1
“If ye get the chance,” Gabriella whispered, “run for the cliffs.”
She squeezed Madison’s fingers,thinking to herself that they’d become nothing more than bones. Her eyes—bright on the day she had arrived, were now sunken—met Gabriella’s. Her bruised legs couldn’t carry her far today. The last escape attempt had cost her dearly.
“Stay strong,lasses. Whatever happens today… we must never become their bed slaves.” Gabriella’s voice faltered. Her parched throat betrayed her, just like everything else in this wretched place.
Sweat-soakedrags clung to her skin. The stench in their prison was a perpetual assault on her nostrils with every shallow breath. The wooden floor beneath her was dark with stains she refused to contemplate.
A whimper followedGabriella’s words. Flora.
The poor lasshadn’t spoken a word in so long. Days? Weeks? It was hard to keep up. But not her eyes. Flora’s eyes sparkled with life, speaking volumes. Nothing could take that away from her.
Piper snorted from her corner.“Ye’re all mad if ye think there’s a way out.”
Despite her words,her jaw was set with the same defiance that had earned her extra lashings. Two months here hadn’t broken her spirit like it had the others.
Gabriella studiedtheir faces in the dim light—Madison’s quiet resignation, Piper’s simmering anger, Flora’s naked terror. What did they see when they looked at her?
Her stomach cramped painfully,a reminder of yesterday’s moldy bread. That and some filthy water were their only meal every other day. Her arms were twigs that would snap in a strong wind. But her mind? Her mind was still hers.
“Listen to me,”she hissed, leaning closer to them, wincing at the effort. “They expect us to be weak. To accept whatever fate they’ve planned.” She forced steel into her voice. “We willnae give them that satisfaction.”
Madison shook her head slightly.“What’s the point, Gabriella? Where would we even go?”
“To our deaths if necessary,”Gabriella almost barked, her voice steadier now. “I’d rather die free than live as someone’s plaything.”
Everyone nodded.
This one pieceof agreement had kept them united throughout this ordeal. Death would be better than the fate Lewis had decided for the four women.
The bolton the door scraped open, the sound like bones breaking in the silence. Lewis stood there, lamplight catching the gleam of his yellowed teeth.
“Time for the hunt, lasses.”He had a lazy way of voicing his thoughts, which repulsed Gabriella almost as much as the way his eyes lingered on her chest. “The gentlemen are waitin’.”
His cold eyesappraised them as each woman struggled to her feet. The same eyes that had leered at her from across the tavern counter six months ago, right after he’d bought the place where she worked.
Lewis Hogg.Thin but muscular. Black hair framing a face that had haunted her nightmares ever since.
When Gabriella reached the entrance,sweet clean air rushed into her lungs after months of breathing only sweat and filth in a confined space.
She shuther eyes for a brief moment, enjoying how the mild wind caressed her skin.
But the momentshe opened them, reality accosted her. Beyond the hills loomed the dark line of forest. Freedom. Or death. Either would be salvation. But would either be possible today?
Four guards flanked them.If she made a sudden break for it, she might be able to get into the dense area before they caught up with her. She just needed to run fast enough.
Count to three and run!
Just then,the sound of hooves caused all the girls to turn around, and Gabriella missed her chance. Eight men in fine clothes appeared on horseback at the field’s edge. Huntsmen.
Lewis bowedbefore addressing them in a voice that dripped with eagerness. “Welcome, gentlemen. Today’s prizes are especially fine.”
His words madeGabriella’s stomach churn. She caught Madison’s eye, then Flora’s. Piper’s chin was jutted, defiant to the end.
“The rules are simple.What ye catch is yers to keep.” Lewis’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Ye have until sundown.”
The ancient hunting horn sounded,its cry echoing across the valley.
