Chapter 17.

NORA CARUSO. My head felt like it had been split open with an axe. A dull, throbbing pain hammered behind my eyes, syncing with the terrified beat of my heart. I tried to lift my hand to touch my temple, to see if I was bleeding, but my arm wouldn't move. I jerked, panic flaring in my chest. My wrists were bound behind me, plastic zip-ties bit into my skin, tight enough to cut off circulation. My ankles were taped to the legs of a metal chair. I blinked, forcing my eyes to focus, I shivered violently, my teeth chattering. Just hours ago or was it days? I had been screaming at Nikolai. I had called his home a prison, and I had called him a jailer because he wouldn't give me the gate codes. I had thrown a crystal vase at a wall because I felt trapped. A bitter laugh bubbled up in my throat, choking me. You fool, I thought, you stupid, naive fool. That was nothing compared to what I am in now, I was never in prison until this moment. "She is awake." A voice said and a man stepped closer.