by Eli Constant
But I couldn’t let that happen… I was already worried he’d seen the change in her eyes. I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.
I stepped forward into view, turning my body so that I was still standing in the hallway, but also blocking the doorway out of the breakroom. Sam and Stash were seated on the couch. She held a bowl of soup. A second bowl was on the busted-up coffee table. He’d made her food. Yep. Of course he had.
“You’ve never had a piece of that ass, Stash. Of course you don’t understand why she’s worth keeping around.” I inched forward just enough that the lights from the room they were in spilled out to frame my form. Let Stash see the way I played with shadows. Let him remember that I was darkness, and fucking with me was a one-way ticket to dead.
I watched Stash’s face, saw the thoughts rushing through his mind. And I saw the second he decided to toss in his chips and walk away before things went south.
“Now, ain’t that the truth,” Stash breathed out, his voice kissing a hint of twang. “Guess I was hoping your bitch here would throw me a bone and then I’d understand why you were hell-bent on keeping her for yourself.” He stood up and grabbed his soup, a face-splitting smile not reaching his eyes, which stayed curious and piercing. “Actually, guess it would have been me giving her the bone. Damn shame you came back so soon.”
I didn’t move when he tried to exit the breakroom. I made him force his way past—another reminder that I wasn’t someone to fuck around with. When he was gone, the sound of the squealing front door followed me as I walked toward Sam. She was huddled around the soup, nursing it like a little bit of chicken noodle could solve all the world’s damn problems.
It reminded me of the cereal.
Of finding it tucked away waiting for me.
It had always made everything feel just a tiny bit better.
But cereal goes stale.
And soup goes cold.
Because there are too many people like Nathan and Stash in the world. Too many people like me. None of us were good men, but we could all live with that.
Sam was speaking to me, but I couldn’t register her words. My mind was at war—my mother’s bruised face battling with handfuls of cereal promises.
I shook my head back and forth, automatically responding to something Sam said. I don’t know what. The words wouldn’t break through my walls.
Finally, I found a way to speak consciously, forcing through the lockdown of my own memories.
“You need to be cautious around Stash. He likes to act like he knows less than he does. He tells people what they want to hear. But underneath all that, he’s as keen as a goddamn eagle. He doesn’t miss a fucking thing.”
If Nathan was the serial killer of the Sins, Stash was the gossip-happy reporter always hunting for the real dirt. He’d act like your best friend, sidle up real close, and before you knew it, you’d spill your guts. Even though he was the closest thing I had to a friend, I still didn’t trust him. I didn’t trust anyone. I didn’t know how he’d react if he found out about Sam’s affliction. And I didn’t want to find out how I’d have to shut him the fuck up afterwards. If I made the choice to break with loyalty…
Dead was the only way out. And it wouldn’t be me that would be doing the dying.
Chapter Two.
Rose
Barrett.
He’s here.
Is he here with Sam?
He must be here with Sam…
The thoughts were tumbling around my confused brain and making me dizzy. I wanted to focus on Sam—on the small speck of hope that she was alive, and here. That Barrett had kept her safe for me after all. But I kept coming back to the fact that Barrett was just here and he acted like he didn’t even know me. That, after everything we’d all been through together. He saw how Nathan was treating me—probably knew what was going to happen next—and he turned a blind eye to it.
I’d never liked Barrett; I always knew he was a selfish bastard. Hell, he’d proven time and time again that’s what he was, but I was still shocked that he’d just ignored me. Just acted like I was nothing and no one to him. Everyone told me to leave him locked in the airport prison cell, and for the first time I truly believed that I should have too.
I felt sick. Sick and scared and very angry.
My bottom lip trembled with the desperate need to cry at my hopeless situation, at the dark reality I was facing, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I was too damn angry to cry.
If I ever got out of there, I was going to kill him. Him and Nathan. In fact, I intended on burning the fucking hellhole to the ground. Let the whole place—and everyone in it—burn.
