Page 199 of Rite of Unity

I kicked him off me, watching as he fell backward into the dirt.

Overhead, thunder cracked, jolting me back to my body.

Escape.I had to escape.

The man’s eyes dulled, his stare on some distant point.I didn’t waste time checking for a pulse.I leaned down, wrapping my arms around him and dragging him away from the door.

Thunder clapped again, and a drop splashed my cheek.It burned.I winced, pulling harder on the dead weight.Another drop landed on my calf, and I gasped.Ten feet.It would have to be enough.

Soft rattling sounded from under the bushes.A snake was coiled tight, hissing each time a splash landed.Our eyes met.You won’t survive here.

Then, the sky broke open.I ran.

Under the roof’s overhang, I wiped my wet arms, whimpering as red welts rose.

I had to wash it off.

Where are you?

Inching around the side of the house, back to the front door, a set of lights flashed on once, then off.At the end of the drive, a dark car with one-way windows made my chest swell.

I waved my hands over my head.

He was parked less than two hundred yards away—still a death sentence in this rain.

My limbs trembled, the events of the evening catching up with me.

The engine purred as the car rolled toward Elias’s driveway.

It stopped as a set of bright beams flashed onto the road, barreling toward him.

He rolled forward, lights off, past the drive, and my chest tightened.

No.

A massive black vehicle bounced toward me, headlights blinding me.I swore, turning and grabbing the front door.I twisted it, pushed inside, and ran to the hall restroom.

I scrubbed.He would wait.We would wait for the rain to stop.

I splashed my face.Again.

The welts were deflating.

I lifted a leg into the sink, cupping water and pouring it over tender flesh, then did the same with the others.The water ran down my thighs, and I reached for the soap, foaming it between my fingers and scrubbing between my legs.

I rubbed harder.Until it burned from my fingers and nothing else.

When I’d washed the rain—and his dirty fingers—away, I slid down the wall, my head falling against it.

Thoughts strayed to the tender flesh at my hips, my breast.

I had killed a man tonight.He had put his hands on me, and I had killed him.Both of those things were true; I didn’t know which one my body was still shaking from.

I stood.The night wasn’t over.

Calden wouldn’t leave.He would wait all night.I would too.

Ear pressed to the door, I waited for the sound to die before moving haltingly to August’s office, leaving the door slightly ajar.