by Penelope Sky
Raven continued to breathe hard.
Fuck, she wasn’t going to make it.
I set up her vitals while Daniel worked, staying quiet so he could concentrate.
I knew the cut was too deep. There was no hope. But I came to her side and looked down into her face, letting her see my confident expression so she’d stay calm. “It’ll be alright.” I lied to her face.
Daniel pulled out his suture kit. “Get on gloves.”
I did as he asked.
“Here.” He grabbed my hands and positioned them, keeping the wound open.
He leaned over and got to work.
“What are you doing?”
“She’s bleeding through her intestine. I’ve got to patch this up now, or she’s gonna die.”
I held part of her stomach to the side so he could work, my eyes moving to her face.
Her face became paler, and her eyes closed.
“No.”
She opened them again.
“Your eyes stay on me, alright?”
She gave a slight nod.
Daniel worked quickly.
I stared at her, hearing the beep of the monitor increase because her heart rate spiked from loss of blood.
“Okay.” Daniel straightened. “Release her.”
I pulled my hands away.
He moved to a different position and sutured the outside of her wound.
Her heart rate slowly started to normalize.
I released a deep sigh of relief.
Daniel finished then cleaned up the blood on her stomach.
“Thank you.” I stared at him, grateful that he hadn’t turned on me like the others would have.
He nodded. “It’s my job.”
“You can ask me for anything at any time, and I’ll oblige.”
“I know.” He pulled off his gloves and tossed them in the garbage. “I’ll give her some antibiotics and some pain meds. We’ll keep the machines going to monitor her vitals. She should live.” He washed his hands then got another IV going. Then he went into the cabinet and pulled out a vial of antibiotics so he could inject it into her IV.
I continued to stand over her, unsure what to do now that everything had been done. That was when I noticed the insides of her palms. They were covered with dark third-degree burns. They were on her wrists too. I could see where the heat had burned her skin to the bone, the destruction that would leave permanent scars, the cost of saving my life from that burning building.
Daniel moved to the door. “I’ll check on her every few hours.” He walked out.
She was still conscious, but her eyes were getting heavy. Color had returned to her face, and her low blood pressure started to rise.
I stared down at her. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
Her eyelids lifted a little higher. “I wasn’t…”
“Yeah, that’s pretty obvious.” I was furious. I could have taken that knife much better than she could. I was stronger, bigger, not some slender, vulnerable woman who was already dealing with other injuries.
Her eyes turned heavy again, like she couldn’t stay awake.
I couldn’t get back to work and leave her here alone. Alix might finish the job.
She took another deep breath before her eyes closed. “Please don’t go…don’t leave me here.” Her hand slowly moved to mine on the edge of the bed.
I let her touch me. “I won’t.”
She fell asleep instantly…because she trusted me without question.
Daniel retrieved my things from my cabin so I wouldn’t have to leave her.
Even if I were gone for just two minutes, that would be enough time for Alix to come in here and give her another knife to the stomach.
I worked on my laptop through the day and into the night. There was food in the cabinets, so I made a meal out of that. When I had nothing else to do, I sat in the chair and just stared at her.
It had all happened so fast that I wasn’t entirely sure what had happened at all.
Alix must have meant to stab me in the back, probably right in the heart so I’d die then and there.
She saw him unsheathe his blade and did the only thing she could do to stop it.
She pushed me out of the way. She probably didn’t intend to take the knife herself, but that was how it happened.
She saved my life.
I’d be dead right now if it weren’t for her.
But I didn’t know how to feel about that.
I’d already done so much for her, had suffered so much for her, that this still didn’t make up for her betrayal.
She was out for a long time, at least nine hours. She opened her eyes and took a deep breath, immediately panicked because she couldn’t see me in her line of sight. It was dark in the room, and everything probably came rushing back to her.
“I’m here.”
The second she heard my voice, her body relaxed. A deep sigh escaped her lungs.
I got to my feet and stood over her so she could see me.
Her eyes narrowed on my face, studied my expression, and then she reached out her hand for mine.
I pulled away.
Disappointment filled her eyes.
“I’m glad you’re alright.” My deep voice drowned out the sound of the monitors. “But it doesn’t change anything.” I would be there until she was back on her feet. I’d look out for her until she was back to full health. But after that…she was on her own.
When she breathed, it was with a hint of pain. “Are you okay?”
“I’m not the one who got stabbed.”
“But still…”
I knew she was genuinely asking. “I’m fine.”
“Why did he try to kill you?”
The question made me angry because she had absolutely no idea the shit I had to deal with. “You.”
The pained look on her face was so raw that I felt it too.
“Everyone wants me dead—because of you.”