Rage grew inside me, taking away my trembles and turning me into an inferno of hate. My every thought was consumed by it. I’d never been a hateful or vengeful person, but then again, I wasn’t the same person anymore. That person—that version of Rose—died on the plane when it crashed. No, no, that person was at home in bed, waiting for her alarm to go off so she could get up, like she did every day, and apply to go to the boring—but very safe—jobs her parents had told her to get. God, what I’d have given for that mundane, safe, practical life now. But that life was gone, and that woman was just a memory. A blip in time and now she’s gone forever, barring what remained in people’s memories. She barely even had the chance to really live, but that was okay because it was better than the ending that was coming for me.
I was so lost in my angry, morbid thoughts that I hadn’t heard Nathan come back in. I hadn’t noticed him go to sit behind his desk again. I hadn’t noticed him staring at me, his hands steepled in front of him like he was the fucking president ready to give out his orders or something.
“You doing okay over there, little Rose?”
I startled from my dark thoughts, my gaze shooting to him. I didn’t know if he really wanted me to answer, but I was too angry not to. “I’m just great,” I bit out.
He chuckled and lit a cigar, his gaze never leaving mine. “You are something else.”
“The British are like that,” I said. “You should have met my mum—she was hard as nails. I bet she would have cut off your balls and fed them to you in a heartbeat,” I lied. My mum was the softest, kindest woman you could ever wish to meet. I didn’t think she had a hard bone in her body.
Nathan leaned back in his chair, blowing his cigar smoke out in front of him. My answer must have pleased him because he hadn’t come to shake my cage or kick it, which I was grateful for. Not that I’d tell him that, obviously.
“I think you’re ready,” he said, and I scowled. “Now, now, don’t be like that. You’ve gone from feral to pitiful to damn fucking gloriously spunky, little Rose. You’re definitely ready to work.”
My eyes narrowed. “Work?”
He sighed and stood up, leaving his cigar burning in the ashtray on his desk. “Let’s not play dumb. Nothing comes for free; we’ve talked about this. We all have to earn our keep—otherwise it would be a goddamned free-for-all with no control and no discipline. What we have here in our happy little camp is a way of life that suits all.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was terrified of this man. But I was also freezing and aching all over, not to mention I didn’t remember the last time I’d eaten or drank anything. I’d do anything to get out of this cage and stretch my legs, maybe put on a pair of jogging bottoms and drink a cup of coffee. Maybe stab him in his ridiculously attractive, yet altogether creepy face…
“You need to work, little Rose, then you can earn your way—and lo and behold, all will be good with the world.” He snickered, enjoying watching the indecision flicker across my face. “How about this? How about I show you where you’ll be staying, introduce you to my girls, and”—he crouched down in front of my cage, his gaze raking over me, taking in every inch of naked flesh and making me blush—“maybe, I might even let you put on some clothes. Though it’s a damn shame to cover up all of that, in my opinion.” He winked like I should have been flattered. I wanted to spit in his face,
but instead I played him at his own game.
“Clothes would be good,” I replied instantly.
The corner of his mouth pulled up in a side-smile. “First port of call, clothes, gotcha. So, are you going to behave?” he asked almost gentlemanly.
I thought about it for a long minute, knowing that there was no way in hell I was going to be able to control myself if he or any of his men made a move on me, but also knowing that I needed to control myself or I was going to get myself killed. And I couldn’t die now. Not after coming so far and surviving so much. Not after learning that there was a possibility that Sam was here.
I nodded in agreement. It was the lesser of two evils.
“Say it,” he said, his voice husky and his gaze darkening. “Because honestly, truth be known, I don’t mind keeping you as a centerpiece for my office. You are a damn good view, if you don’t mind me saying.”
I felt sick at the thought of him looking at me. Of my body being on show for him and whoever else came in here. And I had no doubt in my mind that that was exactly what he’d do. He’d mount the cage on his wall to make it all the more humiliating, if it came to it. I shuddered at the thought and reminded myself of why I was doing this, why I was going to be docile and let this disgusting, sickening man control me…for now.
