Page 18

Haven

Cold water splashes over my face and neck, and I wake with a yelp. I jolt into an upright position, dizziness immediately washing over me. God, I wish I hadn’t had so much to drink last night.

Colton is standing over my cage, an empty glass in his hand. He’s smiling down at me, his usual cruelty back in place. Whatever softness he treated me with last night is long gone.

Closing my eyes, I rub my face. I can’t take these mind games.

“Rise and shine, angel. We’ve got a lot to talk about this morning.”

Grabbing my blanket, I lie back down so I’m facing away from him. He can’t pull shit like this and just expect me to go along with it.

With a frustrated sigh, Colton opens the cage. A moment later, my blanket is yanked off me, and cold air rushes in.

“Hey!” I sit up, nearly hitting my head on the top of the cage, but I’m small enough that I can just barely manage to sit up all the way. “What the hell?”

“You’re in my house.” He tosses the blanket to the floor. “Under my protection. When I tell you to do something, you do it without question.”

“Or what?” I snap, only to regret it immediately. I know what the alternative is, and somehow, it’s worse than this asshole. “Never mind.”

I hate this goddamn cage, anyway. Staying inside just to spite Colton is a lose-lose situation.

“You have fresh clothes in the bathroom,” Colton says. “Come downstairs once you’ve brushed your teeth and all that.”

“Fine.”

I take my time in the bathroom, hoping to piss him off. My head throbs, and my feet are sore from running in boots that are not meant for that purpose. But… my fear of Isaiah finding me is almost completely gone. Whoever is giving him information about me would never think to suggest looking for me here.

I don’t think Isaiah got a good look at Colton’s face last night, so between that and the fake license plate, he doesn’t have a way to know that Colton is the one who helped me.

And even if Isaiah does find me, Colton won’t let him hurt me.

That thought comes out of nowhere, and I stare at my reflection in shock. Colton may have agreed to let me stay here, but he won’t keep me safe if I don’t do exactly what he wants. His protection is conditional. And Colton—all three boys, actually—are still just as dangerous as they always have been.

Dread sits heavy in my stomach as I finally make my way downstairs. I’m dressed in a clean pair of panties, shorts that barely cover my ass, and a simple black tank top. I would’ve put the T-shirt I slept in back on, but when I got out of the shower, it was gone.

Still, it feels like I’m walking through a refrigerator. There’s no way it’s above fifty degrees in here. With a place like this, the cars Colton drives, and how powerful his father is, I know he has the money to heat this place properly.

In the kitchen, Lucas is lounging at the table, Xander is cooking eggs and bacon on the stove, and Colton is dumping spinach and fruit into a blender. They stop talking the moment they see me, and I freeze with all their eyes on me.

“What?” I ask.

Xander narrows his eyes. “Why are you so tense?”

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I just walked into a room with all three of my bullies inside? And also, it’s freezing in here. Is the heat even on?”

“Oh, get over it,” Lucas says. “You’re fine.”

“I’m so sorry I don’t like living in fucking Antarctica,” I grit out.

Rolling his eyes, Colton disappears into the living room. When he returns, he’s carrying a throw blanket. He drapes it around my shoulders. “There. Now will you stop complaining?”

“Fine.” I pull my hair out from underneath the blanket so it sits on top. “Thank you.”

Colton is still standing close to me. He leans in, a frown etched into his face, and sniffs my hair. “Did you use my soap in the shower?”

“What else was I supposed to use? It’s not like I wanted to.”

“We can get you whatever you use later today,” Xander says. “Just write it down, and—”

“No.” Colton’s eyes are locked onto mine, glinting with a dark possessiveness that he hasn’t pointed toward me in years.

Lucas gives him a confused look. “No?”

“From now on, she uses mine.”

My head rears back. “What? Why?”

His expression hardens. “Because I said so.”

He doesn’t explain further than that.

He doesn’t have to.

