by Penelope Sky
I knew why he hesitated as long as he did. He didn’t want to do this to me. He didn’t want to hurt me. He’d suggested the punishment to spare me from the Red Snow, but the executioner was only interested in my death, not a short-lived torture.
His boots shifted in the snow as he positioned himself.
I stared at the bark, my breath escaping as vapor in front of my face.
And then a whip cracked against my back.
I did my best to silence the groan that came from my lips, but I couldn’t. It was a quiet scream, a whimper from my lips, a shock so potent my entire body didn’t know how to absorb the whip that bit deep into my skin. I swung forward slightly, getting closer to the trunk, my reality pausing for a moment to process what had happened.
I didn’t have time to accept it before the whip bit into my skin again.
This time, I shut my mouth and swallowed the scream that wanted to burst from my lips.
He hit me hard—because he had to.
I wanted to be brave like I was for the Red Snow. I didn’t want them to claim my terror. But I also stayed quiet to make this easier for him.
How long would this last?
He kept striking me, aiming for different parts of untouched flesh. The leather whip cracked into my skin, made the blood drip down my body and over my pants, making the snow turn red at my feet.
My back suddenly felt red-hot, all the flesh inflamed and pulsing.
It lasted forever.
My body swayed forward with every hit, and I kept my eyes on the bark for concentration. It would end soon. I just had to wait, had to be patient.
He continued to strike me, the whip making a loud crack every time it hit my flesh.
I tried to stay quiet, but I couldn’t. I started to whimper with every hit, my feet slipping on the snow because I couldn’t hold myself up anymore. The arrow was still in my arm, and I was weak from the punch I’d received to the head. I wasn’t ready for this, ready to survive this with dignity.
Then it stopped.
“Oh, thank god…”
“No.” The executioner’s deep voice was a threatening growl. “Harder.”
I closed my eyes and felt the tears drip down my cheeks because I couldn’t take much more of this.
Magnus hesitated.
“Or would you rather I do it?” the executioner challenged.
God no.
Magnus struck me harder than before.
I cried out and swung forward from the momentum of his hit.
He didn’t take pauses between hits anymore. He just fired them off, one after another, hitting me repeatedly and giving me no time to breathe.
It was excruciating.
Either from the loss of blood or the overload of pain, I knew my feet couldn’t support me anymore, and I just started to dangle there, my head dropping, my gaze losing focus.
“What are you doing?” the executioner asked. “Keep going.”
Magnus lost his temper. “She’s not even conscious anymore.”
“And neither are the men she killed!”
Was I going to die like this, hanging from a tree?
“Enough.” Magnus’s footsteps approached me, his boots hitting the snow.
Thank fucking god.
The rope above my hands was cut, and I fell forward, landing in his outstretched arms.
I collapsed against him, so weak I couldn’t stand, in so much pain that I couldn’t focus on anything else.
He tried to get me to stand and walk.
“I can’t…” I fell down onto the snow, landing in the powder, the ice feeling a little better on my back. But my mind faded in and out, like a weak radio signal the antenna couldn’t pick up because of poor reception.
Magnus stared down at me for a second, as if deciding what to do. Then he kneeled, scooped his arms underneath my body, and lifted me from the ground. He turned me into his chest and carried me away from the tree, past the executioner and the guards standing under the lit torches.
I kept my gaze focused on his chest, refusing to look at the men who watched one of their own carry me away.
The brightness faded as we left the clearing, as we walked down the path that we took every morning to work on the line. The only sound was his boots crunching against the new powder that had come in with the storm that was supposed to mask my escape.
I was in so much pain.
My arms circled his neck, and I pressed my face into his body, feeling safe for the first time since the last time we were together. The only thing stopping those men from ripping me apart was the man who carried me when I could no longer walk. He was the only reason I was still alive.
He held me a little bit closer, protecting me from the cold.
When we got to my cabin, he carried me inside and set me on the bed.
I collapsed, writhing in agony.
“I need you to stand.”
“I can’t…”
“Yes, you can. Come on.” He pulled medical supplies out of his pockets, including a roll of gauze.
I forced myself off the bed and onto my feet, suddenly aware that my top had fallen off at some point. I stood naked from the waist up, my tits visible, my back covered in my blood. But I didn’t hide my nakedness because I just didn’t care.
Magnus didn’t seem to care either because he didn’t look. He started to unroll the gauze and wrap it around my body, making me wince at the pressure. He started at my waist and slowly moved up higher, covering every single injury as he moved over my breasts.
I hadn’t noticed the pain when he’d lifted me, but I definitely noticed it now.
His eyes were down on his movements the entire time, his brown eyes steady and focused, like that scene that just happened in the clearing didn’t affect him emotionally. He taped the gauze into place then opened my nightstand to pull out new clothes. “Get dressed.”
I couldn’t do it, so I just lay back on the bed, still in my bloody pants and boots.
