Then he gropes me, tugging at my jeans and fumbling for the button. “Let’s take these off. Get you more comfortable. Let me see what the commander loves so much about this cunt of yours.”
I cry out for help, pushing into his chest to set myself free, but the arm he wraps around me combined with the numbing drug in my system are enough to keep me in place.
“Yes, yes, scream for me. That’s how I like you best.”
My jeans split when he releases the button, and his fingers dip down below my belly button. The stench emanating from his breath is everywhere.I can’t breathe.
I tense up, feeling his foreign skin on mine, waiting in utter horror for what I know I’m about to experience. I pull myself away from this world, sinking deeper into myself where everything else he says becomes a sound too far away to register.
Fear like I’ve never known it courses through my veins, immobilizing me. Paralyzing me like a deer in the middle of the road, blinded by a passing car’s headlights.
And then—
“What thefuckare you doing?” a voice booms into the room from behind us.
The man tenses against me, groaning in annoyance.
“I’ll be done in a few.”
“No, you won’t. Get the fuck out. Salister is here.”
“For fuck’s sake, Magnus, Isaid—”
Magnus approaches us, his boots hitting the concrete with every step. Then his arm sprawls forward with a sharp knife in his hand. My vision stutters as I watch them with my breath held tight in my chest, my eyes clenched with fear.
“There are times when we’re partners, Ren, and times when I’m your boss. Right now it’s the latter. You get me into any trouble with Salister, and I’ll spray your blood all over these fucking walls. Got it?”
Ren smirks next to my face, his hand tapping my skin a few times too many before exiting the front of my jeans. Vomit rises to my throat and I swallow it back down, relief washing over me when I’m set free from his grip. I stand up as quickly as I can, moving back toward the corner of the room.
“You got it, boss,” he drawls, then stands up and looks at me, his face telling me this is far from over.
The cell falls silent. I wrap my arms around myself and look down, seeing more light spread out on the concrete when Ren opens the door to leave.
The other man—Magnus—is still here, and I don’t know that I should feel any better.
“P-Please,” I say, my voice dying out. “Let me go. I don’t know anything—”
He steps closer, knife in hand, but there’s nowhere else for me to back up. His body traps me, heat emanating from him and seeping into my cold clothes. Something touches my hand, and I realize it’s the handle of his knife turned toward me.
“Have you ever killed a man, Dove?”
The question takes me aback.
I open my mouth to answer, but pushing out words is suddenly too much of an effort.
“If you want to stay alive, you’re going to have to. Don’t let anyone see you with this,” he says, pushing the handle into my hand. I wrap my fingers around it, my heart beating too fast for my own good.
Who is this man? Why is he helping me?
I cling to his words, nodding at everything he says, even though I have no idea how I’m going to do what he’s suggesting. Because it’s insane. Every word coming out of his mouth soundsinsane.
“Go for the jugular if you can,” he tells me. I flinch when his finger taps the side of my neck. “Under the collarbone.” He lowers it down to show me where. “The lungs. Or the kidneys. Any of these should give you an upper hand. Do you understand me?”
I nod, swallowing into my aching throat. He backs away, wanting to leave. But he can’t leave. Whoever this man is he’s showing me I can trust him, and that he might be my only hope to survive in here.
“Who… who are you?” I whisper, clearing my ragged throat. “Why are you helping me?”
He doesn’t answer and doesn’t show any sign of wanting to talk to me.