I want to fight back, to scream and yell, because I know what he’s doing. This is another one of his mind games. He’ll strip me of everything that makes me me, simply because he’ll enjoy it.

But… if I’m going to be living here indefinitely, I need to learn to pick my battles. However much I hate it, they have all the power, not me.

“I’ll have to look through the ingredients in your shampoo and conditioner, then,” I say, hoping I can at least have this. “Using it once is one thing, but I don’t want to ruin my hair color.”

Colton stares at me for a beat before turning back to the blender. “That’s reasonable enough.”

Tension lingers in my body, and I bite my tongue to keep myself from snapping at him. I was expecting him to put up a fight, not concede so quickly.

A loud whirring sound fills the kitchen, and I jump. I’m just able to make out Xander’s snicker over the blender, and I shoot him a glare. I don’t care who they are, I don’t need to be made fun of for involuntary reactions.

Once Colton is done, he dumps the green smoothie he’s making into a bowl. I do a double take before sitting at the table as far from Lucas as I can. If Colton wants to eat his smoothie like it’s soup, whatever. I don’t care.

“Food’s done,” Xander says as he carries three plates full of eggs, bacon, and toast to the table. He places one in front of Lucas and kisses the top of his head.

“Thanks,” Lucas mumbles.

Xander slides into the chair next to him. “No prob.”

“Come here,” Colton says as he lowers himself into his seat. His plate has more food on it than the others, but he ignores it, leaning down and placing the bowl on the floor.

What the hell?

“Now, angel.”

As usual, I wince at the detached way he says that nickname. There’s no point in wishing for the warmth he used to give me, though, so I get reluctantly get up.

“No.” He’s still not looking at me—he hasn’t since he started blending the smoothie. “Crawl.”

He can’t be serious.

But the smug tilt to Lucas’s lips tells me that he is, and that they discussed this before I came down. My first instinct is to fight, but I clamp my mouth shut before I say something stupid. I can handle this—I can handle anything these assholes throw at me. Nothing they can do will ever hold a candle to what Isaiah would do to me.

While I lower myself to the ground and crawl, I glare up at Colton. He’s dressed in black sweatpants and a black hoodie, and his blond hair is swept to one side. If it was anyone other than him, I’d admit that he looks attractive right now. But I know that underneath his groomed appearance and the charming smiles he gives, he’s nothing more than the devil’s spawn.

“Eat,” Colton says, finally fixing me with a detached look.

I stare at the bowl in disgust. “Why am I the only one who has to eat this? It looks gross.”

“I had mine a couple hours ago.”

Hours? What time does he get up?

“Eat,” Colton repeats more harshly.

“What about Xander and Lucas? Why don’t they have to eat this?”

“I don’t control what they put in their bodies.”

All I hear is what he doesn’t say—that he thinks he owns me. Maybe, in a temporary way, he does.

“Do I need to tell you a third time?” Colton asks with an annoyed sigh.

I frown at the green concoction. My assumption is that it tastes horrible, but when I lean down to lick some of it up, it’s surprisingly sweet. The flavor of the spinach is still prominent, but the fruit covers a lot of it up.

“Good girl.”

Since he can’t see my face, I roll my eyes. This is on par with the level of humiliation they usually try to force on me, but their methods have never been this ridiculous.

While we eat, the boys ignore me and make casual conversation with each other. Lucas mentions that he’s meeting up at the gym later with some of the guys from the football team for an extra training session. It strikes me as odd, considering he’s in light workout pants and a sweaty shirt. It looks like he just got back from a run. How much exercise do football players have to do?

“But you’ll still have time to come shopping with me?” Xander asks.

“Yeah,” Lucas says, and his voice softens. “I said I would. I just need to be at the gym by three.”

“And you’ll be back for dinner?”

There’s no response, so I imagine Lucas must’ve nodded. Or shook his head? Either way, the subject changes, so I’ll have to wait until dinner to find out.

