The Rejected True Heiress (Liora and Callum) novel Chapter 377

I didn’t make it ten more steps before two more men stepped out of the trees directly in front of me.

There were three of them now. I did a fast sweep; they had no visible weapons, but all three of the men were bigger than me and definitely rogues. The way they were looking at me was hungry, too, like they had more ideas for me than just taking my money.

I took a step back, only to find that the first man had come up behind me. I bumped into his chest and gasped, turning and backpedaling. I was surrounded.

“Look at this,” one of the men in front said, looking me over. “Out here all by yourself.”

“The school’s right there,” I said, pointing. “There are people everywhere. If you mess with me, they’ll find you.”

“School’s not that close,” another rogue laughed.

“Looks like someone wandered a little further than she thought,” a third added.

It all happened fast after that.

I dropped my satchel and swung at the closest one, catching him across the jaw with enough force to snap his head sideways. He staggered. I tried to bolt through the gap it created, but the first man grabbed my arm and yanked me back hard, and then the third was on me too.

I hit the ground hard. I tried to get up, but then something sharp slammed into my leg. I cried out, looking down to see the knife protruding from my thigh. The rogue crouched and yanked it out, and I cried out again.

“Pathetic,” he muttered, wiping the knife on my shirt.

“HELP!” I cried. “ROGUES!”

The rogue brandished the knife in my face. “Scream all you want, little girl. Nobody’s going to help you.”

I screamed again. And again.

They just… laughed.

Panic overwhelmed me as they converged on me again. Two of them flipped me and pinned me to the ground, making pain bark up through the fresh wound in my leg. The third began working at his belt buckle. I couldn’t see with the way my face was pressed into the forest floor, but I could hear the sound of the metal, followed by his pants zipper and then his shadow fell over me.

Suddenly, I snapped.

The water was cold against my skin and made me gasp. It went into my nose and eyes and mouth, forcing me to sputter and yank my head up, which only made my vision spin even more.

With great effort, I managed to roll onto my back, soaking that entire side of my body in the cold water. I took a deep breath, then looked down at my leg and cursed.

There was so much blood. Too much. It was turning the water red around me.

And the rogues were right; the campus really was far.

I exhaled slowly, looking up at the treetops overhead. They were already swaying around me despite there being no breeze. The water was icy, and I couldn’t move, and I could feel a certain kind of sleep tugging at me that would be impossible to hold off for long.

I shut my eyes and breathed.

“Help,” I whispered. I tried to shout, but it only came out as a croak, and was lost beneath the bubbling of the creek.

Then, like someone was turning off the lights inside my mind, everything went black.