Page 5

Tears stung my eyes, but my body was unmoving and dysfunctional from Fletcher’s farming session earlier. The bones in my body shifted to odd places as muscles and skin slid over them.

The terror infecting my veins had me trembling all over as I fell back to one knee with a loud thud.

The man plodded closer, eyes roiling in lust for me.

“Don’t,” I whispered as I forced myself back to both feet .

I watched him stalk to me, skin covered in glowing patterns that hinted at the mist’s possession.

My eyes darted all over the cage, hopelessly looking for a way out.

My quick intake told me my only way out was to somehow overpower him with my worn body.

The closer he got, the more frantic I became.

He reached out to grab me, and just before contact, a streak of darkness blocked my view of him.

Strong hands clamped down on my waist, shielding me as my body and soul expanded and moved with a current of forceful wind.

The smell of leather and spices filled my nose before I snapped back together. Delirium wreaked havoc on my brain. Confusion set in as my eyes wildly searched for the male Elizian who had been sent to breed with me. But all I saw was the comfort of Aldris’s wooden, square house.

Aldris stepped into view, his dark skin smooth and familiar. His beard had grown, but his bald head remained the same. Tears filled my eyes as his brawny arms covered me in a woven blanket and dragged me into a hug. “Ripley,” he huffed with an exhale. “Thank goodness.”

“Al-Aldris? ”

“You’re safe,” he crooned as he squeezed me harder.

“Aldris!” I cried, throwing my arms around his broad back, fingertips barely grazing each other over his muscular physique. “H-How’d I get here?” I mumbled into his shoulder.

Aldris released me, looked me in the eyes, and said very clearly, “Fletcher brought you.”

Bile roiled in my chest at the sound of his name.

Flashes of him storming through the hall and slamming his fist down on the red button to demand my blood in the most agonizing way caused my knees to buckle.

Then images of him touching me, holding me, his hands running along my bare skin as he drove himself into me—as he took advantage of me with false promises of love and loyalty—made my skin heat in all the wrong places.

I couldn’t bear it. I couldn’t cope with the heartbreak any longer.

The deep love I used to have for him had been marred more each time he walked away with a bottle of my blood.

And I hated that my body betrayed me still when I thought of the memories.

To undo that love so deeply rooted in me was easy for my mind, but my body was still going through withdrawals .

Vomit rose up my throat as I doubled over, letting a stream out at my feet and over the hardwood floor. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “Don’t say that name around me,” I warned, panting.

His deep, raspy voice rumbled, “Yeah. He told me it would be bad.” Aldris helped me straighten, rubbing my back in comforting circles.

“Sorry about your floor.”

“That’s okay. I’ll clean it up, no problem.”

When I felt balanced, he guided me up the stairs to his lofted bedroom that jutted out across half the lower story, supported by slanted wooden beams underneath.

Everything was situated exactly how I had remembered.

The full-sized bed up against the left wall and a small nightstand to match.

A dresser opposite of the bed and a closed door that led to the restroom.

“These are for you,” he said, gesturing to the stack of clothes folded at the end of his bed.

A black tray held an assortment of fruits, vegetables, breads, and cheeses, with a pile of ocaberries in a small bowl.

As I started unfolding the pair of black leggings, blue shirt, forest green zip-up hoodie, white underwear, and matching bra, I grinned at Aldris.

He crossed his arms and turned around while I dressed .

Though the material felt itchy over my wounds, I reveled in the fact of being covered and warm. I would find a way to get these golden shackles off one way or another.

I scarfed down the bowl of berries, letting the chemicals work to restore my blood. As my magic repaired, my hair grew to a light brown color that reached my elbows. My mood shifted to a slightly less terrified one as I devoured most of the food.

When Aldris heard my chewing, he turned around and grinned at me.

“Thank you, Aldris,” I said after eating as much as my stomach could handle. I hopped to my feet and headed for the top of the stairs to flee. As I passed him in the center of the room, I patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll see you later.”

“Where are you going?”

I pulled up the hood and yanked down the sleeves of the jacket over my gold shackles. “What does it look like?” I hit the first step before Aldris’s hand came down on my upper arm and dragged me back into his room.

“You’re not running away.”

I pulled the hood up. “I’m not running away from you.

I’m going to go figure out how to free the rest of the Elizians.

They need me.” I looked at his hand, wincing at the pressure on my wounds that Fletcher had inflicted on me.

“You can come if you’d like, but I refuse to be anywhere where he can find me. ”

His brows pulled forward in seriousness. “Tough nuggets. He just saved your ass. You’re staying right here to talk to him.”

“ Saved? ” I let out a long-lost laugh, letting the sweet chemicals of ocaberries do the work to lift my mood.

His hand clamped down tighter, and it startled me out of my laugh. “Everything he did was to protect you!”

The fact that he meant every word sent me into a whirlwind of fury. I clenched my jaw, narrowed my eyes, and bared my teeth. “Do you even know half of what that lying rat bastard has done to me?”

He tugged me closer, the smell of beets and soil wafting off him. I yanked away, and I would have broken free if it wasn’t for his unmatched strength. “I know it all. And I guarantee what Fletcher has gone through these last two monthshas been a hell of a lot worse than what you went through. ”

I sent him a gaze so dull that it put the caged female’s blankness to shame. “Oh my god. You’re delusional.”

“You don’t have to believe me. But you have to believe him. That man deserves nothing but kindness from you after the hell he put himself through to get you the out of there.”

I yelped as he dragged me to the bed, taking out metal hand cuffs from his black jacket pocket and slamming them down on my right wrist. I hissed at the pain as he attached it to the headrest. I thrashed to escape, but when I realized there was nothing I could do, I let a growl rip through my chest. “Are you serious?”

“I’m sorry, Ripley.”

“Aldris! Uncuff me right now!”

He looked at me one last time, turned, and took one step down the stairs before peering over his shoulder at me. His expression softened from harsh to sad. “Take it easy on the guy. He didn’t practice what he wanted to say.”

He continued to the front door as I screamed, “Don’t do this!”

Aldris sighed deeply before I heard the door slam shut .

When all was quiet, the dread of seeing Fletcher again hit me.

He was coming. And there was nothing I could do to get out of it.

If I saw his face, my mind and body would be at complete war.

His voice alone would send my heart racing and set my core on fire while the sight of his cold eyes would trigger a sea of unexplored feelings to drown me.

What did he even want to explain? What words did he think he could possibly justify the hell he put me through?

The nerve of him to think I’d ever welcome him in my presence.

I was going to annihilate him as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

I turned to my cuffed wrist and began tinkering with it.

I couldn’t use my magic, the Cidris shackles quashing my power.

But maybe if I focused hard enough, I’d find some sort of weak spot in the chains or the cuff itself to break free.

And every writhing part of me was dedicated to making this happen before Fletcher came.

As minutes turned to hours, my fury turning to desperation. I just wanted to get this stupid cuff off. I even resorted to gnawing at it with my teeth. But it was just as secure as ever, dooming me to a hell with Fletcher .

My hands, purple from the Cidris’s shackles, throbbed from little blood flow as I tried to call my magic forward. But my magic barely whispered down my arms.

I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. I’d rather be back in the solitude of my cage, exposed as I was, than have him close enough to touch.

At least in my prison a barrier kept him at a distance.

To face Fletcher Darkly sent shivers up my spine and flipped my stomach with anxiety.

Especially with how much time was passing.

Tears surfaced at the anticipation of his arrival.

I continued to work, biting down on the metal that would eventually break my teeth. Anything to get away.

Then, I felt it. I felt him.