He stood over me.
I turned on my side to get the pressure off my back. My brain was in shock, but once that wore off, I would feel the pain even worse. There was no way I would get through the night, at least not if I intended to sleep.
Magnus stared at me for a few seconds before he sat on the bed next to me and unlaced my shoes. He got them loose then slipped them off before he moved to my pants. He untied the strings and got them off too, leaving stains of blood on top of the comforter.
I was in too much pain to care about what he was doing.
Then he carefully pulled the sheets from underneath me and placed them on top of me, tucking me in like my mother used to when I was a child. He moved to the nightstand and pulled out some pills. “Take this. You’ll feel better.”
“What is it?” I turned to look.
“Good shit.”
Since it would make me feel better, I found the strength to sit up and swallow the pills dry.
“These too.” He had more.
“What is it?”
“Antibiotics.”
I took those too before drinking half a bottle of water. I collapsed on the bed and just lay there again.
Magnus looked me over, as if searching for something else he could do for me.
I closed my eyes, my brain shutting down, both from fatigue and pain. Then I heard the movement of the chair as he positioned it in front of my bed. I opened my eyes and saw him sitting there, his hood down, his eyes on me.
He didn’t have a range of emotions like most people. He was either angry or nothing at all. Right now, he seemed to be nothing. “It was the only way I could save you…” A hint of remorse was in his voice, showing an emotional depth he’d never expressed before. He dropped his gaze, as if ashamed.
“I know… Thank you.”
He lifted his gaze and looked at me again.
I couldn’t hold on to consciousness any longer. His face was the last thing I saw before I slipped under…and fell into my nightmares.
17
The Demand
When I woke up, I had no idea what time it was.
But I somehow had slept through the remainder of the night. I felt rested, so it seemed like I’d been asleep for a long time, but Magnus never retrieved me for work. When I tried to sit up, I was hit with the pain I’d forgotten about. The medication must have worn off. My eyes looked under the door to see the light coming through.
That still didn’t tell me what time it was, but it was definitely past early morning.
On my nightstand were more pills along with a note.
You’re excused from work for three days. That’s the most time I could buy you.
I swallowed the pills with water and noticed the tray of food sitting there. Breakfast wasn’t served to prisoners, so this must be whatever the guards had in the morning. It was crepes, a croque monsieur sandwich, and a baguette with jam.
And there was coffee.
It was cold now, but still, it was the first time I’d had coffee in a long time.
The fact that I had an appetite showed just how much I’d starved over the last few days. All the food was cold, so it had probably been sitting there for hours. I ate everything, and I was almost finished when I thought of Melanie.
What had happened to her?
The boss said something about taking her…taking her where?
The medication made me sleepy, so I took a nap until dinnertime. The sound of the opening door woke me up.
Now that I’d pissed off every single guard in that camp except for Magnus, I was on edge. I was afraid one of them would come into my cabin to kill me, and I was too weak to fight back. Magnus had stuck out his neck for me enough times that I didn’t think he could protect me anymore.
But it was Magnus.
Even with his hood up, I recognized him at this point. I’d stared at those shoulders enough time to identify the way they moved. His height was easy to remember. The way he carried himself, confident, strong, and with a distinct “I don’t give a fuck” attitude.
I was happy to see him. “Hey.”
He set the tray on the nightstand, along with a mug of hot cocoa. “You’re feeling better.”
“I think it’s just the good shit you’re giving me.”
He turned to leave my cabin, as if delivering the food was the only reason he’d come.
“Wait.”
He stopped in front of the door but didn’t turn back to me.
“Aren’t you going to stay?”
His head faced the door, and his chest rose and fell slowly. A long pause ensued, as if he were so deep in thought that he didn’t even realize how much time had passed. When he spoke, his voice was quiet. “Do you want me to stay?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
His hand moved to his hood and pushed it down, revealing the chiseled jawline of his masculine face, the shadow that had grown over his bare skin. He turned back to me, his brown eyes full of a slight hint of anger, but it wasn’t clear what he was angry about. He grabbed the chair and pulled it closer to my bed.
I sat up, wincing slightly in pain, and then set the tray on my lap, my feet over the edge.
He leaned against the back of the chair with his gaze slightly tilted down to the floor.
I didn’t know what to say to him, but I felt a lot better with him there than when he was gone. He was the only person in this camp as loyal to me as my own sister. He was the only person looking out for me, the only reason I’d survived two executions. “I thought we could make it.”
He lifted his gaze and looked at me. “I warned you.”
I had no idea how terrible the elements would be, how Mother Nature would defeat me. My lack of experience quickly became apparent. My grit and determination weren’t enough to overcome my lack of knowledge.
“You shot the guards but didn’t kill the dogs. Why?”
“Because we aren’t going to kill dogs. They’re just doing what they’re told. They don’t know any better.”
