by JJ King
Then she’d awoken in Hell.
She pushed up from the floor and rotated her neck, letting the bones in her stiff body crack while her muscles stretched. After she’d stretched everything out, she let the change come, taking her quickly until she crouched on the floor of their cell completely naked. Rose, who was already awake and dressed, handed her the clothes she’d packed and placed on the bench the night before without saying a word. While she dressed, Rose picked up her tray and started to eat.
“It’s actually good,” Rose said after swallowing a mouthful of scrambled eggs. “Which means they’re keeping us strong for some reason.”
Daphne pulled her sweater down over her head and reached for a piece of toast. She bit into the simple fare and moaned, chewing enthusiastically. She was always hungry now, none of that inability to eat in the first trimester nonsense for her, apparently. She wolfed her way through the eggs and bacon then practically swallowed the sliced fruit whole while Rose watched her with ever widening eyes. The trays had been huge, wolves had big appetites as it was, but she demolished hers in less than two minutes.
Daphne contemplated licking her plate for a moment before shaking her head and lowering it to the floor of their cell. She wiped the sides of her mouth with her hand and looked, catching Rose still staring at her, a twinkle of laughter in her eyes. Rose extended her tray. “I’m kind of full, do you want the rest of this?”
Daphne knew she wasn’t full, they hadn’t eaten for hours and they’d both shifted in the meantime. She shook her head and offered Rose a smile, “Thank you, but I’m good for now. You eat. We need to keep our strength up if we’re going to get out of here.”
Rose picked a slice of apple up and chewed it slowly. Finally, she swallowed and licked her lips, “You should tell the guards you’re pregnant,” she said, immediately filling her mouth again with a bite of eggs.
“No way,” Daphne shook her head, “If Keme is down here somewhere and they need anything from him, they’ll use me. If they know I’m pregnant with his child…” she looked down at her flat stomach and covered it. The life was still so new, but already she felt so intensely protective over it. “No, it stays a secret.” Daphne jerked her head up to look at Rose, “Promise me.”
“I promise,” Rose agreed after a long moment.
A commotion outside their door pulled their attention away from the subject. Daphne sprang to her feet and moved to the door with Rose to press her ear against the door.
Muttered Gaelic curses and loud English ones mixed as loud thuds echoed down the corridor of cells. Daphne’s heart beat furiously in her chest as she listened, praying the new prisoners on the other side of the solid wood weren’t Quinn, Ronan, or her mate. She closed her eyes and focused.
“Kiskânakkosisan!” A male voice roared loud enough to be heard plainly in their cell. Daphne knew that voice, had heard it utter that curse many times. She rested her forehead on the door, closed her eyes, and rocked gently, praying for strength.
“Keme,” she called out as loudly as she could. Her throat felt swollen with emotion so it took effort to project her voice. “Keme, I’m here.”
A scuffle sounded in the corridor and then a loud thump sounded on the other side of the door. “Daphne? Is that you, are you alright?” He sounded so worried. Daphne let the tears stream down her face.
“I’m ok,” she promised him, pressing her cheek against the door, trying to touch him across the space between them. “Rose is with me. We’re alright.”
“I love you,” he shouted, cursing again as sounds of a struggle filtered through the door again. “I love you!”
A cell door slammed down the hall from them, locking her love away. With her heart breaking, Daphne clawed at the door and shouted at the top of her lungs, “I love you, too!”
♀♀♀
Rose sat on the bench and waited while Daphne shifted to test the theory that they should be able to communicate within the cave walls. Rose had been able to reach other wolves minds within the compound, so why not Keme and Quinn?
She saw Daphne’s reaction immediately, the sagging defeat in her body changing to excitement as she reached her mate’s mind. Rose strained forward, struggling to remain silent long enough for Daphne to speak privately with Keme before she bombarded her with questions.
Daphne’s excitement collapsed a moment later and her head pivoted to look at Rose who understood, instantly, that Katherine was in danger. She fell to the floor and closed her eyes.
A loud crash stopped her change, drawing Rose back into her human self. She reached out for Daphne and pulled her close, wrapping her arm over her friend’s furry body. Then the door to their cell flew open and two guards stood there, firearms pointed straight at them. They scowled down at them. “Shift back, now!” One of them commanded, gesturing to Daphne with the butt of his gun.
Down the hall they heard similar noises and demands for Keme and maybe others to change back immediately. In her arms, Daphne shook her head, obviously not wanting to give up the only connection she had to Keme and their only way to get information.
Rose held onto her, pushing her slightly behind her back as she snarled at the guards. “Leave her alone. We’re trapped in here, she just wants to know if her mate is alright.”
“Now, bitch!” The guard closest to them moved into the cell and lifted his arm sharply. His hand landed on Rose’s cheekbone, fracturing it and throwing her down to the floor. He reached for Daphne then, dragging her resisting form across the cell as she yipped in pain and anger. She lashed out, snapping her teeth at his hand, and was stopped by a fist slamming into the side of her head.
