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Chapter One

She couldn’t get free No led, Skye couldn’t escape from the handcuffs

Or frorave

The place smelled of blood and death Fear Her fear

Skye’s breath sawed in her lungs Hunger gnawed at her, twisting her stomach The darkness was so complete

She was trapped there Skye knew that she would die there

“Weston is dead” The brutal words came to her in the darkness

Weston Trace Weston Her Trace

He was gone, and, soon, she would be dying, too

Because there was no escape from the darkness Or from the monster that waited there with her

“Skye! Darabbed her Shook her

Tore her right out of the nightmare

Skye Sullivan’s eyelids flew open Light surrounded her, flooding fro onto the rumpled bed

Trace leaned over her His hands rapped tightly around her upper arht that sometimes it almost hurt to look into them—blazed down at her “You corowl “You come back now”

Her heart thudded in a frantic rhythainst her ribs She couldn’t suck in a breath that was deep enough, and Skye realized that her cheeks ith tears

Because that hadn’t just been a nightmare

It had been a memory

Four weeks ago, her ex-lover, Mitch Loxley had kidnapped her He’d kept her captive in a basement Starved her If it hadn’t been for Trace, Skye knew that she would’ve died in that stinking pit

“I’m back,” she said, but the words were hoarse, as if she’d been screa

When Mitch had taken her, she’d screamed for hours Days? Until her voice broke

“He can’t hurt you anyhtened as his gaze swept over her face “Baby, that bastard is rotting in the ground He won’t hurt anyone”

Thanks to Trace Because Trace had killed Mitch

Memories can’t hurt you

Lately, that had become her mantra

Trace bent his head His lips brushed over her cheek “I don’t want you crying because of that SOB”

But she hadn’t been crying for Mitch She’d been crying because…in that twisted memory, Trace hadn’t come to save her

Trace had been dead

She wet her dry lips and stared into his eyes In one way or another, Trace had been the central point of her life since she’d been fifteen years old

He’d saved her the first night theyher Skye had been so certain that no one would hear her cries for help