Before Another War

Chapter Twenty-Seven

They'd left her out of the box again. Cyrille was getting sloppy. Nadia had been trapped there for a while, after all. Besides, it wasn't like she had anywhere to go. Unfortunately, her bonds had been tied as tightly as ever, the rope cutting off circulation into her hands. For some time, Nadia had been planning her escape—she'd just been waiting for the right moment. And here it was. They'd forgotten to tie her legs.

But when she tried to stand, her head would start swimming and she'd need to lean on one of the concrete columns to stay on her feet. She'd had hardly anything to eat for the past week. Just a sandwich or two per day. She felt lucky to be fed at all.

This wasn't the first time Nadia had been held captive. Before Sapphire was born, she'd led a very different kind of life. But when Zorion had shown up on her doorstep, she hadn't been able to turn him away. At least she knew her daughter was in safe hands. Nadia trusted Matt, and she even trusted Alex sometimes. Nadia had underestimated her before.

She could see the broken window in the corner of the warehouse, daylight peeking through. No one had thought to brick it up after Alex's daring escape, but that didn't mean it would be easy. Nadia was far weaker than Alex had been, yet she knew she couldn't risk wasting the opportunity. Cyrille would eventually get bored of her.

Nadia checked the warehouse was empty one last time and took a deep breath, steeling herself. There was no sign of anyone. She was alone. She jumped up onto her feet and began dashing towards the window. She could feel her head pounding as she ran for freedom. Nadia struggled to balance without her arms, terrified she'd trip and hit her head against the stony floor. Gradually, her vision started to blur, and the ground swayed under her. And yet, she didn't stop. She had time to faint later. As she got closer, Nadia tried to stay alert, looking out for any hidden danger.

After what felt like an eternity, she reached the window. Nadia struggled through it, careful not to cut herself on the glassy edges. She fell onto the wet grass and pulled herself to her feet, ready to keep running. But she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.

They'd all been waiting for her. Cyrille and five of his men stood in a circle, watching on with smug grins. Nadia felt her energy leave her as her vision darkened. She fought against it, urging herself to walk, but her feet were stuck in place.

'Good evening,' said Cyrille. He had a long walking stick in his hands and leant forward on it to rest his chin.

Nadia didn't speak; she couldn't. Instead, she fell to the floor as her legs buckled under her. I'm never getting out of here. In a frantic last attempt, she pushed herself up onto her knees only to be roughly shoved back to the ground by one of Cyrille's goons.

Now, Nadia wished she'd asked Alex for help. Even if the police got involved, at least she'd survive—as long as they didn't know what she had.

As Nadia lay there, barely conscious, she was only dimly aware of the group of men lifting her up and carrying her like a corpse back to the wretched box.

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The last few days had been quiet, almost too quiet. Thankfully, Matt had been fine. He'd woken up a few minutes after Raf had found Alex, refusing to be taken to the hospital. He still had a small concussion and a nasty wound on his thigh, but overall, he'd been lucky. Alex assumed that someone would have been to see them by now. They'd committed a crime, for God's sake. There was no way Clive hadn't noticed it was them. There had to be another reason the police were letting them stay free, for now.

She'd been on edge for the last few days, not wanting to leave the house for fear of something happening. Suddenly, the pleasant city of Edinburgh had turned into a dark, stormy place with danger around every corner. Alex knew she was being paranoid, of course, but she just couldn't shake the feeling of being watched.