Rose screamed, trying to draw the guard’s attention away from her pregnant friend. She pushed to her feet and began swinging her arms wildly, acting erratic, and then her fist connected with one of the guards. His head snapped back with a crunch and blood splattered on the wall of their prison. The remaining guard rushed into the room and attacked her, moving too quickly for Rose to do much more than raise her arms to protect herself. Heavy blows rained down on her head and shoulders, knocking her back until her head rang with confusion and pain. Across the cell a guard grabbed Daphne by the fur and dragged her up then pulled back his arm again for another assault.
Rose reacted. She pushed past the pain in her head and body and exploded up from the floor, knocking her aching shoulders into the guards attacking her. She twisted and made it past them, slipping between their big bodies as they fell, and hit the final guard in the back with every ounce of strength she had left.
She collapsed on top of Daphne, covering her with arms and legs. “Do it,” she urged, “please, I can’t lose you, too.”
The guards recovered and the fists descended onto her again, but Rose remained on top of her friend as her body adjusted from wolf to human amidst the sounds of yelling, cursing, and violence.
Rose could hear Keme now, and Quinn from further down the hall, but not Katherine.
“That’s enough,” a deep familiar voice rang out and instantly the guards stopped and moved back. Faolin moved into their cell and cocked his head at Rose who rolled, bloody and broken, off Daphne and onto the floor.
She raised her head, testing the degree of the damage, and lowered it back down when her world began to spin. Through the agony, she opened her eyes and stared straight at Faolin, “That’s pretty impressive,” she rasped out through a bruised windpipe. “Now make your little monkeys dance.”
The guard who’d been assaulting Daphne jerked to a halt and rounded on her, kicking her square in the stomach before anyone could anticipate his blow. Rose curled into herself, struggling to find her breath through the searing pain. He’d broken ribs, she knew it, but it had been worth it to see the anger flare in Faolin’s eyes at her impudence.
Instead of punishing the guard, Faolin merely cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head, making his wishes clear. The guards moved past him and disappeared into the hallway.
Rose lay on the floor ne
xt to Daphne and waited for whatever torture Faolin had planned for her to begin. This would be a rough one, she figured, more broken bones, more torn skin, and more taunts to try to get into her head. She’d protect Daphne in whatever way necessary, but she knew that there was no one to stop him from doing whatever he wanted to them. He had her exactly where he wanted her now.
He must be so freaking happy with himself.
“Just do it,” she forced the words out through bloody spit and rapidly swelling lips.
“Do what?” He asked, sounding so innocent it made her want to barf.
Rose rolled onto her side in case she did start to vomit, and stared up at him with contempt, “Whatever the fuck you’ve come here to do.”
Faolin squatted down in front of her and grinned, “And why would I ever want to hurt you little sister?”
Rose’s head felt like mush but she had enough faculties about her that his words stuck out as odd. He hated her, always had, and, like the rest of the male children, refused to ever acknowledge that they were related through their father. “I’m not your sister, you douchebag,” she squinted as her sight darkened, from a concussion most likely. “You murdered my sisters, my family.” Rose let the rage swim to the surface, knowing she couldn’t force her broken body to avenge her sisters now.
“Well now, that’s not entirely true,” Faolin said with a chuckle as if he were insanely proud of himself for being clever. “They weren’t your only family.”
Rose frowned and wiped at her face with weak hands. She wasn’t blinded, she realized, her sight was just obscured by the blood dripping from her lacerated scalp into her eyes. As she wiped the blood away, Faolin’s words penetrated her mind. She blinked until she could see him through a red haze.
“What…” her voice faltered. She tried again but no sounds would pass her swollen trachea.
“What do I mean?” Faolin anticipated her question. “Well,” he smiled, letting all the hatred he had for her seep into his gaze, “I mean that you and I share something in common that the rest of these mindless idiots don’t.” He reached out and smoothed a strand of blood matted hair away from her face, “No, we’re too special to be like the rest of them. Have you ever wondered why I can’t stand your fucking face? Why I’ve spent every moment of my life at Classiebawn making your life a living hell?”
Rose fought the nausea that threatened and closed her eyes.
“If you haven’t figured it out yet, little Rosey, then you’re not as smart as you think you are.” He leaned down, close enough that his breath heated her ear, “What was Mommy like anyway? Do I look like her at all?”
Rose’s eyes flew open as she stared in horror at Faolin’s eyes, gleaming now with manic glee and barely withheld hatred. She shook her head, or tried, but the tiniest movement sent bursts of pain shooting through her head and body. No, he’s lying, there’s no way. She thought furiously about the way he’d acted towards her the first time they’d met. He’d been a hateful little boy of eight or so with a penchant for violence, but just against her. He’d tortured Skyla too, but always to hurt her.
She remembered her mother, lying in the birthing bed, with blood seeping from her body as the life drained from her. There was nothing they could do to stop the hemorrhaging, she’d been told, but all she’d seen was the blood and her tiny baby brother being swept away by Raphael as he walked away from her mother’s dead body.
Faolin is my mother’s son.
