outbuilding, disturbed by my sudden appearance. If I tried to run, they’d rip me to pieces. The first tear fell, and hopelessness pulled on my body so heavily, I dropped to my knees. There was no escaping this place. No escaping him, who pushed my morals to the wayside and turned me into someone I didn’t recognize. The truth was, I didn’t know who I was. I’d never really known. As the wind whipped at my curls, tears ran down my cheeks, and the cold drew its icy fingers over my skin, I felt closer to that girl with dirt on her face and Edgar Allen Poe in her hand than I had in a long time. And that terrified me. Like a single snowflake drifting to Miami’s hot pavement, if I escaped this alive and returned home, I wouldn’t belong. I remained still when Ronan’s presence touched my back, ready for the torture to begin. He lowered to his haunches in front of me and brushed the tears from my cheek. His words held steady against the breeze that tousled my hair. “Where is your God now, kotyonok?” Goose bumps rose to my skin, but they weren’t from the cold. The shiver was out of fear the devil had a soft side. Nothing was more frightening than a whisper beckoning me to step into the dark. Then he lifted my deadweight and carried me back to hell. OceanofPDE:.com