Free Evanesce (The Darkness #2) by Cassia Brightmore

twisted her body and suddenly there was a knife in her hands, one that Brooke hadn’t seen before. The two women locked eyes and Brooke knew what she was going to do.
    “Red no!” she screamed just as she raised the knife and plunged it into her own throat, catching Marcus’s fingers in the process. Blood spurted out in every direction, coating Marcus, spraying into Brooke’s face. Marcus yelled and dropped Red to the ground, where she gurgled and clutched at her throat.
    “No, no no,” Brooked yelled, horrified at what she was seeing. Milo headed her way, cutting off her moment of grief. Run, Brooke. Now.
    Spinning, she ran for the door and fumbled with the buttons on the keypad. Crying harder in relief when it flicked green, she yanked the door open and ran down the vast concrete steps. Hearing the commotion behind her, she darted left, hoping to throw them off track.
    Marcus’s thunderous roar could be heard behind her, but she couldn’t stop. Legs pumping hard, she fought for the strength to run as fast as she could. Tears choked her and blinded her vision, but she didn’t give up. Escape was the only option. The green grass covered the property on all sides, she had no idea where she was going. She needed a place to hide until she could reach the main gate…maybe there was a phone, a megaphone, a smoke signal—it didn’t fucking matter.
    A searing pain ripped through her head as her hair was yanked. Landing with a hard thud on the ground, she looked up into the slimy face of Dr. Daniels.
    “Dear. This was very foolish of you,” he told her. Gasping for breath, Brooke rolled over and with a cough, sat up.
    Dr. Daniels tsked at her, and removed a hankerchief from his pocket. Taking his glasses off his nose, he began to clean them as if it was just any other regular day. Marcus and Milo appeared behind him and Brooke knew it was over. Her escape plan had been ruined. Grabbing her by the arms, Milo dragged her back to the house. She kicked, she screamed, bit, scratched and punched but it was no use. She had no weapons and he had her at such an angle and any self-defense tactics she could have tried, would be useless.
    Entering the foyer, Milo tossed her onto the floor next to Red. Sliding in her blood, Brooke checked frantically for a pulse. “Red? Red can you hear me?” Crying, she knew she was gone. She had found her own freedom.
    Marcus crouched down next to her and gently moved the hair back from her face, wiped the tears from her eyes. Cupping her face in both his hands, he leaned in close, placing a kiss on her forehead like a doting father.
    “You’ve cost me today, beautiful girl. Red was nearing the end of our employment relationship, but I had other uses in mind for her. Now I have to take a loss on this asset. That doesn’t please me. Doesn’t please me at all,” his voice was cold and thick was malicious intent.
    “You will need to compensate me for this loss, Brooke. But first, you are going to have to pay for your actions here today.” His mouth set in a cold smile as he looked over his shoulder at Milo.
    “Take her.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

    N ora touched her lips as she had done countless times that morning. The memory of Gabe’s mouth slanting over hers as he fought for possession was haunting her. Her body longed to run straight back into his arms to finish what they’d started, but her mind was screaming at her to keep her distance. Gabe was trouble all wrapped up in an irresistibly sexy package. It grated on her last nerve that she was still attracted to him after all this time; after all he’d put her through. To make matters worse, he knew she wanted him. He’d barely been back in town a few weeks and he was already under her skin.
    Frowning, she stomped towards her main office, slamming the door so hard the frames on the walls shook. “Stupid grin. Stupid sexy smell. Stupid asshat man,” she muttered to herself as she rounded her large oak desk and flopped down into her leather