Even if he hadn’t told us to do that, I was already committed.
One look into her scared eyes was all it took for me to want to give her a sacred vow.
Of protection.
Security.
And I refused to fail her.
8
KALINA
Six days came and went. Every morning, I opened my eyes and found myself in the same dimly lit bedroom. And each night, I succumbed to sleep to the peace of not hearing Erik or Yusef’s voices. Their cruel words lingered in my mind, never to be erased, but they weren’t here, wherever here was.
I didn’t hear anything.
Due to how deep down I was locked into panic and unsure of how to move past the shift of my captivity under my brother to what seemed like a new and more pampered version of captivity in this room, I was too scared to treat these last six days aspeace.
I didn’t know what that was.
I last experienced it when I was twelve years old, when my parents were still alive.
All I knew now was the torture and training. The conditioning that Yusef beat into me. The expectations that Erik reminded me of, over and over again. The inevitable fate that I would be soldto a man who would abuse me and want me for nothing more than to breed me.
That was all I knew.
Peacewasn’t part of my vocabulary anymore.
That misery with my brother and his friend was all I knew, all I was subjected to, and it was all I had to comparethiswith.
This isolation, because that tall man, Alexsei, didn’t come back. Raisa stayed away. Nurses came and went. A doctor came in to assess me. Cooks and maids would bring in food and water. Behind them all, an armed soldier would appear. Perhaps these people were more cautious because I first woke up in such a violent panic. I felt no remorse about striking out in my effort to get away. Waking up in a strange place and finding myself with an IV stuck in my skin would frighten anyone.
Because I didn’t want to be sedated again, I lay there still and silent, watching the staff come in.
Visitors didn’t bother.
Erik and Yusef didn’t show up.
No man came into my room, claiming to be my husband.
Andstill, I was too tense and unable to trust anyone.
What if it’s all a ploy?
What if this is another level of manipulation for me to survive?
I had no way to know.
Always sheltered and locked up and kept from society, I didn’t know. I didn’t have any street smarts. The only thing I could relyon was myself—listening to my instinct was the only tool I had. Nervous and scared, I couldn’t resist the need to retreat into this numb shell, not speaking or reacting to anyone coming in or out of this room. My gut instinct was… to be quiet as I waited to see what would follow.
Just quiet. I didn’t react or speak to anyone.
Not even the doctor who asked me questions about what happened to me.
Not the kind-looking woman with short black hair who said she used to be a cop and could help me.
None of them. Until I knew what they wanted from me and what the new expectations were for me to follow, I had to be careful.
