hauling it past the heavy, detached feeling and bringing it to the surface.

“Sadie!” he calls. 

A voice I recognize. A sound that I hold on to, a life buoy in the tempestuous sea that’s trying to pull me under. I open my eyes and focus on the source.

JJ.

My dad. My hero.

I twist my head around to see the bearer of my pain. The cause of all of our pain. Expecting to see Vaughn, but instead finding Rev towering above me.

“What do you want, Rev?” JJ asks, the calm in his voice betrayed by the heavy breaths he’s taking, and I silently start to pray. I pray that we all get out of this alive. There’s been too much death. Too much sadness.

“That’s a good question,” Rev muses above me, his grip tightening in my hair as he ponders the question. Everything is still so cloudy in my head. Voices echo in my ears, figures move around us, but I can only make out JJ for sure. “I wanted everything you had. Reno. Annie. Little Sadie.”

My stomach churns. The sound of his voice stings my skin. His presence makes me fearful like never before and the more he talks, the more the adrenaline rushes through my body, pushing my consciousness to the surface. Making me want to fight, and stoking that fire in my belly because there's something to live for. A life—Ramsey, JJ, and Lia, and with him here for me, I battle with lucidity, pushing the fog in my head away as best I can.

Rev throws me into the concrete ground with force, and I barely have time to twist my body so I don't land flat on my face.

“Untie her,” Rev orders, flicking his wrist in my direction.

“What?” Vaughn snaps in disbelief.

“She's not gonna run, is she? She can barely stand up. Look at her. She's fucking pathetic. Besides,” he chuckles low in his belly, “it's much more fun trying to fuck her up when she's actually a bit of a challenge.”

Rev strides forward, squaring up to JJ, and I smile inwardly. He doesn't think I'm a threat. He doesn't know that with every passing second, my consciousness is screaming to wrap its fingers around his throat. So I play along. And as I flick the hair from my face, and my gaze starts to focus on my surroundings, there’s a vision I had only imagined would be there.

My knight. Not in shining armor, but black leather.

Ramsey Dalton.

He pleads for me to stay strong with the look in his eyes. He begs for me to hold out and keep fighting. But he’s flanked by Nate. And Nate’s face is set hard when he realizes we’re exchanging glances.

“I will take everything from you,” Rev tells JJ, his voice booming between us all as he gets up in JJ’s face. Vaughn moves in beside me, a warning that he’s still there, and a thud sounds in the air as Rev head-butts JJ, dropping him to the ground.

“No!” I cry out, as JJ staggers to his feet, stunned by the sudden blow.

“You’ll never take my daughter as long as I have breath in my body,” JJ warns, touching his hand to his face, and talking through bloodied teeth. I cry out for him, snapping my head back and forth between JJ and Ram.

There has to be something I can do. Anything. There has to be a way out of this.

As each moment passes, and I'm able to assess the situation, I lose a little more hope. I know what Vaughn and Rev are capable of, and against JJ, Ramsey, and I—unarmed, drugged, and outmanned, it doesn't look good.

“Whatever you want, I’ll get it for you,” JJ says, holding out a hand between him and Rev as an offering.

“I don’t need anything from you anymore.” Rev shakes his head, sucking in a breath through his teeth. “I had your lover. I had your daughter, and now, when I end your sad existence and send your heart to your wife, Lia, in a box, I’ll swoop in and take her and Reno, too.”

His words attack my mind, and it spins in all directions to try and process what he just said. He alluded to it back at the house—that I tasted sweet—and the pieces of the puzzle all start to fall into place, and my stomach lurches as I glance up at him.

It was Rev that raped me that night.

I had blocked it out as much as I could. But his voice. His words. They wound me like shards of glass being dragged slowly across my skin.

“You?” Vaughn asks beside me, his voice quivering in disbelief as he slowly moves away from me and closer to Rev. “You took her body? You said it was—”

“I lied,” Rev barks, snapping his head around and raising his chin as his lips pull into a sour grin. “And she was sweet as candy, my friend.”

Both JJ and Ramsey make a move toward Rev, propelled by rage. But Vaughn lunges for him too—a roar bursting from his chest and echoing around the space as he makes contact with Rev first.

Nate makes sure Ramsey doesn't move by jabbing the gun into his back. JJ stands back to let Vaughn and Rev fight it out. “I’ll kill you!” Vaughn screams. “She was supposed to be mine.”

