LORETTA

I had imagined so many different ways this could end, and almost every one of them involved being dragged away by those men, taken somewhere no one would find me, and hurt in ways I didn't even want to imagine.

What I hadn't imagined was being rescued.

And certainly not by the one person my mind had kept running to even while I was staring death in the face.

Elion

For a few seconds that felt like an eternity, I could only stare at him, unable to decide whether I wanted to run into his arms or disappear beneath the creaky floorboards.

He stood in the doorway like he...