Torn (A Wicked Trilogy Book 2)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Slowly, I stood. “You’re on my to-kill list.”

  “Is that so?” Breena shrugged. “I bet I know why.”

  Fury dug into my bones. “I bet you do.”

  “I told you it wasn’t wise for you to be here,” Faye replied with a weary sigh. “The prince spoke of you. She wasn’t going to forget.”

  “I was hoping she wouldn’t.” Breena paused, her pale eyes full of malicious intent. “And you know who else is never going to forget my name? My little human pet.”

  “Stop it, Breena,” Faye warned, glancing at the door.

  My hands curled into fists. “You’re disgusting.”

  “That’s not what Ren thought,” she replied, pulling the key out. “Especially not when I had my mouth on his skin, my tongue on his, and his—”

  Screeching, I lurched at her. Breena easily evaded me, stepping just out of my reach, causing the chain to painfully jerk my neck back. “You sound proud of forcing yourself on someone,” I shouted.

  “Who’s saying I forced myself?” She laughed darkly. “I can be very, very convincing.”

  “And you’re going to be very, very dead,” I promised.

  Breena snorted. “My pet had the most amazing tattoo. I traced those vines with my tongue.”

  “Shut up.” Rage filled me, mingling with the bitter sting of jealousy. It was stupid to give her that kind of power, but I couldn’t help it. I knew that Ren didn’t want whatever had gone down between them. I wouldn’t have done what I’d done with the prince if I’d known it wasn’t Ren, and the mortification over that still burned brightly, but she was getting under my skin and setting up a home there.

  “Give me the key,” Faye ordered.

  Breena handed it over without taking her eyes off me. “He tasted like man and salt. Not a bad combination. I may have to pay him a visit.”

  “You won’t get the chance,” I said as Faye approached me. My gaze snapped to her.

  She stopped, wariness etched into her face as she lifted her hands. “I’m going to unchain you so you can shower. That’s all.”

  The moment I was unhooked, I was going to take this chain and wrap it around Breena’s neck.

  “Please don’t.” Faye’s eyes met mine, and it was like she’d read my mind. “If you go after her or cause any trouble, one of the males will come in. Do you understand?”

  My jaw ached from how tight I was clenching my mouth shut.

  “They’ll be in here while you shower,” Faye explained, tone almost pleading, which surprised me. “You don’t want that, right?”

  “No,” I forced out.

  “Then please don’t go after her,” she said, voice low. “She wasn’t with him that long. She fed on him, but that is all.”

  “Keep telling her that if it lets her sleep better at night.” Breena’s laugh tinkled like wind chimes.

  “Ignore her,” Faye insisted. “She just wants to get a rise out of you, see you punished. Don’t give her that.”

  The breath I took felt like fire in my lungs. “Why do you even care?”

  Faye's gaze flicked away from mine, and she didn’t respond. I honestly didn’t get why Faye cared if I had to strip down in front of an army of fae, but she was right. I didn’t want them in here while I showered, and I really, really wanted a shower.

  “Okay,” I said.

  Relief shot across Faye’s face, but Breena smiled like she had won some kind of battle. My answering smile was grim, because after I took a shower and had clothes back on, I really didn’t have anything to lose, and that bitch was going down.

  Faye unlocked the chain, but held the end in her hands. “You ready?”

  I nodded.

  We walked over to the bathroom, and Breena followed. I did my best to ignore her presence, which was probably one of the hardest things I’d ever done in my life, especially when she started talking again.

  “You need to leave the door open,” she said, smirking.

  Faye winced.

  “That’s not necessary,” I told them. “What am I going to do in here?”

  “I don’t trust you.” Breena bumped my shoulder as she walked past me and sat on the ledge surrounding the tub, gracefully crossing one leg over the other.

  I tensed as Faye unlocked the band around my neck and removed it. Immediately, I reached up, touching my bare skin, and swallowed carefully while Faye moved to the shower stall. She turned the water on, adjusting the temperature.

  “Strip,” Breena ordered.

  I lowered my hands, glaring at her.

  Her smirk grew. “Either you take off your clothes or I will take them off for you.”

