I scramble backward before I register that I’munclothed. My breasts are bare to the warm air before I know to clutch the sheet to me. I glance down, and terror blooms sharply and immediately. I scramble to restore my modesty, my heart hammering wildly as panic tears loose.
What has happened to me? Where am I?
The man rises, taking a step back, and my eyes dart around the dimly lit space, as memories flood me.Clothes being torn from my body. My limbs held tightly in cruel hands. Violation.
“No—” The word scrapes out of my throat raw and broken.
Bruno and Anatol. Their laughter and their threats.
The man's hands lift instantly, and I flinch hard, curling inward, concentrating on my body, searching for the same kind of pain that lingers in my memory.
My feet are sore, and there are stinging, bruised spots on my body, but between my legs, I’m fine.
“Easy. You’re safe,” the silver-eyed man says, his voice a low rasp threaded with command but softened by concern. His torso is covered with dark swirling tattoos that speak of danger, and he’s naked save for a simple black kilt-like cloth secured at his hips.
Beneath the surface of my skin, magic tingles. Heat crackles across my palms, and the air around me seems to hum with power. But I'm weak. So weak.
“Don’t touch me,” I whisper, then louder with a fracture to my voice, “don’t—don’t come closer.”
“We’ve got you,” he says, his palms facing me.
We? I glance over his shoulder, finding two other men lingering in the shadows.
The one on the left is broad and scarred, his dark hair pulled back from a strong, almost violently beautiful face.His eyes burn amber, sharp, and watchful, like he’s restraining something dangerous beneath the surface of his skin that bubbles through in red swirling runes over his broad chest and powerful arms.
The one on the right is a leaner build, with golden hair and a softer expression. There’s a careful stillness to him, despite his muscular, powerful form. Golden swirls caress his chest, like tattoos but illuminated in some way.
They’re naked too, save for the black cloth tied low around their waists.
Power radiates from them in waves, pressing against my senses with more force than I can bear. My magic recoils, then lashes out.
“No,” I choke, shaking my head violently. “Don’t come closer.”
The scarred one takes a single step forward despite himself.
“You have nothing to fear… “
The airexplodes.
Magic tears out of me in a surge so powerful the cave shudders as if struck by an invisible hammer. The stone around us groans, and waves of energy ripple outward in a concussive pulse.
All three of them react instantly.
The silver-eyed man plants himself between me and the others, power rolling off him in a dense, grounding wall. The golden-haired man is thrown backward a step with a sharp hiss. The scarred one drops into a braced crouch, teeth bared, amber eyes blazing as he absorbs the impact.
“Stop,” the silver-eyed man hisses. “Stop. It’ll break you.”
The magic crashes against him, and he stumbles to hisknees. The other men crawl forward, their hands grasping his ankles.
Is he worried for me or for himself?
My breath stutters as the force continues to drain out of me, leaving me shaking and lightheaded, the world swimming. Then, like a hand slamming a door shut, all power is forced back and sealed away. I tremble, trying to rouse it again, but I can’t.
The silver-eyed man raises his head, eyes slicing into mine like a knifepoint. I brace for vicious words and violence, but instead, through gritted teeth, he says, “You’re safe. We mean you no harm. But you won’t use your magic again, girl. Unless you want to die.”
I can barely keep my eyes open. “What… what did you do to me?”
His gaze softens as they all begin to rise. “We kept you alive.”