Rose rolled until her face lay against the cool stone floor. She didn’t want it to be true, needed it to be a figment of Faolin’s sadistic imagination, but she knew he was right. They were different, the two of them, treated differently by Raphael for reasons she’d never questioned. Yes, she’d still been treated to a once yearly torture by silver, just like the other girls, but there’s always been something strange about the way he looked at her from time to time. She’d found it creepy and prayed he wouldn’t decide to make her his child bride.
Now she knew that he’d been looking at her and thinking of her mother. And that child, the baby boy he’d whisked away while leaving her motherless – Raphael had apparently raised him with enough contempt and hatred to make him the man he was today.
For a moment, Rose felt a surge of empathy for her brother. He’d never had a chance, being raised by Raphael who was incapable of feeling normal human emotion. In the brief moment she’d seen them interact, she’d seen the way Raphael had dismissed Faolin. It must have been horrifying to grow up like that. She’d had love, from her mother as a young child, and from her other family, her sisters and aunts, as she grew. He’d been an innocent once.
But that time was long past. She’d had a pretty shitty existence, too, exacerbated by his games, and she’d still managed to become a half decent individual. She was closed off and had a hard time trusting people, sure, but she was working on that.
He was cold to the core. She could see it in his eyes as he looked down at her and smirked at her pain. He loved it, loved inflicting every type of torture possible on her, and always had. Now she knew why. She’d been special to Raphael, a remnant of her mother, while he had been a constant reminder of her untimely death.
Rose’s mind reeled and throbbed with every pulse of her heart. She wanted to strike out, to hurt him like he’d hurt her over and over, but her body wouldn’t respond. It needed to rest, to heal, and then she would have her moment. As the darkness closed in, Rose remembered her mother’s sweet face and swore to end Faolin’s life.
Chapter Fourteen
Katherine snuggled into the soft mattress and reached out for Quinn. His side of the bed was empty, so she lifted her head and looked around the room for him. Maybe he’d gone to check on Eve.
The room was dark, pitch black, not like they usually slept. She pushed up and yawned, stretching to ease the tension in her body. Where’s Quinn?
She stood, her bare feet coming to rest on a thick carpet that confused her. Had her mother redecorated without telling her? Katherine reached out and searched for the bedside lamp and frowned, finding nothing where it should have been. Confusion and growing apprehension filled her, quickening her pulse as she moved to the end of the bed and walked, hands outstretched in the impenetrable darkness, searching for something to orient herself.
“Quinn? Mom?” Katherine called out, uncertain, feeling the panic rise with every passing moment. Something was wrong, she could feel it in her bones. This wasn’t home.
Her hands connected with something hard, something cold, and she jerked them back. Tentatively, she reached out again and felt. The walls were angled and sharp in places, hard like stone…
Katherine stumbled back as her memories surfaced. Quinn, lying on the floor unconscious, Keme outside fighting the men who’d attacked them, and Raphael drugging her just before everything had gone black.
“No,” Katherine spun around the room, hands thrown out, desperate now to find a door or a light switch, something to help her get the fuck out of this room and to Quinn. She found the wall she’d just touched and followed it, tracing her fingers over the ridges. Bare walls, carved from the limestone she knew made up this mountain, formed a room with two doors, one made out of metal if her nose and hands were right, and both locked.
There was no way out of the dark, no way to find her mate or get the hell away from the bed she’d awoken in. The bed…
Katherine clutched her stomach and keeled over, retching what little was left in her stomach onto the floor. She moaned and stumbled back, away from the smell of her sick, and lost her balance on the uneven rocks. As she crashed to the floor, the sickening crunch of breaking bone filled the air and she cried out in pain.
“Oh god, no,” Katherine moaned as she lay broken and naked on the floor, the pain from her fractured ankle nothing compared to the pain in her mind. Her thoughts swirled like a tornado, too fast and jagged to control. How much time had passed since Raphael had drugged her? Had he touched her? Had he…
Frantic, Katheri
ne pressed her hands against her pelvis, checking for body tenderness of any kind. She sobbed in relief when she felt nothing more than the pressure of her own fingers.
But she healed fast, proven by the fact that her ankle bone was already knitting itself back together. The thought of his hands on her while she slept – her stomach recoiled again, pitching her forward as she coughed and urged until there was nothing left in her.
There would be nothing left of her if Raphael touched her, she thought, rubbing her fist over her heart where Quinn and Eve should be. She felt empty now, as if they’d just been a figment of her imagination and she was still there, in that abandoned barn with Raphael as he slipped silver under her skin and smiled down at her with manic eyes.
She needed to feel them, to hear them. Katherine drew in a deep breath and blew it out slowly, telling herself over and over to calm down and focus. She visualized her wolf and let the connection between them soothe her, long enough to let nature begin what it was meant to do. Her bones shifted and grew as her skin grew taut in places and loose in others. The snap of her ankle as it was broken down and reshaped felt like acid inside her for a few seconds, then the pain of her break subsided as her wolf became whole.