  Faye sighed. “Breena.”

  “It’s not an empty promise,” Breena added.

  My skin prickled with anger and irritation. Part of me wanted to let her try to strip me down, but the last thing I wanted was a room full of fae while I showered. Breena had already gotten to me—she’d done things to Ren, with Ren, and now she wanted to intimidate me. No way was I giving her one more thing.

  I reached down, wrapping my fingers around the hem of my thermal, and yanked the soiled material off. Then I threw it at her.

  Breena’s hand snaked out, catching the shirt. The smirk faded from her face as she dropped the material onto the ground. “Cute. Does your bra actually have daisies on it?”

  It did. Whatever. Unbuttoning my cargo pants, I shimmied them down my hips and thighs, then stepped out of them. Steam was quickly filling the bathroom.

  “Pink panties?” Breena snickered. “How old are you?”

  “Go fuck yourself,” I said, reaching behind and unclasping the hooks of my bra. My cheeks heated as the straps slipped down my arms.

  “How about I go fuck your boyfriend?” Breena responded.

  I’m gonna kill her. My hands trembled as I let the bra slip to the floor. I’m gonna kill her. I kept repeating those words as I slipped off my undies.

  “I have no idea what he sees in you,” Breena observed, arching a dark brow. “Your tits aren’t that bad. The rest of you? Probably a good thing you skipped dinner.”

  “Shut up, Breena.” Faye shot her a dark, scolding look. “Just shut up.”

  Breena ignored her. “Oh, look. Your tattoo is in the same place as your boyfriend’s. How cute.”

  I stiffened. The tattoo—the symbol of freedom that all Order members had—was way too low on Ren’s stomach for her to have seen it without his pants coming off. Stomach twisting, I struggled to take my next breath. Our gazes met. Challenge filled her pale eyes.

  “Shower, Ivy.” Faye lightly touched my arm. “Go ahead and shower.”

  Skin burning, it took every ounce of self-control to turn and step into the shower. The warm water hit my skin, stinging the bruise along my hip. Faye closed the door behind me, but it was clear glass, so there was absolutely no privacy. Embarrassment made my movements jerky as I picked up the bottle of shampoo.

  Breena talked the entire time I showered. She spoke of how alive she felt after feeding on Ren, and how his muscles had flexed under her hands. Then she moved on to how things would be with the prince once I got “knocked up” and delivered his child. I’d be cast aside, and she would take my place. From what I was gathering, she had a lot of experience with Drake.

  So cliché.

  I ignored her and focused on the simple joy of being clean, even though I wanted to shove the bottle of body wash down her throat. I was biding my time. So I swallowed the humiliation and held the anger close as I finished showering. The door opened once, and a disposable razor was offered to me. I stared at it and then slowly lifted my gaze to Faye’s.

  Pink flushed her silvery cheeks. “He wants you to shave.”

  “He wants . . .” I knew why. Sickened, I swallowed a dry heave. “No. No way.”

  “Gross,” muttered Breena. “Humans are so hairy.”

  Did the fae not get hair in the same places we did? I had no idea, and frankly, I didn’t care. I wasn’t shaving. “It’s n
ot happening,” I said.

  Something akin to approval flashed in Faye’s gaze, but I figured I had to be seeing things. She nodded and stepped away from the shower. I wanted to be clean, but if being hairy and dirty kept the prince away from me, then I’d gladly be as gross as humanly possible. When I was done, Faye handed me a towel.

  Goosebumps raced over my skin as I stepped out of the shower. It was then that I realized Faye was holding a bundle of black cloth. Water dripped from the ends of my hair as I clutched the towel close to my body.

  “The prince wants you to wear this,” Faye explained.

  This turned out to be a black gown. It was long-sleeved and low-cut with a high waist. Without even touching it, I knew it was incredibly thin.

  “Are you serious?” I asked, and when Faye nodded, I grimaced. “There has to be something else.”

  “It’s either that or you’re naked.” Breena rose fluidly. “Your choice.”

  I watched her roam out into the bedroom and then I faced Faye. I didn’t get why she was being kind or helpful, but I hoped it extended to finding me something else to wear. “Please. I can’t . . . I can’t wear that.”

