Page 1 of Fractured Future

PROLOGUE

DESTROY ME – YOUNG LIONS

EMBER

Most first datesdon’t end in a kidnapping.

Until then, I thought he was pretty cute.

I once read that there are roughly one hundred thousand victims of human trafficking in the United Kingdom alone. Scary stuff, right? I guess we’ll never truly know how many people live unseen in society’s shadows under someone else’s bondage.

When I read that statistic on a late-night deep dive into the world of true crime documentaries, I didn’t believe it. Those words are strewn throughout scaremongering news reports, but does it really happen on our doorstep?

My already-swollen lip splits open when the bald-headed brute looming above me throws a punishing backhand.Yep. It fucking happens, Ember.I’m living proof of my own ignorance.

White-hot pain burns a path through my veins, spreading a poisonous lava that fills every last sense. But at least when they’re hurting me, I can feel my extremities. My fingertips. My toes. Each cold, naked limb, caked in dirt and blood.

I have proof that I’m still alive.

They haven’t taken my life from me yet.

It’s far worse when they move us, whether from the subzero shipping container filled with the scent of human waste or the convoy of tinted vehicles we’ve been transported in since then. We’re all loaded with sedatives on those days.

“Put it on!” Diego barks, tossing a hot-pink bra and panties set at me. “You’re coming with me.”

“Fuck. You.”

Peering through my throbbing black eye at the asshole trying to intimidate me, I gather moisture in my mouth to spit directly in his ugly face. My saliva is red-stained, hitting his cheek.

“What was that?” he yells in my face.

Licking the coppery dribble spilling from my mouth, I refuse to look away. We’ve been down this road several times. He threatens, I taunt, something breaks. I still haven’t learned how to shut up.

Taunting this motherfucker won’t get me out of here, but after laying in the damp darkness listening to other women sob all around me, I’ve lost all sense.

Now I’m fucking angry.

And I want them to know it.

“Are you deaf?” My mouth stretches in a semi-sane smile. “I said fuck you.”

“You really are the dumbest bitch.”

“I’ve been called worse.”

Diego’s wrinkled face flushes purple. “How many times do I have to tell you to shut your mouth?”

Rage is a welcome heat curling around my bones. One that keeps my blood circulating and heart pumping. Without a single possession, scrap of clothing or clue where I am, all I have is a blanket of anger to wrap myself up in.

“Try it once more?” I blink innocently.

“If that’s what you desire.”

“Come on! You piece of shit!”

Excitement shines in his cruel black eyes. I hate the way my fresh blood coats his gnarly knuckles, but I’ll never admit that to him. He’d enjoy that knowledge far too much.

Despite feeling dizzy and weaker than a newborn baby from being half starved, I manage to duck his first swing. I’m thankful we’re no longer tied up like we were before being tossed in the metal cages.