“Luna! Down!”
That awful, crushing weight suddenly disappeared, but I still couldn’t breathe. Bursts of color were exploding behind my eyes, and when I finally gasped in a breath, the colors faded into reality.
“Damn it, you asshole—get out of here!”
A door slammed, and I tried to move, tried to roll onto my side so I could get to my hands and knees but the pain was too overwhelming and I just wanted to let it consume me. Wanted to give up and let it drag me down.
At least I’d had a taste of freedom. I would diefree.
But…
I wasn’t free, was I?
I’d gotten away from one jailer only to be captured by another.
I hoped Hunter was dead, that those men in black had killed him.
And what about the other hounds? The ones that survived? Had they escaped, too? Or had the men in black taken them?
Guilt curdled in my gut when I remembered all the other hounds like me that had been locked up.
“Hey. Are you okay?” The voice was soft and deep, filled with a warmth that soothed my frazzled nerves.
I cracked my eyes open, and he wasright there. I lashed out at the face hovering above mine, a guttural, angry noise erupting from my throat. He pulled back with a startled “Whoa!” when I kicked at him with my uninjured leg.
He stood up and backed away, raising his hands again. “Sorry, I won’t touch you, you just—” He scratched the back of his head, then dropped his arms to his sides with a heavy sigh. “I really didn’t expect you to be up and moving so soon. Do you wanna take a bath? Well, not a real one, just a sponge bath for now. You’re pretty dirty and I don’t want your wound to get infected.”
His dark eyes trailed down my body, his brows drawing together as he studied me.
I didn’t want his eyes on me. His eyes or his hands. I wanted to rip them all from his body.
But…I couldn’t. I was severely injured. I had very few options here, and none of them were good ones.
I was drowning in confusion. I didn’t know what was happening and the pain was only getting worse.
Maybe this wasn’t real. Maybe I was already dead.
“Huh?” I croaked. I was so thirsty. My mouth and throat were dry as dust and my tongue just felt like a dead weight in my mouth.
“A sponge bath. I have some clean washcloths and I can heat up some water for you. I usually just bathe in the river, but that’s probably not such a great idea right now. I’ve got distilled water, though. I won’t need to heat up a whole lot since you’re pretty small.” Those eyes moved over me again, slower this time, studying me thoroughly. He tilted his head and let his gaze travel down my body. “When was the last time you took a bath or washed yourself?”
I didn’t know what a bath was or why he was talking about washing myself. Who cared? Nobody washed themselves. None of the hounds ever cleaned themselves.
I didn’t respond to him. What was the point of talking to him? I just needed to watch him, attack if he came too close, and figure out how to get the fuck out of here.
Hopefully he’d leave and not reattach the chain to that pillar. Why wasn’t he coming closer, though? Why was he just standing there talking about…baths? Why had he backed away and told me he wouldn’t touch me?
Was that part of his trick?
I glanced at the door behind him—the one that had been open earlier. He’d shut it after that creature attacked me.
What was that thing?
It was an animal of some kind. Was it Corrupted?
“You know what, I’ll just get it all ready. It’s fine, I can distill some more water later.” He started to turn toward the door, then stopped. “You can stay here or come with me, it’s up to you, but you should probably rest as much as possible.” He pointed to my chest. “That was a really nasty wound. I’m surprised you survived, honestly.” There was a pause, and his eyes crinkled atthe corners when he smiled at me. “But I’m glad you did. Really glad.”
There was a softness in his gaze that deeply unsettled me.