  “I’m sorry.” And she sounded sorry. Again, I was surprised by this.

  The chain and metal band lay on the bed, waiting for me. Frustrated, I took the dress from her. There were no undergarments, and I figured that was on purpose. Disgusted, I turned my back to Faye.

  She stepped outside the bathroom, giving me the closest thing she could to privacy while I dropped the towel and slipped the silky dress on over my head. The hem fell to the floor, and my toes peeked out from underneath.

  With no undergarments on, I felt nude.

  I scooped my wet hair out of the dress, refusing to look at myself in the mirror. The top was tight, leaving very little to the imagination, and it gaped slightly if I bent over. Great.

  “How long does it take one person to get dressed?” Breena sniped from the bedroom.

  Smoothing my hands down the sides, I smiled tightly as I lifted my head. I walked out of the bathroom, stepping around Faye. Calmly, I stalked up to the bed and stopped a few inches from Breena.

  “You make the gown look like you’re playing dress-up,” she said.

  My smile widened as I faced Breena. She looked at me expectantly. I cocked my arm back and punched her right in her stupid face with everything I had in me.

  Faye gasped as Breena fell backward onto the bed. I didn’t give her a chance to recover. Straddling her thin hips, I gripped the sides of her head and thrust my thumbs deep into her eyes.

  “I’m going to kill you,” I promised, ignoring the bite of pain as she clawed at my arms through the stupid dress. “Maybe not right now, but one day I will kill you.”

  Breena screamed, bucking her hips, but I held on to her like an octopus, waiting for Faye to intervene. The bedroom door flew open, and an ancient rushed into the room. I kept digging my fingers in, relishing Breena’s shrieks of pain until two hands gripped my shoulders and tore me away. My butt hit the floor.

  Metal closed around my neck and the chain was pulled tight, forcing me to stand. Breena jumped to her feet, shimmery blood dripping from the corners of her red eyes. Screaming like a banshee, she rushed me, but didn’t get far.

  Faye caught her around the waist and started dragging her, arms and legs flailing, around the bed and toward the open door. A hysterical laugh bubbled up in me as the ancient shoved me back toward the bed. I caught myself and whipped around.

  His arm shot out, the back of his hand connecting with my jaw. Pain erupted along my mouth. I touched my chin, wincing when red smeared my fingertips.

  “The prince will be displeased with your actions,” the ancient warned, looking like he wanted to knock me upside the head.

  Lip bleeding and aching, I gave him a bloody smile. “Worth it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  I ate my lunch on day four, even though mustard was not exactly pleasant with a split lip. Faye brought me a sandwich a little bit after one o’clock. She didn’t hang around and chat, which sucked because I was curious about her and what drove her to be so kind to me. Granted, it wasn’t like we were going to go out and get matching “best friend” bracelets, but she wasn’t like the others. But the only thing she said to me on the way out was that I shouldn’t have attacked Breena.

  Maybe I shouldn’t have, but oh well.

  Out of all the things I could regret in life, that wouldn’t even make the top thirty.

  My thoughts went to a strange place, and I thought of Val. How would she treat me if I was here and she was still alive? Would she be kind or spiteful? Part of me wanted to believe she would step up and help me, but it hurt to realize there was very little I knew about Val.

  Thinking of her made every part of me ache.

  I’d just finished my sandwich when the bedroom door opened. I tensed when I saw that it was Drake. He was dressed in linen pants that most men wouldn’t look right in, and his shirt was half-unbuttoned. His feet were bare.

  He was dressed way too casual, and unease stirred in my stomach. Drake had stopped by last night, mostly to yell at me for nearly gouging out Breena’s eyes and to tell me that he was glad I was no longer “filthy.” I was guessing Faye hadn’t told him the razor had gone unused.

  “Miss me?” he asked as he stopped in front of the bed.

  I snorted. “Not even in the slightest.”

  “If I had feelings, I still wouldn’t care.”

  Rolling my eyes, I scooted to the edge of the bed and placed my feet on the floor. I didn’t have a lot of space to move around, but I didn’t like being on the bed with him in the room. I stood like I did whenever he came in.