My head is beginning to hurt from eating too much of the smoothie at once, so I sit up. That only makes the pain worse, and I grimace as the ache from my hangover returns.

Colton throws me a quick glance. “I’ll give you some pain meds once you’re done eating.”

“Can’t I have them now?” I grumble.

“It’s best not to take them on an empty stomach.”

The fuck? Why on earth does he care?

“Now finish your smoothie.”

There’s not that much left, so I ignore my headache and finish it quickly. I’m hoping Colton will let me off the floor now, but when I glance up at him, he shakes his head.

“Lick it clean.”

“Seriously?” I groan.

All he has to do is raise a single eyebrow, and I’m bending down to comply.

You can handle this, I remind myself. It’s either this or getting kicked out and falling into Isaiah’s hands.

“Much better,” Colton says once I’ve licked the bowl clean.

“Can I get up now?”

With a shake of his head, Colton holds out his hand, revealing a piece of scrambled egg sitting in the center of his palm. When I stare at it, unmoving, he brings it closer to my mouth.

No. No, absolutely not.

I shy away. “What’s that for?”

“You need protein.”

“Okay, then get me a plate,” I grind out.

Colton’s chuckle is cold and mirthless. “The sooner you learn who’s in charge here, the easier this will be on you.”

“I’m not eating out of your hand like a fucking dog!”

He sighs. “Don’t do this, angel. It’s a waste of energy.”

“No, you don’t do this. It’s ridicu—”

“Eat it now, or I’m putting you back in your cage.”

For some stupid reason, I make the mistake of glancing at Lucas and Xander. They’re both watching with rapt attention, leaning in and whispering to each other, like they’re making bets on who’s going to give in first.

We all know there’s only one answer to that.

My cheeks burn as I lean forward and take the scrambled eggs into my mouth. I try not to let my tongue touch Colton’s hand, but it does a little, somehow making this even more humiliating. I expect him to scold me for it, but he doesn’t react. All he does is grab a piece of bacon and hold it, patiently waiting for me to chew and swallow.

“Ready for more?” he asks.

I nod. When he moves the bacon so it’s in front of my face, I bite down on his fingers. He draws back with a surprised grunt, and the bacon drops to the floor.

“Ohhh,” Lucas says while he laughs. “Someone’s in trouble now.”

“Bad, bad girl.” Xander shakes his head, his smirk growing.

“Do you want to be punished?” Colton growls. “Is that it?”

Before I can fire back a retort, Colton grabs the hair at the base of my neck and shoves me to the ground. The bacon is right in front of my face, and when I try to cringe away, he holds me in place.

“Eat it.”

“Colt—”

“Now. The more you try to defy us, the harder we’ll be on you.”

Cheeks burning, I eat the piece of bacon from the ground. The idea of calling Ben and begging him to pick me up flits through my mind for the briefest second. When I asked Colton to take me in, I was drunk and terrified out of my mind. It was a stupid decision.

But it would put him and Julie in harm’s way.

Even sober, there’s no denying that. Isaiah knows about my connection to Julie. If he’s smart, he’ll periodically check their house to see if I’m hiding with them. And if he finds me there, well… I know what he’s capable of. It’ll be even worse if he’s not alone.

Isaiah would see it as fighting the lion to protect the one lost sheep to bring it back to the herd. If it’s God’s will, anything can be justified—even slaughtering two very kind, very innocent people.

I shiver at the thought. There’s no way I can let that happen.

Which means I’m stuck here.

So when Colton makes me eat more scrambled eggs out of his hand, I do so without protest. Once he’s deemed I’ve eaten enough, he takes his plate to the sink and washes his hands.

“You can sit at the table now,” is all he tells me when he returns to his chair.

My knees ache as I stand, but it barely compares to the embarrassment that courses through me when I realize Xander and Lucas are watching me. Their smirks tell me they were probably staring at me the entire time, witnessing Colton treating me like a dog.