“Not if I kill you first,” Rev replies, grappling with Vaughn as they wrestle on the ground. I look at JJ, not knowing what the hell to do but realizing that this is our only chance. JJ nods at the van, and I glance over in time to see Tex emerge from the flatbed at the back of the truck, and fire several bullets at the men as they fight.

There are screams and commotion as JJ runs to my side, grabbing my face in his hands and looking at me with desperate concern blazing in his wide eyes. “You okay?”

“I don’t know. I—”

He lowers his head and whispers. “The second you have a chance, get out of here. You hear me?” I nod, but it’s only a split second before there’s more yelling.

“I’ll kill him!” Nate shouts with his arms wrapped around Ramsey’s throat and his gun to his head, and everything falls silent. The seconds that follow, play in slow motion and give me time to take stock of exactly what’s happening here.

Tex now stands, with his gun trained over Rev and Vaughn who have both been shot, but only Vaughn seems to be moving—moaning in pain and clutching his chest.

“Let him go,” JJ booms, standing tall and widening his shoulders.

“No,” Nate answers.

“Nate,” I plead, getting to my feet. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tex toss a pistol to JJ. “You don’t want this. This isn’t you. This isn’t the Nate I know.” His gaze softens for a minute—that bond I thought we had for all these years showing itself. I slowly step toward him, my nerves hidden well, but with every footstep I take, it feels like my body is going to give out.

There are bodies everywhere. But I don’t care about that. The look in Nate’s eyes is crazed. He’s losing control of the situation, and himself, and all it would take is one bullet to end Ramsey’s life, and ultimately mine too.

“Please, Nate. Let him go. We can all walk away from this.”

“Sadie,” JJ warns behind me, but I continue and close my eyes for a second, saying a little prayer as I move closer to them. I’m close enough that I can smell Ramsey’s cologne, and I can see the pulse in his neck trying to burst from his skin. His eyes blaze. Fear and love flashing fiercely between us.

“Just let him go. I’ll sort it. I’ll sort it all,” I tell Nate, and for a moment, he drops his guard. And in that second, Tex fires. A risky shot that blows a hole right through Nate’s brain. As he drops to the ground with a thud, the risk pays off, and Ramsey rushes forward, slamming into me so hard he almost knocks me off my feet. He pulls me roughly, almost violently, to him, wrapping his arms around my body so tight I think he’s trying to press all of my broken pieces back together.

“Sadie,” he pants, letting me go and thrusting his hands into my hair. “Did they hurt you?”

I shake my head. “I thought I’d never see you again.”

“I’m here. It’s okay. I’m gonna make it all okay.” He nods with a taut jerk of his head. “Prez?” He calls over to JJ who’s now on the ground with Vinny, pressing on his stomach to stem the bleeding.

“He’s not dead. Yet.”

“Get him in the fucking truck. Tex, get him to the nearest hospital, now!” Ramsey orders and Tex nods solemnly. “What about them?” Ramsey grabs Nate’s gun that’s skittered across the ground and swings his gaze to Rev and Vaughn, who groans, trying to roll onto his side. “Just one of them alive?” Ram asks, shoving Rev with his foot.

“Yes, sir,” Tex calls over his shoulder, hauling what looks like more dead bodies out of the back of his truck. If he’s taking Vinny to the hospital, he can’t turn up with them on board. I guess there’s more to tonight than I know about—the lengths they’ve gone to get here, to rescue me. It’s all more than I can take, and more than I want to know. I feel broken just thinking about it, but then I hear Ramsey’s voice, and I know it’s worth it. 

“You’ve taken their weapons?” Ramsey calls out, and Tex just raises his brow at him. Ram shouldn’t have to ask this. It’s a given. “Was there anyone in the van with you? Do you remember?” He dips his head, speaking intently to me.

“There are others. Other girls,” I say, my lips quivering as I try and control the fear I felt in my bones when Vaughn told me I was sold. I hate feeling so weak. The drugs in my system are temporarily suppressed by the adrenaline racing around my body but the fear, it’s real, and I fucking hate every second of it.

“But no more men?” he asks, and I shake my head.

“No. I only saw Vaughn, Nate, and Rev at the apartment.” I glance over to Vaughn, contempt playing a death march in my head. “Give me a gun,” I demand, pulling my shoulders back.

“What?” Ramsey frowns.

“You heard me.”

