Page 9

I stared out the window of my room, letting my mind wander as I did. The only problem was that as much as I tried to avoid it, my thoughts kept coming back to Will.

I wanted to hate him. He was the enemy. He had won me and kept me here. But after talking to him, learning more about him, it was hard not to see a glimpse of humanity in him. More so than any of the assholes I’d come across since being kidnapped.

I closed my eyes. I didn’t know what was worse: thinking about Will or thinking about Morgan. I had no idea if she was okay, what Cain had done to her, what she was doing. It ate at me.

Pacing back and forth, I ran my fingers through my hair, unable to shake the image of Morgan serving Cain from my head. It seemed imprinted there, refusing to go away. I hadn’t been able to scry and check on her since then. With Will and his new friends asking questions and constantly being around the house, there hadn’t been a good chance yet.

I could have explained everything to Will, told him about Morgan, and how I wanted to get her out of there before it was too late. Except just the thought of doing that went against everything I had been taught since those guys had first grabbed me. You couldn’t trust slavers, and you couldn’t trust guys who dealt with them. Will seemed like a nice guy, but for all I knew, he was just trying to make me more docile and compliant. If that was the case and I ever opened up to him about Morgan, I’d be putting her in serious danger.

No, keeping her a secret was the best option until I knew more about what I was dealing with.

That didn’t stop me from needing to know how she was doing. My wolf had that same protective desire, and her own desire to check on Morgan only intensified my own. It was like an itch I couldn’t scratch, one that I knew wouldn’t go away until she was next to me and we were both safe. But at least for the time being, I could soften the itch if I could just see her.

The door to the house slammed shut, dragging me from the swirling thoughts in my head. Will and the other two men were supposed to be going out for a while. If they had all gone, this might be my chance.

I slowed to a stop, letting the last creak of my footsteps fade to nothing as I pricked my ears and waited to hear any sign of life in the house.

Nothing.

I didn’t waste time, not knowing how long I would have. I unlocked the door to my room and poked my head out, listening once more for the telltale signs of other people. When none came, I scurried down the stairs to the kitchen and began rummaging through the cupboards.

I grabbed a shallow bowl and filled it with water. I went over to the coffee table, placed the bowl down, and crouched before it. I waited until the sloshing water had slowed and stilled. My heart pounded in my throat as I waited, infuriatingly still, so I wouldn’t disrupt the water again. Once it had stilled, I pricked my finger, let the blood drip into the basin, and started the same ritual I had done the other night.

Morgan’s face rippled to life in the water before me. She looked healthy, at least. But I could tell by her surroundings, the grimy wall behind her, and the dim lighting that she was currently in a cell.

I let out a low growl of anger. I needed to get to her. Needed to save her. I couldn’t—

“What’s this, then?”

I gasped, shooting to my feet. My hand slammed against the bowl and clattered to the ground. Water went everywhere, splashing across my feet and pooling on the floor.

Will stood in the doorway. He stared at the bowl, then up at me. “What are you doing?” he asked.

“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I thought the three of you were going out.”

“I forgot something.” He took a step forward, folding his arms as his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I’ll ask again—what are you doing?”

I scrambled, trying to come up with some feasible answer that wasn’t flimsy as hell. Instead, all I could come up with was, “What? I can’t have a drink?”

“From a bowl?”

I glanced at the upturned bowl and the still-spreading water, the liquid covering more and more of the wooden floor. I glanced back at Will, who continued staring at me with that same intensity that seemed to electrify every inch of me. My mouth opened and closed as I tried to think of a way out of it.

“Kendra?” he asked. When I kept silent, he let out a growl. “For fuck’s sake, talk to me. I can’t help you if I don’t know what’s going on.”

Something about that set me off. “How the hell do I know you’ll help me in the first place?” I demanded. “You’re in this damned place just like all the other guys. You can say you’re different all you like, but all I see is another fucking asshole who came to score a girl or two.” I marched over and jabbed him in the chest, only vaguely aware that I was doing it in the first place. “It’s because of guys like you who come here, who agree to fight in the pits or buy a slave regardless of their intentions, that this place is able to work in the first place. You might say that you’re here to help, but you were still more than happy to take me as your prize. You don’t care about tearing families apart or—”

The words stopped coming as they lodged and stuck in my throat, choking me as I tried to keep yelling. I reeled back, staggering as the tears started spilling down my cheeks. I couldn’t help it. I started sobbing, and the tears wouldn’t stop. All the anxiety and emotion that had been plaguing me for days came out in a torrent.