“You might have gotten away if you had. You could have killed them, taken one of the horses, and ridden as hard as you could.”
I looked down at my food and twirled my fork through the pasta. “I will do whatever it takes to survive, but not if that means I have to kill the innocent. Then I wouldn’t be any different from the guards.”
He stared at me with that dark and serious expression.
I placed the food into my mouth and chewed. “I thought you said you wouldn’t help me again.”
He didn’t respond to that. A stare ensued, with no reaction at all.
“I hope I haven’t put you in a difficult position.” He definitely had more power than the average guard, but I had no idea why. He could go directly to the boss and make requests that were granted—and the rest of the guards couldn’t say anything about it.
He still didn’t say anything.
“I won’t try again…” It pained me to give up, to accept an abominable life when I deserved so much more. But I’d already done everything I could, and now that I’d seen the wild myself, I realized I really stood no chance. In summer, I would die from heatstroke. Without the snow in spring, they would just hunt me down even quicker. Unless we were liberated by the police, I had no chance.
His eyes narrowed slightly at my words. “You don’t have that luxury.”
The food was forgotten once I heard him say that.
“You have to try again…because the guards are going to find any reason to kill you. The second I’m gone, it’s over.”
The executioner had already warned me of that. “Then don’t leave—”
“I have to. My position requires me to be elsewhere.”
I set down the fork and gripped each side of the tray to set it aside because I was no longer hungry. “I won’t survive out there, even with a horse—”
“I’ll help you this time.”
My hands balled into fists as the emotion rushed through me, the high of the hope and the low of the fear. I stared at the man who had been my saving grace, my lifeline, the raft in the middle of the ocean. “What…?”
“Because if I don’t help you, they’ll kill you.”
Every time my life was on the line, he intervened. Now, he was doing it again, doing something he hadn’t wanted to do in the first place.
“We’ll wait until you’re strong again. I’ll draw you a map to get where you need to go.”
Was this really happening? Was I really getting what I wanted above all else? “But…what will they do to you when they know you helped me?” I wanted my freedom above all else, but not if it meant he would be killed.
“Don’t worry about me. I have a plan.”
When I returned to work, every guard stared at me.
I could tell, even without seeing their faces.
I moved to the table beside Bethany, still in pain, but able to function.
“Girl, are you okay?” she whispered. “What happened?”
“Long story… I’ll tell you later.” I prepared the box.
“Melanie hasn’t returned.”
I immediately looked over my shoulder to where she usually sat—and she wasn’t there. I looked at the box again, at the powder that was more valuable than every prisoner in that camp.
The boss took her away, and I had no idea how to get her back.
Even if Magnus got me out of there, how would I find her?
Bethany whispered to me, “They’re looking. Move.”
I carried the box to the table and kept my head down, doing my best not to attract unnecessary attention from the men who already despised me. I was walking a fine line, on thin ice, and any excuse they had to snap my neck was a good one.
I returned to the table.
“Did you guys try to escape?” Bethany whispered.
“Yes.”
“Oh my god…how are you still alive?”
All I needed to say was a single word. “Magnus.”
“How did he pull that off?”
I still had no idea.
“I’m glad you’re still with us.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“What happened to Melanie?”
“The boss took her…” In the limited interaction I had witnessed, I knew he saw her as a pet, like he owned her…when he had no right to own anyone. Now that she was a flight risk, he removed her from the camp. I just hoped her second destination was better than this.
“Took her where?”
“No idea…but not here.”
A week had passed and Magnus continued to drop off food, but he rarely stayed for a chat. He was either busy in the camp, or he just didn’t want to talk.
I was much better than I had been a week ago, but the gauze was still wrapped around me, and I was still taking the antibiotics he left for me. The pain medication stopped, and I was relieved to find that I didn’t need it.
When he came to deliver dinner one night, he pulled up the chair.
I cared more about the conversation than the dinner, so I sat at the edge of the bed and left the tray on the nightstand.
He pushed his hood down, revealing that handsome face. He didn’t look like the kind of man who needed to work in a place like this. He wasn’t cruel enough to do this job like the others. He wasted all his potential at this camp when he could have been doing something better, living a normal life, settling down with a woman just as beautiful as he was.
“Do you know where my sister is?”
The only response he gave was a stare.
“Please tell me where she is…”
“What good would it do?” he whispered. “Even if you get out of here and escape, there’s nothing you can do for her. This camp is just a small piece of this operation. There’s an entire militia out there. Just as you thought your ambition was enough to get out of here and it knocked you on your ass, it’ll happen again with Melanie. Let it go.”
I could never let it go, but I didn’t tell him that. Once I was free, I would go to the police and report this camp. We would burn it to the ground and then hunt down the man in charge. I didn’t need his help to do that. “I’m strong enough to go.” I was ready to get out of there, to leave this place forever.