“Sadie—”

“Give me a goddamn motherfucking gun!” I yell, drawing JJ and Tex’s attention too. Ramsey eyes me cautiously through knitted brows, but slowly offers me Nate’s gun.

“What are you gonna do, Sadie?” he asks, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Something I should have done long ago. I’m taking control. Go and help Tex.” I snatch the gun from his hand, walking over to JJ who has Vaughn laying down on his front with his hands behind his back. I place my hand on JJ’s shoulder, reassuring him that I’m all right, and he smiles up at me, showing me he understands. A look of relief, bewilderment, and respect in his eyes. My heart warms, the long forgotten corners that I never knew existed coming to life and proving to me that good will always overcome evil. Hurt and pain only serves to remind us that we’re human and that you always have to believe there’s a way out, even when the darkness threatens to pull you under. “Get him up,” I order, raising my chin.

“Sadie, I—”

“Please,” I whisper, and he yanks at Vaughn’s arms, dragging him up off the concrete. Vaughn is pale, his breaths are shallow, and he’s lost a lot of blood. But he’s not dead yet, and I want answers.

“Hey,” I say sharply, slapping his face. He hangs loosely in JJ’s arms, but raises his head, trying to focus on me through heavy-lidded eyes. “What was it all for, Vaughn? This was how you got your kicks?”

“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, his head rolling downward. His words, those two little words, mean nothing to me. They mean he knows what he did was wrong, but he did it anyway. He’s selfish, fucked up, sick in the head, and I despise him. Because he’s not the man that brought me up. Not the man I recognize as being my father figure, protector, and in a weird way, a friend.

All these years, he was all I had. But it was all a lie.

“He ruined my life, Vaughn. He took my childhood and tore it apart!” My throat stings as I scream in his face. “You said he was dead. You said you killed the man that did that to me.”

“Didn’t know.” He breathes out hoarsely. “Lied to me.” 

“He killed my mom and my brother!” Years of pent up anger, frustration, questioning why? Who? And he’s right here at my feet. “I hate you!” I scream at Rev’s lifeless body, unloading several bullets into his chest. His body jolts and JJ throws his shoulder up to shield him from the close impact of lead on flesh.

I know he’s already dead. But it was always my life’s mission to find this man, to take his last breath, and to find some kind of justice for my mom and brother. Those bullets were my retribution, and in a weird, warped way, it’s given me some kind of closure.

But Vaughn, he’s still here. Although the breaths are shallow in his chest, he breathes the air that my family should be breathing. He walks the earth, living his twisted dream, playing God and making no apologies for it. I stand directly in front of him, looking him up and down and seeing him for the man he really is, not the man he pretended to be, and I curl my lip—repulsion and hatred seeping out of my pores.

I grab his face roughly, my fingernails digging into his skin, and force his faltering gaze to mine. “My family was never yours to take. My body was never yours to break. The only place you’re going now is hell.” I push the gun under his chin, expecting some kind of fear to flash in his eyes. But he laughs. A manic laughter that rings through my ears and echoes around my head.

“Stupid girl,” he slurs.

“Goodbye, Vaughn,” I say sadly, squeezing my finger on the trigger.

“He’s not dead.” He laughs once again, stopping me in my tracks and making me hold back. “Your mother was a whore. But your brother was…” His words taper off, and I pull the gun from under his chin and grab his face with both hands.

“NO! You don’t get to check out, Vaughn. My brother was what?”

“Sold,” he whispers as his eyes roll back into his head and his body becomes a dead weight in JJ’s arms.

“Fuck,” JJ hisses as I shake Vaughn fiercely, willing him to pull through for just one more minute.

My brother. Does this mean what I think it means? Is he alive?

“Drop him, JJ. I have to bring him back. I have to know,” I say desperately, my voice shaking with disbelief.

“He’s gone, Princess.” He drops the body, laying him out on the ground, and I fall to my knees, starting compressions on his chest.

The world echoes and spins around me. My arms grow tired from fighting to keep him alive. My body succumbs to the elevated emotion and fear that I’ve suffered for too long, and I cry. Slamming my fists into Vaughn’s empty chest, I cry.

For everything.

For all I’ve lost. The pain I’ve endured. The demons I’ve lived with, which will haunt me until the day I die.

But amongst all that pain, is a glimmer of hope.

A fire in the stars that burns brightly, even on the darkest of nights.

Because if Vaughn’s right… My brother is alive.