by Penelope Sky
“It doesn’t hurt anymore. I’m fine.”
“And he still won’t forgive you?” she asked incredulously.
Raven was quiet for a long time. “I have a feeling what he went through is much worse.”
It’d been more than five minutes, so it was time to end this. I pushed the door open. “Come on.”
Melanie stood in front of her sister, their hands clasped together. She didn’t turn away because she wasn’t ready to let Raven go. She started to cry again, like it was too hard to leave her sister there.
“Don’t make me ask again.”
Raven cupped her cheeks and forced a smile through her tears. “I’ll be okay, Melanie.”
Melanie released a shaky breath. “I love you…”
“I love you too.” Raven hugged her tightly, supporting her like she was the mother and Melanie was the child. “We will get out of this someday. I truly believe that.” She rubbed her sister’s back and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
Melanie nodded then pulled away. She didn’t say goodbye before she walked out of the cabin.
I locked the door behind her then escorted her to my brother’s cabin, walking in front, ignoring the sound of her sniffles. By the time we got to the cabin on the other side of the clearing, her tears had been silenced.
I nodded to the door at the top of the stairs before I turned away.
She reached out and grabbed me by the arm. “Wait.”
I twisted out of her grasp because I didn’t want her to touch me.
With watery eyes, she stared at me. “Thank you…for protecting her.”
I gave her a blank expression because her gratitude meant nothing to me.
“The only reason I could walk out of that cabin is because I know you’ll keep her safe.”
Eleven
Bois de Boulogne
Alix didn’t attack me, but I knew he was pissed off.
He’d expected my brother to punish me for my actions.
Not only did he pardon them, but he agreed to let me remove her from the camp. Once Alix knew that, he would probably lose his shit.
Fender was only there for a day to see the state of the camp with his own eyes. Melanie stayed in his cabin and wasn’t permitted to visit her sister again. I didn’t tell Raven what I had asked of my brother because I dreaded the conversation.
She and I didn’t talk, not even after she saw her sister.
We continued to pretend the other didn’t exist. She faced the wall while she slept and I faced the other way, so we never touched throughout the night.
I looked forward to leaving the camp just so I would have my own bed again.
I hated sleeping with people, even with my lovers. It could be a king-size bed and she could be on the opposite side, but I still hated it. The touching, the breathing, the closeness, I hated it. I always moved into another bedroom when the sex was over. They were used to it and didn’t ask any questions.
I hated being asleep with someone else in the room.
I just couldn’t do it.
I did it now because I had to. And I did it once before…because it was different at the time.
The night before I departed, I told her the plan.
She was on the floor watching TV, so I grabbed the remote and turned it off. I sat in the chair at my desk, turned sideways so I could look at the bed.
She got to her feet and looked at me, knowing I wanted her attention.
I nodded to the bed. “Sit.”
She did as she was told. She sat at the edge and looked at me, fidgeting with her fingers like she was afraid I’d decided to throw her out of the cabin. She’d been quiet as a mouse, staying out of my way like she feared I would have a change of heart and abandon her. She stayed silent and gave me all the time I wanted to speak.
I looked at the floor for a while, unable to believe what I was about to say. Before she came to the camp, my life was routine. It was ordinary. Nothing unusual happened. But then she came in, like a fucking storm, and destroyed everything. “I’m leaving tomorrow.”
She inhaled a deep breath, a painful breath, like she pictured her fate in my absence. The emotion happened instantly, the fear entering her tight features and making her eyes slightly wet. The Red Snow wasn’t the subject of her nightmares. That was being forced against her will, for someone to desecrate her body when there was nothing she could do to stop it. Death was a dream in comparison.
“You’re coming with me.”
Her head lifted to look at me, her hands stilling in her lap. “What?”
“I’m not freeing you. You will remain a prisoner. Try to run, and I’ll kill you. If you betray me and escape, my brother will execute me. If you want to repay my kindness toward you, you won’t do that to me.”
She breathed hard, as if she couldn’t believe the truth.
“You will accompany me while I’m in Paris. When I return to the camp, you’ll go back to work like the others. I couldn’t ask Fender if I could stay in the camp indefinitely, so I asked if I could take you with me…just as he’s taken Melanie for himself. It was the only solution I could find.”
She stared at me in her stillness, like she couldn’t believe anything I’d just said.
“Don’t make me regret this.”
She nodded. “I won’t try to escape. I promise.”
I looked away and felt the bitterness flood my mouth. “I wish I could believe you.” I’d have to lock her in the house while I was gone, handcuff her to the bed or something. All she needed to do was walk out of the place and disappear. I’d hunt her down again eventually, but if I didn’t do it quick enough before Fender found out, I’d lose my life.
“If running results in your death, I won’t do it.”
I still wouldn’t look at her. “I know you. I know you’ll do everything you can to save your sister, the women who are prisoners now, and no amount of loyalty to me will change that. These are your words I’m echoing back to you.”
