Page 1 of Ashes’ Addiction

Chapter One

Ashes stared down at the woman they’d come to find. He’d hoped they wouldn’t be too late, and luck had been on their side. She was alive, if only just. Now they had to figure out how to get her out of here and to the hospital, without landing his ass or Sparrow or Goliath, who were both on this mission with him, in jail. The woman they’d been sent after was curled in a corner, her clothes little more than rags. Her hair was so dirty and matted he couldn’t tell what color it was supposed to be.

“Sparrow, come take a look,” he called through the trap door he’d just come through. From the room above it had looked like those doors in the floor that lift up and led down to a cellar or basement. But this was not a basement. Ashes found himself standing in what was little more than a crawl space, his head brushed the joists supporting the floor, there wasn’t even sheeting or Sheetrock to pretend the room had a ceiling. The walls looked like cinder block, but from the almost haphazard way they were stacked, Ashes suspected the cell, because that was the only name he could come up with for it, was a DIY job.

The girl was filthy, covered in so much dirt he couldn’t tell how much was dirt and how much were bruises. Ashes crouched down until he sat on his heels, trying to seem more approachable, maybe a little less scary. He wasn’t as tall as some of his brothers but he was muscled and he suspected that would scare her.

“Are you Brittney? My name is Ashes. I’m going to get you out of here.”

She watched him, suspicion clear in her face. She didn’t answer or do anything but curl tighter into the corner and keep her eyes on him. Realizing how little was left of her clothes, Ashes shrugged out of his cut and pulled his t-shirt off before holding it out.

“Want something more to wear?” He held still, not wanting to startle her as she darted close, snatched the shirt, and went back to the corner, pulling the shirt on over her head and tugging it down almost to her knees. His shirt was huge on her. He put his cut back on, ignoring the way it chafed.

“I won’t hurt you. I promise.” He moved a couple of inches closer. He moved slowly, talking and keeping his voice calm yet upbeat as he did. The last thing he needed was to scare her even more.

“If you’re not Brittney, can you tell me your name? Can I see how badly you’re hurt? Do we need to take you to the hospital?”

“No. No hospital.” The words were so soft, he wasn’t sure she’d said them at first.

“No hospital? Is there a reason you don’t want to go to the hospital?”

“Can you move out of the way so I can have a little room to get down?” Sparrow’s voice came from the opening above him. Ashes took a step forward, moving faster than he wanted but needing to get out of his brother’s way.

“No hospital,” she repeated, her voice a little stronger.

“All right. We’ll do our best to stay away from the hospital. But I need to get that cuff off you.” He motioned to where it looked like a pair of handcuffs with a longer-than-usual chain between them was clamped around one wrist, the other end closed around a bolt in the wall. “You want me to take that cuff off you?”

She stared at him for a moment, then slowly nodded. He dug his keys from his pocket and stepped close enough to unlock the cuff. From this close he could see her shaking. Her entire body quaked and he wondered if it was fear or from the cold? When he had her free, he took a step back.

“Will you let Sparrow take a look at you? He’s not here to hurt you. I just want to make sure you’re well enough to get up out of here without hurting you more. Once we can get you into the open, Doc can take a look and see what needs to be done.”

Her wide eyes went from him to Sparrow and back again. As if she was terrified of letting the other man close enough for any kind of exam.

“You won’t leave me?”

“I’ll stay as long as you need me.” After a second, she nodded.

“I’ll let him look at me.” Her eyes never left Ashes’.

Maybe he’d just committed to more than he was ready for. He looked down at her again and didn’t care. If this woman who was clearly terrified felt better when he was around, then he’d be around for her. At least until she got tired of him, and everyone eventually got tired of him.

Chapter Two

Miranda kept her eyes on the man who had surprised her. He wasn’t Kevin and he’d been nothing but nice to her, so far. He’d removed the chain Kevin had used to keep her down here but he was big. If he decided to hit her, it would hurt. It might even kill her. She wished for a moment she could hope for that. At least then she would be free. Free from this hell she’d endured for God knew how long.

She had no idea how long Kevin had kept her down here. She’d tried counting at first but couldn’t figure out how often he came. Sometimes he would appear twice or three times very close together, and other times, she’d thought she would starve to death there. She assumed that was what he wanted, but then he would appear again with food.

Always, the one thing that never changed was that he would let her eat, then he would hurt her. Sometimes he even left more food after. If she didn’t eat, he still hurt her, but if she didn’t eat first, he never left food when he was done.

This new man, the one who called himself Ashes, hadn’t done either. He hadn’t brought food, but he hadn’t hurt her either. Instead, he’d taken off the chain. Miranda couldn’t remember the last time the cuff had been off her wrist, or the last time she’d been free to move around as she wanted. Probably the last time she’d been out of this cell, and too long ago for her to have any concept of when.

When the second man came down through the hole, she pulled her limbs tighter against herself. She didn’t want to hurt, not if she could help it. She looked back and forth between them before turning her gaze back to the man who’d come down first.

“You won’t leave me?”

“I’ll stay as long as you need me.”

She stared at him for several seconds, trying to decide if he was lying, or if he was just saying what she wanted to hear.