Because Barrett was here.
And if Barrett is here, then Sam might be.
If I could find Sam, then she could get Barrett to help me, even if he didn’t want to. And if she wasn’t here…well, at least I’d be out of my cage and one step closer to killing Barrett and Nathan. It was a win-win, I guess.
“I’ll behave,” I said as calmly as I could. Though I felt anything but calm.
I could hear my own heart beating in my ears, the heavy thud of it pounding in my head like it had found a new home where my brain should have been. I willed myself to act calm and steady.
Nathan pulled his keys out and unlocked my cage. He held a hand out to me and I glared up at it, my obvious loathing for him evident on my face which, thankfully, instead of infuriating him, made him laugh. He held up his hands in mock self-defense and took a couple of steps back, giving me some space. I slowly climbed out of the cage and stood upright, my arms automatically moving to wrap around myself and cover my body. My bones clicked and creaked as I came to fully stand, and I would have given anything to stretch properly but couldn’t because he was still there, watching me. I felt dizzy with vertigo after being cramped up for so long, and I must have swayed because Nathan reached out and caught me. I couldn’t help but fall against him, my body reacting to his warmth and solidness. He mimicked safety when he was really the danger.
I pulled away abruptly and he chuckled again. He unbuttoned the shirt he was wearing before sliding it off his shoulders and holding it out to me. I stared at it, and then at him, in total disgust.
“Are you serious?” I sniped.
“As serious as a heart attack, little Rose. It’s this or nothing.” He winked again.
“Fine. Can you at least turn around?” I bit out.
A slow smile crawled up his face. “I’ve seen everything I want to see already,” he said. “Now cover yourself up, or don’t. Either way, we’re leaving in twenty seconds, so the choice is yours.”
I grimaced and snatched the shirt from him as quickly as I could before pushing my arms through it quickly and buttoning it up. I ignored his stare and pretended I was somewhere else. Anywhere else but there in that room, with him.
“Just in time,” he said, and headed towards the door. With his hand on the handle, he turned back to me. “Oh, one last thing.” He reached out and I automatically flinched back from him. “You wanna keep that thing on?” he said with a wink.
I realized then that I was still wearing the dog collar. Humiliation colored my cheeks and I lowered my gaze from his. He smiled and reached back over to unbuckle it, shoving it in his pocket before turning back to the door.
Luckily I’m short and Nathan’s shirt hung to my mid-thigh. I still kept a hand on the hem of it to make sure a sudden breeze didn’t blow it up and reveal my nakedness to the world. We headed down a long, dark corridor, the scent from when I’d first arrived stinging my nostrils once more, but then we were outside and the air was warm, and though I could still smell the slight scent of death hanging on the light breeze, I could finally breathe without gagging.
The ground was hard and hot underfoot, and my feet were burning as we walked across it. Gravel dug into my skin and I tried to ignore it as best I could.
“You all right back there?” Nathan called to me, though there wasn’t an ounce of compassion in his voice.
“Brilliant, thanks,” I replied.
We passed several people, all men, and I scooted closer to Nathan, hoping that he’d protect me since all of the men looked like every woman’s nightmare, with their leering gazes. This place was creepy as hell too. I thought it used to be a waterpark or theme park or something because there were dilapidated booths spotted about advertising slushes and hot dogs and cotton candy. I scrunched up my nose, trying to work out what cotton candy was for a moment before realizing that it was candy floss.
“You hungry?” Nathan asked, noticing my gaze.
“A little,” I mumbled, because, well, I was hungry.
“I’ll get you all fixed up, little Rose.”
We stopped outside a faded white and blue building and Nathan knocked three times on the door and waited. I heard a series of locks turning from the other side before the door opened up and a man who looked like he last slept a full night’s sleep somewhere in the 1990s stood there. He yawned as he shook Nathan’s hand before stepping to one side and allowing us both to pass.