“I know, but things are different now.”
I lifted my head and looked at her. “Why?”
“Because I knew you wouldn’t be killed when I burned the camp. Now, you will…and I can’t let that happen. You’re a prisoner to this place as much as I am.”
I shifted my gaze back to the floor. “You’re wrong about that.”
“You don’t agree with the rules of this place, but you stay. There’s a reason why. You just haven’t told me what it is.”
We left the next morning.
I helped the men load the wagon with the prepared product so we could leave the camp and make it to the end of the road before sunset. I left Raven in the cabin while I helped the loaders, but that meant she didn’t report for work with the others.
I made my way back through the clearing.
Alix watched me.
I walked past him, knowing there would be trouble.
“Where the fuck is she?” He followed behind me.
I kept going, moving out of the clearing and toward the cabin.
“Asshole, I asked you a question.”
My knife was in my pocket if I needed it.
“The only reason she shouldn’t be at work is because she’s dead. So, tell me she’s dead.” His footsteps quickened.
I turned around and faced him before he came too close.
He pulled his hood down so I could see how angry he was.
“I’m taking her with me.”
“What?” His voice was so loud, it echoed off the surrounding trees.
“She’s still a prisoner—just in a different place.”
“Are you fucking kidding me with this shit?” He got in my face, spittle flying from his mouth.
“The boss agreed to it. Let it go.”
“After what she did, she just gets to leave?”
“She’ll return and get back to work.” I turned and continued to walk.
He grabbed me by the arm.
I spun around and quickly threw his arm down. “Stop t
his.”
“You’re such a traitor.” He spat on me.
I let it get on my clothes and didn’t wipe it away. “I’ve kept my mouth shut about your behavior up until this point. But if you don’t keep your shit together, I will have you killed. This is his decision. You’re just pissed off that you can’t fuck her. During your time off, spend your money on a nice whore.” I turned away.
He followed me. “No. I’m pissed that she killed our men—”
“Who enslaved and killed innocent women.” I turned back around. “Stop changing the narrative. We’re the villains here. She did what anyone else would do…if they had the balls.”
He stood still, staring at me like he couldn’t believe a single word that flew out of my mouth. “Are you one of us? Or one of them?”
I didn’t know how to answer that question anymore. “I’m loyal to my brother. Always.”
He spat at my feet. “Doesn’t seem like it.” He turned around and walked off.
I watched him go before I moved to the cabin to retrieve her.
She was sitting on the edge of the bed when I opened the door. In her work uniform and with no possessions, she immediately turned her eyes to mine when she saw me.
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
She got off the bed and joined me.
I took her to the gate through a different route so we could avoid the clearing. The guards already knew she wouldn’t be reporting to work and the women obviously realized it too, but it was smart not to flaunt her existence.
“The guards won’t punish you for this later?”
I wasn’t afraid of them. Unless they came at me with a gun, they couldn’t defeat me. “No.”
“Are we riding to the chateau?”
“No. Wagons.”
“Oh.”
“There’s no reason to hide the path since you obviously already know it…”
She turned quiet.
We reached the wagons.
There were three altogether. There was a driver in each one. I would be the driver for the last. “You can lie in the back if you want or sit up front with me. Makes no difference to me.” I climbed to the front and grabbed the reins.
Instead of taking the back, she climbed into the spot beside me. “May as well enjoy the view.”
We traveled down the narrow path, three wagons in a row. In the springtime, there was much more to look at than white fields and heavy branches with piles of snow on top. The cold and dry air didn’t sting the eyes when you gazed, so you could take in the scenes all you wanted.
That was what she did.
We passed a river to the right, and later on the left was a small pond with lily pads drifting on top. Deer were visible on the other side, drinking from the water, wiggling their ears as they kept their eyes on us. Hawks passed in the skies, the world alive in the warm water. Hunters searched for food, and prey stayed hidden in the brush.
Raven didn’t make conversation and spent her time appreciating the wilderness around us. It must have made her think of her journey across the river in the opposite direction because she asked, “How’s Rose?”
I looked at the wagons in front, all spaced out with several feet in between in case one of the horses made an unexpected stop. The drivers didn’t turn around to glance at us, and they seemed too far away to hear the question. I didn’t want to be seen talking to her, not when I was already the camp’s most hated man. “She’s fine.”
“You kept her?”
“I told you I would, didn’t I?”
“Yes, but—”
“You betrayed me,” I said bitterly. “I’m the kind of man that keeps his word.” I turned to look at her. “Even if the person I gave it to doesn’t deserve it.”
Her blue eyes dropped like the insult truly affected her. Her sadness seemed sincere, and the words she’d shared with her sister had been packed with such raw emotion that she seemed to tell the truth.
Didn’t change anything.