“Magnus—”
“I don’t want to hear your apology ever again. It’s meaningless. You made your decision—and you have to live with it.” I wanted to storm out, but I didn’t because there was no way to know if she would be safe. My anger didn’t combat my obligation. I would stay until she was ready to walk away. “I will be here until you’re well again. But that’s only because you saved my life—and now I owe you.” I moved back to the chair and sat down so she couldn’t look at me. I stared at one of the screens, not interested in looking at her face again.
She was quiet for a long time, the monitors beeping and filling the tense air with their obnoxious sounds. Her blood pressure cuff tightened until it beeped and released the air. The new reading appeared on the screen.
She broke the silence with a weak voice. “I did it because I care about you…because I’d die for you.”
I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw, refusing to feel anything again. I refused to get caught up in that bullshit again. I refused to feel empathy, compassion, kindness. I only felt bitterness and spite.
“I understand why you feel betrayed, but you know I did the right thing.”
“The right thing?” I got back to my feet and looked down at her, getting angry. “You’re back to where you started. Literally.”
She didn’t match my emotion because she was too weak. Her eyes watched mine for a while. “But I freed those girls—”
“And they were replaced by a new batch. Nice work.”
She shifted her gaze away, like that knowledge truly pained her.
“This place will never go away. Girls will die and be replaced by new ones. It’ll be here after you’re gone, after I’m gone. You can burn the place to the ground, but it will just be replaced. This is bigger than you, bigger than me, and it wasn’t worth your life to challenge it. Your sister belongs to the man I saved her from, and you’re back in the same captivity. Fucking stupid.”
“If I had to do it all over again, I would.”
I clenched my jaw in irritation.
She shifted her gaze back to me. “You know I did the right thing, Magnus. You know you respect me for trying. You know that the reason this is here…is because I have a heart, and so do you.”
I held her gaze and felt my heart sink to my stomach.
“I had to do the right thing, even if that meant betraying you. And I know this is difficult to believe…but I’m still loyal to you. I will do anything for you, not because you saved me, but because…you deserve to have someone look out for you too. Liberating this camp took precedence over you because it’s bigger than either of us. But I will take a knife to the stomach over and over, as many times as necessary, to keep you alive.”
I looked away, refusing to acknowledge the sincerity of her gaze.
She moved her hand to mine.
I pulled it free. “You have no idea what your betrayal has cost me.” I looked at the monitor and felt my body shake in anger. “You have no idea the humiliation I’ve suffered because of you. The one fucking time I allow myself to feel something, it bites me in the fucking ass. I will never make that mistake again.”
“Why don’t you just leave?”
“I can’t.”
“Why—”
“Because I can’t.” I stepped back from the table. “Don’t speak to me again. When you’ve recovered, I will be indifferent to you once again. The guards can do whatever they want—and I will let it happen.”
Eight
Sucked Back In
After a few days of rest, Daniel discharged her from the infirmary.
She was young and healthy and bounced back from the injury fairly quickly. The wound closed, there was no infection, and she was able to walk out and return to her cabin. The second Daniel said she was ready to return to her normal duties, I walked out without looking back.
I hadn’t gotten my tasks done like I was supposed to, so I was behind. I had to work my ass off to catch up and hope Fender didn’t notice.
After I asked Raven not to speak to me, she didn’t.
So, we never spoke again.
I didn’t owe her a goddamn thing. I’d saved her life so many fucking times—so she was still in my debt.
I’d warned Alix that I would kill him if he made another attempt.
Now I had to make good on my word.
I went to the communal cabin that night with my blade in my pocket. If he was sitting there and playing poker with the guys, I’d hold him down and slit his throat. The mess would remain behind until someone else cleaned up because I certainly wouldn’t.
When I walked in, that exact scene was in front of me.
Alix sat on the other side, holding the cards in his hand.
I shut the door behind me and pulled out my knife.
Alix immediately got to his feet. “Truce.”
“Truce?” I actually laughed because it was fucking ridiculous. “I asked for a truce twice—and you ignored it. I may only have one ball left, but you’re the pussy who couldn’t kill me three fucking times. You’re gonna sit in that chair, and I’m going to slit your fucking throat. Anyone who resists me will get the same fate.”
None of the guys moved. Word had spread that I was outnumbered four to one, and I still prevailed.
Alix held up his hand. “Magnus, come on—”
“Come on?” I snapped.
“We’ll forget what you did if you forget this. That’s fucking fair.”
I wanted life in the camp to return to normal, when all the guards didn’t despise me. If I killed Alix, they would still hate me. But if I let him live…I wouldn’t have to sleep with one eye open. I sheathed my blade and returned it to my pocket.
Alix immediately looked relieved. “You want in?” He sat down and grabbed his cards again.
The guys looked at him then looked at me.
It was hard for me to pretend nothing happened, that they hadn’t turned against me so ruthlessly for the past month. But the quickest way to leave it behind was to move forward. I opened the fridge, grabbed a beer, and took a seat. “Deal me in.”
My routine became normal once again.
