Defaced: A Dark Romance Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

turned to catch sight of the person chasing her, she only saw a male figure silhouetted against the light. She turned to run again, knowing she was heading into the utter black, but unable to do anything else. From her right, another man stepped out of the darkness. He lunged at her, a knife in his hand, and to her horror, sank the blade into her arm. The blade sank deep, but he withdrew it and stabbed, and stabbed again …
     
     
    ***
     
     
    The clang of the doors being opened woke her. A scream lodged like a piece of raw meat in her throat, her breath heaving in and out of her lungs. Her whole body was coated in a cold sweat, and pain cramped her right arm where she’d been lying on it in the awkward position with her hands still tied behind her back.
    But she didn’t have time to analyze her dream—not that it took much analyzing—and it skittered away from her conscious mind. She had far more real terrors to face.
    Both men walked in. This time they made their way directly toward her.
    She didn’t want to stay in this horrific, soulless container, but the possibility of what would come next terrified her more.
    “No, please,” she begged as they bent to grab her by the upper arms. “You’ve mistaken me for someone else. I’m not what you want.”
    Cigarette Hands grinned. “You’re exactly who we want. We don’t do these things on a whim, bitch.”
    Together, they hauled her to her feet.
    They’d come to take her to whatever fate had in store.

 
     
    Four
     
     
     
     
     
    A cloth bag was pulled over her head, blocking her view of the outside world, and she was dragged back outside.
    Because she’d been held at a port, Lily had assumed she’d end up on a ship, but instead she was thrown onto the back seat of a car. The softness of the leather upholstery beneath her face and body made her want to cry with pleasure after spending so many hours on the hard metal. At least this time she wasn’t being made to suffer the claustrophobia of the trunk. She guessed the reason for the change was that she wouldn’t be kept in the car for long. If they were already at a port, she assumed they’d simply be transferring her to a ship.
    Except the car seemed to be leaving the port, the sound of water and foghorns growing fainter as they drove away.
    Numerous questions went through her mind. How long would she be in the car for? Where were they taking her? What would happen to her when she got there? But after only an estimated twenty minutes, the car stopped and the engine switched off.
    Lily froze, trying to get some idea of where she was now.
    A thrum of engines met her ears, but not of cars or boats. No, they were airplane engines.
    Oh, God. A plane. How far was she being taken? If they took her to another country, she would never be found. She’d just become another statistic.
    Her mind reeled with fright. No one would be looking for her yet, and when they did notice she was gone, they’d never find her in another country. No one cared about her enough to push a search so far. Whatever awaited her at the end of this journey would be it, for good. She’d never get back to her old life. If she was to be subjected to the sort of life she’d imagined for the other girls in the container, she didn’t think she’d want to live a life at all.
    I’ll kill myself before I allow myself to be used like that , she vowed. What was her life anyway? Yes, she’d helped people, and that was the one satisfaction she took out of her existence. She regretted that the people who might have been in her future would no longer receive the benefit of her skill and experience, but they would find someone else. She was sure her patients wouldn’t want anyone else, that they’d swear she was the best in her field, and they would have been right, but others would be able to help them. They wouldn’t lose their lives because of what was transpiring right here and now.
    Unlike her.
    The car door opened with a clunk, and