“It was really nice to see Melanie.” She looked ahead, sitting on the edge of the seat so there was plenty of space between us. She did whatever she could to stay out of my way, pressed up against the bedroom wall at night so her presence would be nearly forgettable.
“I didn’t arrange it. That was her.”
“I know…just saying.”
My hands held the reins, but the horses were so well behaved that it wasn’t necessary. They knew the route better than we did. They even knew to avoid the bumps in the road so the wagons wouldn’t shake.
“Is he good to her?”
“We don’t discuss such things.”
“But what do you think, based on what you’ve seen?”
“You can’t change it, so what does it matter?”
She gave a pause. “It matters to me…”
I looked at the road ahead, knowing we had another hour to go before we reached the hidden clearing where the vehicles were stored. “He never addresses her as Melanie. He always calls her ‘beautiful.’ When I was at his estate and she walked into the room, instead of getting his butler to fetch her drink, he did it himself. When they came to the camp, he made sure she got off the horse safely and onto the ground before he dismounted. He’s gentle when he touches her. I’ve never seen him be that way with a woman in my entire life.”
Raven was quiet as she processed that. “He loves her.”
“I don’t know.”
“Every time I asked about him, she changed the subject. I don’t know why she wouldn’t just tell me that.”
“Because she feels the same way.”
She turned back to me, incredulous. “Not possible.”
I didn’t argue because I really didn’t care anyway.
Her eyebrows furrowed in anger. “She would never feel anything for someone like that. Maybe there’s Stockholm syndrome going on, but no, Melanie would never care about the man who owns this place.”
I kept my eyes on the road.
“She wouldn’t…right?”
I didn’t care either way.
“Magnus?”
“What?”
“Do you think that’s true?”
“I’ve only seen them together a few times, so I’m no expert. Believe it or not, but dissecting people’s emotional feelings isn’t my hobby. I can read Fender well because I know him, but I don’t know your sister. Maybe she’s pretending… I have no idea.”
She faced forward again.
“I know you live a virtuous life and see the world in black and white, but other people see shades of gray. Most women would want to be the one who earns Fender’s affection, regardless of his criminal enterprise.”
She turned back to me. “Why?” There was a hint of disgust in her voice.
“He’s rich—”
“Money means nothing. Having a soul is the only currency that matters.”
I turned to her. “Can I finish?”
She faced forward again.
I turned back to the road. “He’s rich. He’s powerful. And he’s handsome. Melanie was in this camp for almost two months, and now she’s underneath the man that has everyone in his pocket. Nothing could hurt her ever again. That’s the dream, right?”
She shook her head. “I disagree.”
The wagons rolled across the hard ground and little pebbles in the road, and the horses started to turn as we came around a bend to avoid a large tree. “You slept with me, didn’t you?” I was the man who kept her alive. I was the only man powerful enough to keep the others away.
She slowly turned her head back to me, her features immediately etched into an expression of pain. “That’s totally different…”
“Is it?” I kept my face forward.
“Yes. We’re different. You’re nothing like him.”
I shook my head. “You give me more credit than I deserve.”
“Really?” she snapped. “Because I don’t think you give yourself enough.”
After the wagons were parked, the truck pulled up
and the back was quickly thrown open. The guy didn’t get out of the driver’s seat because his job was to pull away the instant we were finished.
We hustled to get the drugs out of the wagons and into the back of the truck.
Raven just stood there.
I turned around and stood at the edge of the truck, seeing her petting one of the horses. “Get your ass moving. Now.”
She stilled at my command, her hand still on the horse’s nose, but she didn’t argue. She moved to one of the wagons and started to help us load the back. It was a lot of product, but we could get it loaded within three minutes. I pulled down the door, pounded my fist into the metal so the driver could hear, and then hopped off.
He drove away.
The horses were given food and water and a break before they would turn around and head back to the camp. My car was covered in a brown tarp, hidden in an enclave we’d made in the trees, so it was impossible to spot from the road. I pulled the tarp off and tossed it aside. “Let’s go.”
She eyed the car for a moment, recognizing it from the last time I drove her to Paris. There was a brief hesitation before she got inside.
I started the engine, and we pulled onto the road. I drove far past the speed limit because I would never be pulled over, even if another driver called and reported my license plate. That number would be entered into the database along with instructions to disregard it.
It’d already been a long day, and now we had a long drive to Paris.
She looked out the window and watched the scenery as we passed. “Where do you live?”
“Paris.”
She rested her head against the leather headrest, her eyes heavy like she might sleep on the drive. “You know what I mean.”
“I live at the edge of Bois de Boulogne.”
She turned back to me. “I’m sorry…what is that?”
“It’s a park. It once belonged to the royal family, but Emperor Napoleon made it public in 1852. It’s ten minutes away from the Eiffel Tower.”
Her eyes filled with a slight look of excitement. “Can you see the tower from one of your windows?”