The guards stopped ostracizing me. They spoke to me like nothing had happened at all, like the camp hadn’t burned to the ground because of my stupidity. Whenever I worked, they would step in and help me like before.
It made my life a lot easier.
Raven went back to work on the line, but I never directly looked at her to see if she was struggling.
I returned to my indifference—as I promised.
In a couple weeks, I would return to Paris, which I’d been looking forward to. The repetitiveness of the camp could be mentally exhausting at times. The food was always the same, there were no eligible women around, and you couldn’t get a good glass of wine. Now that I had earned the forgiveness of the camp, I knew Fender’s full pardon would follow soon afterward.
I joined the guys for a round of poker that night. Chips were in the center, cards on the table, and the empty bottles of beer continued to cover the surface. Some of the guys smoked cigars, but I’d never been a fan of the taste it left in my mouth.
The guys threw their final bets into the pile.
Then it was just Eric and me.
Despite the permanent scar on his thigh, he seemed fine with me. He looked at his cards before he laid them down. Two pairs.
I dropped mine. A royal flush.
Eric groaned. “Motherfucker…”
I scooped the chips into my arms and pulled them to my side of the table.
“You’ve got the best poker face I’ve ever seen.” Nathan drank from his beer.
I shrugged then added my cards to the discard pile.
“Where did you learn that?” Eric asked.
“Experience.” It was a lie. I had a great poker face because I was perpetually indifferent to everything. It didn’t really matter if I won the hand or not. I was already rich. More money wouldn’t make me richer—that was how rich I was.
Screams sounded from outside.
The guys all stilled before glancing at the door.
Because it was coming this way.
It was a woman—screaming at the top of her lungs.
The door burst open, and Alix dragged her inside by the hair. “Scream all you want, bitch. Make the wolves howl.”
She only had her black top on. She was completely bare on the bottom, a dark bush of hair between her legs. She fought against him as hard as she could, her dark hair flying about, her blue eyes panicked with streaming tears.
I watched her being dragged across the room.
She looked at us, her eyes settling on me for a moment, sheer terror in her gaze.
Time slowed down, just for a moment.
Alix dragged her away. “Come on, you’ll like it. You may not like the guys after me, but…” Their bodies thumped against the walls and the floor as they made it to one of the unoccupied bedrooms. Her screams continued and became muffled when the door closed.
The guys turned to me, like I might do something.
I grabbed the deck of cards and shuffled. “Another round?”
They all looked slightly surprised, but that wore off as they drank from their beers and ate their pretzels.
I could still hear her screams.
My hands shuffled the cards as her face was imprinted in my mind.
Tears dripping down her cheeks.
I’d never seen her cry out of fear…only sorrow.
No. I wouldn’t help her.
I’d never seen her look that terrified.
No. She’s not my problem.
Her screams were still loud as she continued to fight a hopeless battle.
No.
She’d accepted her Red Snow with her head held high. She accepted a knife to her stomach without shedding a tear. She took my whip lashes with barely a sound. But this…was the thing she hated most.
No.
I started to deal the cards.
Her screams continued.
I stopped h
alfway, my eyes on the table, thinking of the way she’d looked when she brought me coffee in the morning, a new woman with her hair and makeup done. There had been affection in her eyes, like she wanted to take care of me. “God fucking dammit…” I slammed the cards down and got to my feet.
The guys all stilled as they watched me leave the front room and move down the hallway.
Her screams grew louder and louder the closer I came. I started to move quicker, afraid I’d waited too long. “Get the fuck off me!” I pushed the door open and found her on her knees at the edge of the bed, her hands tied behind her back while her head was forced into the mattress. Alix had his face between her legs, smelling her. Her face was turned to the doorway, and she went silent when she saw me. The look of relief on her face was indescribable. She closed her eyes, and the tears fell to the sheets as her lips quivered. She choked back a sob.
“Stop.”
Alix straightened and looked at me, his pants gone. “What?”
“Get off her.” Seeing it with my own eyes made me sick to my stomach. It was like being stabbed in the gut, taking the knife that had originally been meant for me. When Alix didn’t move, I raised my voice. “Now.”
He struggled to obey, angry at my orders but also wanting to keep the civility between us. “What the fuck, Magnus? What the hell happened to—”
“Don’t make me ask again.”
She continued to whimper on the bed, his fingers deep in her hair.
He finally moved away from her.
She sobbed harder once she was released, her tears shining in the light from the hallway.
He got to his feet, his hard dick hanging there. “I said we’ll forget your crimes—not hers.”
I could look the other way when her face was black and blue. I could look the other way when she had a wound in her stomach as she worked. I could look the other way when a noose was secured to her neck in her cabin. But I couldn’t look away for this. “Walk away, Alix.”
He was furious, like a bull that just saw red. But he didn’t fight me. He grabbed his bottoms and pushed past me as he left the room.
I knew I’d just relit a fire I spent weeks putting out.