Page 39

“The person you escaped from, who bought you, is the person after you, isn’t it? This . . . collector?” He turns away, ready to leave, but I stop him by placing my hand on his arm. “What are you so scared of?”

He’s stiff for a moment, his eyes swinging to me before dropping to my hand on his arm. I go to pull away when he stops me. “Don’t.” It’s a soft croak, but I keep my hand on his skin, feeling his warmth as he watches it before swallowing hard. “Yes, we all belong to the collector, or we did until we got our freedom. Now the only thing that keeps us that way are the jobs we take. The money and power keep us from being dragged back there. You might have actually been in hell, Ferol, but we came very, very close.”

“The nightmares, the fear, the way this collector is hunting you⁠—”

His face pales. “Please don’t.”

The pure terror in those words lets me know my suspicions are right. “They hurt you, didn’t they? Badly?” I whisper softly.

“Worse than you could ever imagine. I was one of the lucky ones. A minotaur isn’t overly rare, but the collector likes to have one of every kind of monster. The others are rare. They were special and got the attention. I wouldn’t even be with them if it weren’t for the fact that when the experiment to link us like a hive mind started, they needed someone solid to anchor them—someone replaceable, so if it failed and I died, it wouldn’t matter.”

“Wait, you weren’t all born with this connection?” This shocks me to my core. A psychic connection like that is usually something that occurs at birth. I’ve never heard of one being created.

“No, the collector created it between us after a lot of experiments and pain. We thought it would kill us at first. The neurological overload was . . . very bad. I’ve never known pain like it, but we managed to survive, and now we use it to our advantage.” He slams his lips shut, like he said too much.

“I’m sorry.” My apology appears to surprise him, and his eyes widen so much, I see the sclera. “For what you all went through, and I’m even sorrier another connection is being forced on you now.”

No wonder they hate me so much. They had no choice before, and even less now.

His gaze drops to my hand, and he nods softly. I debate pulling it away, but honestly, the connection, strength, and warmth are nice. I’m anchored here rather than floating away on bad memories like normal.

“Thank you.”

I rip my eyes from the door to him.

“For holding my hand and staying with me while I was hurt. I don’t know why it felt good, but it did.”

“Don’t overthink it. It’s just those stupid, artificial feelings from the bond.”

“But still, you didn’t have to. Thank you.”

Twisting my lips, I fight a smile “What, no more growling and threatening to tear me apart?”

He laughs and nudges my arm with his, almost sending me sprawling into the wall with his strength. “Maybe later.” Heaving himself to his feet, he winces when he bangs his head. Rubbing it, he walks to the door, and I have the strangest urge to beg him to stay.

But I’ll beg no man, not ever again.

I lost everything before—my freedom, name, and life. Never again, not for anyone, no matter how delicious it could be.

At the door, he stops with his back to me. “Kitt is just scared, you know. Scared we’ll lose to you and scared it will get us all killed when he has given so much to keep us free. You scare him more than any other monster in the world, Ferol.”

I watch him go, but the truth is a bitter pill to swallow because they scare me too.

I’m terrified I will soften towards them, and I can’t tell if it’s the bond or my actual feelings. I don’t want to let someone else in to hurt me again . . . or lose them, just like everyone else who ever meant anything to me.

After a few hours, I get sick of feeling sorry for myself, so I work out in the small room. I run through my usual routine of crunches, pull-ups, and push-ups until my body is covered in a sheen of sweat. When I’m done, I hear voices. Wiping my face with my stolen shirt, I walk to the kitchen and freeze. The kitchen is full of them, and all gazes turn to me as they pile their plates high.

“Come eat, little beastie,” Bram says. I meet their eyes, but there’s no protest, which is surprising.

It seems there is a truce in the air despite everything that happened as I take a seat. Everyone is here except Kitt, but he eventually filters in, glaring at me. He sits as far away as he can, but not before he drags Raiden to the free seat the farthest from me.

I roll my eyes. “I’m not going to jump him.”

“Gods, I wish she would,” Raiden mutters, and Kitt glares at us.

Ignoring them, I pile my plate with food and start to eat. “How long until we drop anchor at wherever we are going?” I know we are heading to my mother’s court, but there’s nowhere close to that remote outpost to shore up a boat, so they must have some other plan in place.

“Two days,” Emrys replies. “When we get there, we will hire a car and drive the rest of the way. We will be with your mother in three days. I just checked the weather conditions. There will be a big storm tonight, so stay indoors.”