My eyes drift over the contours of her face, down her neck. “No one sent me.” I glance toward my outstretched hands again, then lock eyes with her, working a hard swallow.Come on, siren. The breath she drags in causes her chest to rise, drawing my attention, but then it shifts as she places one shaking hand in mine.
My senses light up like lightning illuminating the night sky. I give her the slightest of nods, encouraging. Then I rise, stepping forward to bring her closer.
Shaking in my hold, her legs all but give out. “Sorry,” she murmurs after she clutches at my forearm for balance.
“No need to be.” I hate that she’d apologize.We did this to her.I bring her to the blanket, then encourage her to sit. She eyes me, encircling her bare legs with her arms. I recognize it as a defensive maneuver, and who am I to argue? Tipping my head to the side, I study the subtle glances she makes from the corner of her eye. It’s as if she’s expecting someone tosnatch her up and haul her away. “I’m here. You don’t have to be afraid.”
Her lips mash together as she studies my face. “You confuse me.” Wincing, she looks away before raising a hand to glide the pads of her fingers along the skin of her throat. It’s probably for the best that I can’t see the bruising, but I know it’s there all the same. “Do you even get how fucked-up this place is?” she whispers.
My eyes crash shut. The answer is more complex and difficult to explain than she could ever understand. But at my core, Idoknow.The things I’ve seen—Chewing on my lip, I’m unable to give her a straight answer. This woman has knocked me off my axis. I need to know more about her, because I think she’s worth fighting for. In the quiet, I exhale. “Did you really punch Finneas in his groin?”
Her eyes flick upward to meet mine, a certain amount of defiance in them. I respect it. “Yes,” she huffs before scooting backward. Away from me.Don’t like that.
I hold up a hand. “Was just curious is all.” Seeing how affected this woman is by rituals and rules and even just the way we live is opening my eyes. This way of life has always been an indisputable reality. I’ve accepted all of it without question. But now, having a chance to talk to her, seeing and hearing how what we’ve done has affected her—it’s disturbing. I scrub a hand roughly in my hair as a knot wedges itself in my throat.
What really twists my gut is that I should have seenthis clearly so long ago. It’s been right in front of my face. The things that transpire in the dead of night fucking haunt my dreams.
I wish I could change how the Hunting played out. I’d have figured out a better way to keep her safe from any fucker who thought they’d lay a hand on her. But there’s not a way to go back, and it infuriates me that I’m so motherfuckinghelpless.
I eye her slim fingers as they absently drift over the smooth column of her throat. “Does it hurt?” Without thinking, I reach out to slide a few fingers over her skin. The hard flinch that jerks her entire body makes my heart squeeze in my chest. I immediately drop my hand.
“I’m fine,” she rasps.
“You’re not. Your neck—” I want to ask what exactly went down with Dragan, but I also don’t want to put her through retelling something like that. Not when I have a fairly clear vision of what must have happened. I just wish Cross had had more time to have a look at her before shit went sideways with Malakai.
I reach for her again. An exhale skitters free from her lips, and a shiver racks her body. The stone floor is ice cold, seeping into my bones through both my pants and the blanket below. “Sit with me?” The indecision in her eyes digs a hole in my chest. I wait, allowing her time before patting my leg. “You’ll be warmer.”
Drawing in a deep breath, her body finally sags, relenting. My heart thuds wildly as my siren crawls onto my lap and practically burrows against my chest,seeking out the warmth that our skin-on-skin contact provides. Her slim frame jerks with every unsteady breath she takes. “Please don’t hurt me, Arrow.”
Those words whispered from her lips against my chest all but gut me.I could never.
SIX
DELILAH
Somehow,even though my mind is still foggy with sleep, I instinctively know where I am. Right. I remember now. I’m in the cell again. I’ve been abused…again.Fuck.
