Page 53 of The Secrets of Roan Island

And scream.

27

Noah

“Fuck!” I roar at the same time something cracks against the door behind me.

You are exactly like him.

I stalk through the lab into the library ready to raze the room to the ground, only to catch sight of the armchair where she’d pleasured me the night before. I stop short in the doorway, recalling the taste of her blood on my tongue, the way her pleasure became mine.

I want to keep her.

You are exactly like him.

I think about how she trusted me with her secrets, with her body.

You are exactly like him.

I turn around and face that metal door. Where I’ve locked her in.

She’s right. She’s fucking right.

I’m no better than David.

Fuck, I’m worse.

I hang my head, breathing deeply to control my rage. I knew she wouldn’t like the plan—maybe on some level that’s why I did it. Every fiber of my being is primed to protect her. Even from me. But I know how much she hates dark, confined spaces. I’ve seen the evidence of her panic first hand. And I still locked her up.

I curse, uncertain what to do.

There are threats she doesn’t understand.

But I don’t want to be the kind of monster her ex was. I’m long past saving, but I can’t leave her in there, even if some part of me likes the idea. I want her willing in my arms. I want her spirit. I want her blood on fire on my tongue. I want her to see me as I am, all parts of me, even that room, and choose to be with me. It’s a small hope, but it’s there. I already have my hand on the door when I hear her scream.

Panicked, I burst into the room.

She’s an angry, terrified goddess. The blanket is abandoned, a colorful scar against the gray floor.

“No! No! No!” She’s repeating the word like a wild mantra as she rips open the cold-storage locker doors with one hand covering her mouth. She grows paler as each door reveals its dark secret.

I know each of their names.

Ruby doesn’t notice me, too consumed.

Inside lies the remains of the women who died at the last Solstice—a small fraction of the women whose deaths haunt me. Maybe I didn’t kill them all, but I’ve been responsible for my fair share.

No matter how many times I see them, study them, experiment on them, they gut me like a knife.

Ruby drops to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees, collapsing in on herself. I wonder if she did this whenhelocked her up. Her head is bent as she cries, and my hearts stumble in my chest with each of her sobs.

I’ve lost her. Truly lost her now.

Some part of me knew this would happen if I gave in to her temptation. If I put her in this room. And still I did it, as if taunting her, challenging her to discover my duplicity.

Professor Ruby Rose. Her curiosity might hurt her, but it will end me.

She’s finally seen the monster I’ve been trying to convince her I am. It’s better this way.