Strong hands grabbed mine, wrapping around them. I couldn’t help it. Despite myself, I found myself leaning against him, taking comfort in his scent. I shouldn’t. I knew that. He was the enemy, the asshole who had won me in a fight and taken me even further from my sister.

And yet, I didn’t move. I didn’t push him away. I just leaned against him and continued crying, letting the tears continue to fall as I buried my face in his shirt. His arms wrapped around me, his hand stroking my hair in soothing motions, holding me as I continued to sob.

“It’s okay,” he muttered. “It’ll be okay.”

But he couldn’t know that. He didn’t know that. At that moment, nothing felt like it would ever be okay again.

He let me cry, simply stood there and helped me, not demanding anything and not interrupting. It was a simple act of kindness that any decent person would have done. But it had been so long since anyone had done anything remotely kind or empathetic for me that I couldn’t help but appreciate it. I still didn’t trust him, but I had to admit there was some modicum of decency somewhere in there.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Will stepped back, holding me at arm’s length as he looked me up and down. Something like a mix of sympathy and determination flickered across him as he regarded me.

“Kendra,” he said. Hearing my name on his lips sent a flutter through me despite myself. “Tell me what’s really going on here.”

I wanted to lie, but I knew that no lie I could come up with right now would convince him. And part of me, maybe my wolf, trusted him. Or at least wanted to trust him, enough that it seemed okay to tell him the truth. At least about this.

“It’s my sister,” I said, unable to look at him.

He blinked, looking me up and down as comprehension dawned on him. “Your sister? You have a sister?”

I nodded, looking at the floor. “Her name’s Morgan. She was taken with me when the slavers first found us. But we got separated recently, and I don’t know where she is.” I tried to explain the whole thing, but the words stuck in my throat, refusing to budge at first.

“Sit down.”

Without giving me the chance to say anything, Will guided me to the couch and made me sit. I stared at the floor as his footsteps faded, heading toward the kitchen. By now, the puddle had ceased growing. It reflected part of the ceiling as I stared into it, the spell that had shown my sister broken. For a brief moment, I had felt a little closer to her. Now, she felt further than she ever had before.

Off to the side, I heard the faucet start and stop. A moment later, Will’s footsteps resumed, and a glass of water appeared in front of me.

“Drink,” he ordered.

I didn’t even have the strength to argue. I took the glass robotically and raised it to my lips. For a long moment, the only sounds were the massive gulps as I chugged the water, not realizing how thirsty I had been until I started drinking. Once the glass was empty, he took it from my hand without asking and refilled it, handing it to me once more.

It wasn’t until I had taken two more generous swigs of water that he actually spoke. “What’s going on?” he asked.

I wanted to tell him to mind his own business. Just because he was being nice to me didn’t mean I trusted him. But an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion washed over me. I was tired of arguing, tired of keeping it in.

“Morgan and I were taken at the same time,” I said. “Right before we met, I made a mistake and put her in trouble.”

“What mistake?” he asked. When I hesitated, I heard him let out an exhale. “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me. Do you believe I want to help you?”

Despite myself, I did. I gave a short nod. Still, that didn’t make the conversation any easier. It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to talk about my sister with Will. It was because I was ashamed of what I had done. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for me.

A wave of self-loathing slammed into me as that thought slammed into me for the fiftieth time that day. I could sense Will staring at me. I forced myself to look at him as I told the story.

“I saw a chance to escape and tried to take it,” I said, my voice bitter, still hating myself for putting my sister in danger. “I wasn’t going to let her stay there while I got away, so I broke her out, too. But we got caught and taken to Cain. Part of the punishment was that he separated us. He sent me to the fighting pits.”

Will kept his gaze locked on me, waiting to see if I would say more. After a long moment, he nodded.

“That explains a lot,” he said.

“Yeah.” I took a deep breath, sensing a fresh round of tears threatening to burst out. I blinked furiously, trying to hold them back.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said. “Do you know where he’s keeping her? You do, don’t you? That’s where you were trying to go that night.” When I nodded, I heard an exasperated sigh. “You had to know that wouldn’t work, right?”

“I had to try something,” I said. “It wasn’t like I could just sit around here doing nothing.”