My eyelashes flutter as I finally come to a fully conscious state. Swallowing hard, I remember every bit of the fuckery of what these creepy psychos refer to as the Hunting. The damage to my body is the result of running barefoot through the woods, then being attacked—manhandled, shoved up against a tree, and, finally, choked until I blacked out.Fuck. Surely it was all a goddamn nightmare.But no. It wasn’t. All those things really did happen to me. And that wasn’t even the end of it. My mind turns in on itself, and it’s all I can do not to let the warped blackness I’m feeling take me under. Kiefer raped me. And there’s nothing to be done but move on.
I drag in a shuddering breath.Whyam I—My chest jerks at the sudden realization that I’m lying on top of someone. My mind races. It doesn’t take me long to register that the last thing I recall is that Arrow was here with me. The finely hewn body beneath me has to be his.Smooth skin warms my cheek, and then, the owner of the hard, muscular body shifts ever so slightly before a possessive arm belts around my middle. And despite all the darkness that’d been clouding my mind a few seconds ago, in his hold, I’m able to relax.
He—He came back for me. But I didn’t think he’d stay. My brows draw together. Just being here in this cell with me is fucking dangerous. Why the hell would he risk it? I’m adrift in confusion, unable to understand his motives. Except… I asked him not to leave me.
I remember every bit of what he said, the concern for what’d happened out in the woods, what Kiefer had done. And then… an apology. It’d almost been as if he were angry with himself for not being able to do more. But he’s one of the firstborn sons. Why would he care at all what happens to me? I’m just their property. There’s no forgetting that he’s part of the band of hoodlums who’d been chasing me and the other women out there in the woods. The intent behind the ritual is to catch us and fuck us. Impregnate us.
But also… he called me Delilah. I exhale hard, frustrated. And now, I’m grasping at straws. Last night, after having Kiefer’s fingers and cock inside me, the temptation of the comfort Arrow had offered was too great. And when he looked at me with those pleading eyes and asked me to sit with him, I couldn’t say no. Didn’t want to, honestly. But for the first time since I landed in this mess, a sliver of hope has emerged.
My game plan hasn’t changed. I know that to have a fighting chance, these men need to look at me differently. No matter what my feelings are where they’re concerned, getting close to them in a physical sense might be the only shot at getting them to see me as something other than just the next incubator for one of the commune’s children. I have to make them see me as a person with emotions and thoughts and dreams, as more than just a thing they own. The fact that the firstborn sons have begun to use my name—it’s a start.
Not wanting to alert Arrow that I’m awake, I pick through my brain. Everything comes down to trust and motives. I can’t say that I know for sure what makes any of these assholes tick, and at this moment in time, I’d probably be better off trusting no one, no matter what they say or do.
Beneath me, Arrow stirs, but I still don’t let on that I’m no longer sleeping. He grunts a bit, shifting his big body. He has to be uncomfortable lying flat on this stone floor with my weight pressing down on him. A moment later, his chest rises with a quick intake of air, then he releases what sounds like a groan.
I blink into the dark, waiting to see if he’s just making noise in his sleep or if he’s stirring. His hands land on my back, then skim lower. Is he awake? Doeshe know he’s touching me? He adjusts himself again, and this time, his pelvis tilts. The hard ridge of his cock burns its imprint into my skin right through the sheer gown I wear.
With each heavy thud of my heart, I know what my next move has to be, and it’s got me all twisted up on the inside, but I’ve only been left with so many choices. I could rail against every one of these men and what they stand for. Or I can take what I can from the ones I’m able to, use the instincts that drive them to my advantage.
Hayze? He’s fucking smart, and as the leader’s son, is an important figure in this compound. That’s why I let him touch me the way I did. Having him on my side will be important if I can manage it. I squeeze my eyes shut. He could have been playing me, and the promises he made might have been a line of bullshit that I bit at, hook, line, and sinker. I could have sworn he was trying to help me, but the more I think about it, the more it seems like he was leading me on a merry chase. The wolf mask he told me to watch for—had he set some sort of fucking trap? Both Finneas and Hayze had been wearing one. I don’t like that I’m unsure of what happened. Am I losing my mind? Maybe that’s their plan. He’ll be tricky to deal with.