  “Do you like the dress I picked out for you?”

  He hadn’t asked that question before. “No,” I said, shaking my head.

  “I’m not surprised.” He chuckled, and then moved like lightning, curling his fingers around my chin. He tilted my head back. “You know, Valor could’ve done worse to your face.”

  Valor, ironically named, was the ancient who’d backhanded me yesterday. “We’ve already had this conversation,” I said, jerking my chin out of his grasp, hating that he’d allowed that and that was the one reason he wasn’t doing worse. “And I’ll say it again. I’m going to kill her.”

  “Not likely.”

  My eyes narrowed and my hands closed into fists. “You don’t think I’m capable of it?”

  One side of his mouth curled upward as he tilted his head forward. His dark hair slid over his shoulders. “You’d kill her because she touched your human male?”

  “I’d kill her because what she did to him wasn’t something he wanted,” I shot back. “It wasn’t mutual. If it were mutual, then my problem wouldn’t be with her.”

  “How do you know?” he challenged.

  I sucked in a sharp breath. “Because I know—because this isn’t mutual. Because being fed on isn’t something Ren would’ve wanted. Because—”

  “And you think he truly wants you, even knowing that you’re a halfling?”

  My shoulders tensed. Wondering if Ren still cared for me hadn’t been a priority since I was brought here.

  “Let me ask you a question,” he said as he pulled the key from his pocket. “How do you think we captured your male so easily?”

  “I doubt it was easy.”

  His full lips twisted into a smirk. My muscles locked up as he reached around, scooping my hair up with one hand. “It was last Monday,” he said.

  My chest squeezed. That was when I’d told Ren I was the halfling, which was what I’d expected. Ren had gone missing that night until Tuesday, then Drake had shown up, masquerading as Ren, on Wednesday.

  “It wasn’t me who snatched your human male.” He unlocked the band around my neck and dropped it onto the bed. “It was Breena.”

  I didn’t dare move, even though I now had a small measure of freedom. He still held on to my hair, and he was too close. When
he spoke, his cool breath caressed my cheek.

  “She caught his attention and lured him in quite easily,” he told me.

  My hands balled into fists. “He saw past her glamour. It’s our job to go after fae when we see them.”

  “And how do you know he was just doing his duty? Breena is beautiful, and you . . . well, you have this hair.” He lifted it up. “Not sure what to make of it.”

  “Gee. Thanks.”

  He chuckled, dropping the curly mass, but didn’t step back. His hand landed on my shoulder, a heavy, suffocating presence. “She rendered him helpless quite easily,” he continued. “I guess he was distracted.”

  Of course he was, and it wasn’t for the reason Drake was suggesting. “I know what you’re trying to do, and it isn’t going to work.”

  “It isn’t?” His hand moved from my shoulder to the back of my neck, and he forced my head back so I met his gaze. “Do you know when we feed, we can pick up thoughts? See inside someone? Pieces of their personality, their wants and desires?”

  I didn’t know that.

  His eyes were like pools of blue ice. “How do you think I was able to convince you I was Ren for a period of time?”

  “Only for a handful of hours,” I reminded him.

  Drake’s fingers tightened around my neck. “If we hadn’t been interrupted, I would’ve gotten what I came for.”

  Anger and embarrassment flushed my skin. I tried to pull away, but he held me in place.

  “I learned certain things about him when I fed, as I am sure Breena did.” He paused. “One of the things I picked up from your human male was his concern over those two men—Henry and Kyle.”

  Great. But right now that wasn’t one of my biggest problems.

  “You should thank me for removing at least one of those threats,” he said, and I clamped my mouth shut. “I did what your human male couldn’t do.”

  “Murdering someone in cold blood isn’t exactly a desirable trait,” I shot back.

  “We’ll have to disagree on that.” Letting go of my neck, he stepped back. “Do you know what else I learned?”

  I all but darted across the room, putting as much space between us as possible. The bedroom door was closed, and I was smart enough to know I wasn’t going to get past him. I wasn’t sure why he’d let me go, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I needed to keep my cool, because the only chance I had was to earn his trust.