Chapter 207

The sudden brightness from a set of headlights hit hard.

The glare burned across my vision, forcing my eyes to narrow as instinct kicked in faster than thought, my hand coming up too late to block the worst of it as white flooded everything.

Blinding and flattening the world into nothing but light and motion, stripping away depth, distance, anything I could’ve used to judge how close and how fast the car was moving.

My vision washed out for half a second, maybe less, but it was enough, enough for my body to react before my mind caught up.

My foot shifted back, instinct dragging me out of the direct line, my body starting to turn, to move away, to create space. The car was too close. Coming on too fast. There was no hesitation. No correction. No moment where the driver second-guessed what they were doing.

The passenger door swung open; timed down to the second. I didn’t think, didn’t process. I moved.

But I didn’t get far before a hand caught my arm. Hard.

My breath punched out of me as my body jerked on impact, the force of it snapping me off balance as my other hand came up on instinct, shoving against solid weight, muscle, but man didn’t budge.

“Let go—” I snarled, but my voice didn’t carry.

The grip tightened and another hand caught my wrist. My shoulder. Too many points of contact and too fast to defend.

They knew exactly what they were doing.

I twisted harder, dropping my weight, trying to sink, to anchor myself, my heel scraping against the pavement as I forced my body back, every movement sharp, desperate.

“Stop—” a voice snarled.

I didn’t, wouldn’t. Instead my elbow drove back hard, connecting with something solid. A grunt broke behind me as the hold shifted, just for a second,then I was yanked forward, harder this time, my balance going out from under me as the open door loomed closer, too close.

No. The word hit hard in my mind, and refusal burned through me as my hand shot out, catching the door frame, fingers locking hard, nails scraping metal as I held on, my body twisting, planting, fighting every inch.

Pain shot through my hand; sharp and immediate.

“Get off—” I screamed, the words abruptly being cut off as something slammed into my side, hard enough to knock the air out of me again, my grip faltered.

That’s all it took. My fingers slipped, and my body was pulled forward, inside the vehicle. Shortly after, the door slammed shut.

The world compressed all at once, space shrinking, air shifting, everything closing in around me.Then the smell hit, worn leather. And underneath it, something chemical; sharp, bitter, and wrong.

It burned faint in my throat as I dragged in a breath, my body already twisting again, panic slamming in full force now as my knee drove up, connecting. A voice swore low, and I could hear the sound of bodies shifting, adjusting, as they contained me tighter.

“Hold her—” a voice ordered, low, controlled. Not rushed, not strained.

This wasn’t chaos, and it wasn’t desperation, it was planned. Every second of it.

Hands caught my wrists again, forcing them down. My shoulder hit the seat hard as I fought , twisting, shoving, dragging in breaths that came too fast, too sharp as I was pinned.

“Let me go—” I cried, my voice cracking.

My plea was ignored as something pressed against my neck; cold and sharp.

I jerked instinctively, trying to twist away, but the hold tightened, locking me in place, forcing stillness I couldn’t fight through.

My pulse spiked, hard and fast. Everything went too loud, too bright. Then my body hesitated, like it forgot how to respond. My strength slipped. not all at once, a little at a time, as if it was being peeled back layer by layer.

My breath stuttered, catching halfway in, refusing to come out clean.

“No—” I tried again, but it came out weaker, thinner, my body not backing it the way it should.

My vision blurred at the edges and I forced my eyes open wider, fighting it, trying to focus, trying to track something—anything.

My gaze landed oh front seat and I saw a silhouette. Familiar. Too still. Too composed.

My chest tightened, not all from fear, but from something else as well…recognition that didn’t fully land.

Something about the way the person sat. The angle, the stillness. The fact they didn’t turn, didn’t look back.

Suddenly the car moved. I felt the shift under me, the pull forward. Too smooth, too controlled.

My head hit back against the seat as another wave rolled through me, heavier this time, dragging everything slower, thicker, harder to fight through. Sound dulled, edges softened. Everything slipping just out of reach.

My limbs felt heavier. Slower.

“Torin—” my mind screamed.

The thought barely formed, and didn’t make it out my mouth.

My fingers twitched once, weak, useless against the hold still locking me down as darkness pressed in harder, thicker, swallowing the edges of everything.

The last thing I saw, was the streetlight passing overhead, then everything went dark.