“You could have confided in me,” he pointed out. There wasn’t a harshness to the words, more a firmness, as if he was annoyed I hadn’t considered that possibility.

I let out another exasperated sound. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t trust the guy I was effectively sold to against my will.”

I braced for some sort of blow. Honestly, given how much sass and backtalk I’d been giving him over the last couple of days, I was surprised it hadn’t happened yet. I’d gotten worse punishments for less.

Instead, Will bit the inside of his lip, fingers tapping on his jeans as he considered something. “Where is she?” he asked.

“In Cain’s palace. Or what counts as a palace down here.”

“The massive manor in the center of town?”

“That’s the one.”

“What does she look like?”

Instead of answering, I held up my hand, palm out in front of me, and muttered under my breath. Sparks of color swirled through the air in front of it, spiraling away. The more colors flew out, the more a shape began to form in front of me. After a moment, Morgan’s smiling face appeared, followed by the rest of her body.

He stared at the form, not leering the way most of the guys around here might. But more scrutinizing, as if trying to commit every inch of her image to memory. His eyebrows knitted together as he studied her for a long moment, not saying anything.

“You said her name was Morgan?” he asked.

I nodded. Just looking at her image formed a lump in my throat. I wanted to scream, but nothing would come out.

“I’ll look for her,” he said.

Out of everything he could have said, I hadn’t expected that. I stared at him, certain I had heard him wrong. “What?”

“I’ll look for her. And if I find her, I’ll do what I can to bring her back,” he repeated.

My mouth opened and closed, words refusing to come out as I continued to gape at him. He raised an eyebrow, one edge of his lip quirking up in amusement.

“You look surprised,” he remarked.

“I am,” I admitted without thinking. I closed my eyes, grimacing slightly. “Sorry, I mean I’m happy. Relieved. But… why?”

Will looked genuinely confused. “Because it’s the right thing to do? And she’s your sister?”

I tried to keep my jaw set, even as I thawed a little toward him. I had learned not to trust altruism, so even though he seemed sincere, I didn’t say anything. I just waited for him to continue, for that other shoe to drop.

He must have read my mind because he gave a short half-laugh. “Don’t worry. It also helps me,” he said. “If she does work for Cain now, I can use that information when it comes time to take him down. And if I’m able to get him away from her, she’ll probably have a ton of valuable information I could use.”

Right. There it was. Weirdly enough, that actually made me feel a little better. If he had his own reasons for wanting to save Morgan, I felt like I could trust him more. He would put more effort into saving her if he were getting something out of it.

“If you do manage to get her, you’ll keep her safe, right?” I asked, deciding to trust him almost without realizing it.

He stepped forward, his hand going to my arm, sending shivers radiating through me. He looked me in the eye, and I could have drowned in the blue of his eyes.

“The instant I find a way to get her out of there, I’m going to bring her straight here,” he promised. “She’ll be safe, and the two of you will be back together.”

The lump forming in my throat made it hard to swallow as my head continued to swim, a dirge of emotions swarming over me. Morgan had a chance. There was a chance I could see her again.

Before I could stop myself, I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him, holding myself tight against him. He paused for the briefest moment, startled. Then strong arms enveloped me.

We stayed like that for I didn’t know how long. I nuzzled myself against his chest, drowning in his scent as my wolf growled in contentment, happy that she was next to this wolf. I tightened my grip, and he tightened his in response. My stomach lurched. It would be so easy for him to bend down, for his lips to brush against mine, and—

Sanity slammed me back to reality. What the hell was I doing? This was the man who had bought me. How much could I really trust him? Did I even have a choice in the matter? What if this was all a pretense and he was exactly who I thought he was?

This was a mistake. Even if he agreed to help Morgan, that didn’t mean I could trust him. I couldn’t let him in. I’d made the mistake of trusting people before. I couldn’t do it again, no matter how nice he seemed, no matter how strangely drawn to him I was.

I stepped away from him, though my wolf didn’t want me to. His hands slipped away from me, and I suddenly felt oddly cold. Despite myself, I wanted his arms around me once more. I wanted more, craved more.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I needed to get out of here. I couldn’t stay near him. The longer I stayed this close, the harder it was for me to not touch him, to not pull him against me.

“I’ve got to go,” I muttered, then hurried up the stairs and disappeared, trying to push all thoughts of Will out of my head.