We headed down another corridor, this one cheerier than the last, with dirty white walls and some old posters advertising several fun-looking water slides on them. I could hear women talking and laughing, and the tension I’d been holding inside of me started to fade.
Maybe I’d gotten this whole thing wrong. The voices I could hear sounded happy, not tortured or distraught. Not forced to do something against their will. I glanced up at Nathan but he wasn’t paying me any attention. He was so cocky and sure of himself that he didn’t even have a hand on the gun at his hip. I could have grabbed it in seconds and blown his brains out. I was tempted to do it—just reach over and grab it and then fire a bullet between his eyes—but then who knew what would happen next. I wasn’t exactly going to get very far with no supplies. Hell, I didn’t even have any shoes on!
I swallowed and kept my gaze forwards.
“Good girl,” Nathan said, like he’d been reading my mind the whole time. “Here we are,” he finally said, pulling to a stop in front of an open door. “Home sweet home.”
We walked inside the room, and where I expected to see women cowering on dirty beds, black eyes and tear-stained cheeks, instead I saw…well, women walking around chatting and eating like they were at a baby shower. Everyone looked clean and well fed. They almost looked happy.
Nathan threw me a look that told me he knew what I’d expected to see and he was glad he could prove me wrong. I rolled my eyes in response, because I’m not so easily won over. I still wasn’t willing to sell my body for a warm bed and a full belly. That was something that the apocalypse would never take from me.
“Destiny, Sandra,” Nathan called, and though all the women looked up, only two of them extricated themselves from the group and came towards us. Both women were fairly average-looking, I guess. One was short, with a cute pixie crop that I could never pull off, and the other was tall and sort of lanky-looking. “There’s my girls,” he said as he draped an arm over each of their shoulders, his gaze dragging over them both. He reminded me of a lion staring at an antelope and waiting for the right time to attack and kill it.
Both girls kissed him on either cheek, the shortest rising up on tiptoes, and then they looked over at me. The taller one offered me a shy smile, but the shorter one eyed me warily, like she was th
reatened by me.
“This here is little Rose—she’s thinking of joining our little group. Ain’t that right, Rose?” Nathan purred.
I scowled. “I wouldn’t put it like that.”
“I’m Sandra,” the taller girl said without making a move closer to me.
“Tell little Rose how happy you are here, girls,” Nathan cooed, like he was the cat that got the cream.
“We’re all so happy to be here,” Sandra said immediately. “I’d probably be dead if it wasn’t for Nathan.” She turned to look at him, one hand reaching out to lay flat on his stomach as she stared at him adoringly.
“Yeah, we’re one big happy family. Nathan is the daddy, I’m the mommy, and these are our kids,” Destiny drolled. “You gonna be a little kid for us too?”
I frowned. Not only because it was the weirdest thing anyone had ever asked me in the last week, but because if looks could kill I’d be one of the living dead.
“How old are you, Rose?” Destiny continued, eyes hardening more with each word. “You can’t be more than sixteen, seventeen, right? Nathan here likes his women full grown.”
Nathan turned to her sharply, and before I knew what was happening he raised his hand and backhanded her across the face. She called out and I gasped in alarm, the movement catching me completely by surprise. “Watch your tongue,” he snarled.
She whimpered, one hand covering the growing red handprint on her cheek as she nodded quickly. “Sorry, Nathan.”
“Apologize to Rose,” he said.
“It’s fine, I’m okay,” I stuttered, still in shock. My knees had started to shake and all I could think about doing was running as far away from there as possible.
“No, it’s not. That was rude of Destiny, and if there’s one thing I can’t abide it’s rudeness.” Nathan reached out with one hand and trailed it across Destiny’s face, his hazel eyes burning into her. I’d never seen someone look so utterly terrifying.
“I’m sorry, Rose,” Destiny mumbled.