As I lower myself into the chair beside Colton, the embarrassment morphs into pain. Sitting with the three of them like this is too familiar. Freshman year, we were inseparable. Our schedules didn’t allow the four of us to be together often, but it was rare to find one of us alone.

I hate the boys now, viscerally, but I miss those times. I miss how comfortable I felt around them. How safe I was.

“We need to discuss our arrangement,” Colton says. “How long do you think that guy will keep coming after you for?”

I laugh helplessly. “I don’t think he’ll ever stop.”

“Do you want him dead?” Xander asks.

My jaw drops. “What? Dead? Absolutely not!”

Lucas narrows his eyes. “Why?”

My mind immediately goes to Isaiah’s family—his younger siblings, his parents. It’d break them if Isaiah died. I already hurt my family enough by leaving. I can’t do that to his, too, no matter how much I don’t want to go back.

“I… I just don’t want to do something that extreme.”

Xander pouts. “That complicates things.”

“So you need protection until he gives up,” Colton states. “We can give that to you.”

My gut reaction is to say no—to snap and say I don’t need anything from them. But Colton is right. If it hadn’t been for him, I’d be with Isaiah right now, on our way back to Cornerstone.

Or I’d be dead.

I stare at all three of them, sitting across the table from me like my judge, jury, and executioner.

“On what terms?” I ask, mouth dry, heart beating out of my chest.

“We keep you safe,” Colton starts.

“We’ll make sure you’re taken care of,” Lucas says next.

“And in exchange…?”

Xander smirks. “We do whatever we want with you, whenever we want to.”

My stomach cramps, and for a brief moment, I’m worried I’m about to hurl green smoothie and scrambled eggs all over Colton’s table.

“You’re talking about sex,” I state in disbelief. “Like, free use?”

Xander smirks. “Exactly. You’ll be our personal fleshlight for however long you need to stay in hiding for.”

Numbness creeps through my body as I realize just how serious they are. Not just serious, actually. They’re all watching me like I’m a cornered mouse, sadistic pleasure painted onto their features.

“But I can’t do that,” I say weakly.

Lucas snorts. “It’s not like it’s anything you haven’t done before.”

I’m not ashamed of how I make some extra cash, and I don’t think he’s trying to make me feel bad about it, but his comment pisses me off anyway. My entire life, I’ve been an object. First, I was something to do chores and free labor for Cornerstone and my family. Second, I was nothing more than a womb, something that could be bred to produce children for my husband—not that his efforts were ever successful.

And now… Now all I’m supposed to be is a living, breathing sex toy.

“That’s not how it works,” I snap. “I set boundaries. There are things I’m willing to do and things I’m not. What you’re asking for is—is—it’s abuse.”

Lucas shrugs. “And?”

Oh my fucking god.

Colton casts an annoyed glance in Lucas’s direction. “If you have any true hard limits, we’ll respect them.”

“And if sex is a hard limit?”

With a shrug, Colton leans back in his seat. “Then you’re free to go. Good luck hiding from that guy. If I run into him, I’ll be sure to tell him which direction I saw you headed in last.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Want to test that theory?”

Oh god. I don’t think he’s bluffing.

All oxygen is forced from my lungs, and when I try to inhale, it feels like my throat is constricted. All I can manage are short, panicked breaths.

It may have taken Isaiah three years to find me, but he did, which means he can do it again. I can’t go running to a new town to try to lose him. He’ll just follow me.

Can’t go back.

The room spins, and I grip the table, my nails digging into the dark wood.

He’ll kill me. I broke my vow to him. He said he’d—

“Haven?”

Can’t go back, can’t go back, can’t—can’t breathe.

The sound of a chair scraping against the floor fills the room. Someone says my name again, but it sounds muffled, like it’s being shouted from the other end of a long tunnel. All I’m aware of is that it feels like I’m falling, plummeting through an endless pit of darkness, with no hope of ever seeing the sun again.