Page 1 of Cavern of Silence

Prologue

Ryker

Second chancesfor love don't come around very often. Not the superficial kind that feeds a surface-level need and then dies out. I'm talking about pure, undeniable, self-sacrificing love where both people are willing to give everything they have for the other's well-being.

I had that love once. It was a slow burn that took years to develop and grew over time. But her candle blew out, and I didn't think anything that deep was in the cards for me ever again.

Then I met Julieta.

She stole my breath when I laid eyes on her the first time.

Her courage under fire gave bravery a new meaning.

The way she would look at me, touch me, or confide in me...well, it made me feel like a man again.

Our love didn't take years to develop. It was the equivalent of someone taking a match and striking a box, and the flame only grew hotter with each passing moment. A few days of being around her, and the desire my body and soul felt for her cycloned so fast out of control, there was only one action to take. I needed to make her mine. And I did.

We both had baggage, and it shaped us. It formed the walls we put up and the barriers that should have kept us apart. But we plowed through anything standing in our way. Because when you have something so raw, so real, so potent, nothing else matters. And we made our possession of the other clear. She wasn't just mine. I was hers. There was no going back. Not that either of us wanted to.

I thought we were in the clear. That the evil was behind us and new life was the only thing in front of us. But that's the thing about the devil. He knows how to sneak up on you the minute you let your guard down.

Every day I survive is another day I curse myself. It's my fault for not protecting her. I should have seen it coming, and I didn't. The writing was on the wall, and I let my obsession for her get in the way of watching out for her. I was distracted. Now we've both paid the price.

The first night they captured us, I fought for our lives. I almost wished they would have killed us both instead of making us be spectators in the other's punishment.

Then she put everything on the line for me. I pleaded for her not to. She wouldn't listen to me, and it shredded my heart, one rip at a time. Every tear was more painful than the beatings I took.

I should have known she wouldn't have listened. When love is real, there's nothing you won't do for the other person. No amount of begging can stop the impossible, even if you can see the train coming at you.

When the chance came to make a deal with the devil, I did it. It gave her freedom. It was the only way to make sure she could still have a life.

They say love is blind, but it's not. It's bright as the burning sun. When faced with a decision, there aren't any choices to make. The only thing you can see is the dazzling whiteness.

She is my light. And I would make the same decision, again and again, to know she's safe and can go forward, even if it's without me.

But I would give anything for one more moment with her.

So when I step in the ring, and it's time to make good on my deal, I always do it for her. Hope lies in my heart. Somehow, someday, I will figure out how to not only survive in this pit of sin but escape it.

I will rise up out of the ashes for one reason. Her.

1

Julieta

Seven Months Prior

"More drinks."Jonas Torres's gruff voice gives me the chills, and I cringe inside. The fear I feel around him never goes away. He owns me, and there's nothing I can do.

You couldn't just look the other way. You had to try and help her.

She was drugged up and bleeding.

You should have ignored her.

Thoughts of what Jonas did to me never go away. It burns in my memory and haunts my dreams. I could never forget it, but if I did, I've got a reminder on my body that will never go away.

Shame, hatred for both Jonas and myself, and despair rip me to shreds, day by day, and I can't do anything to stop it.