I’d gotten used to living in luxury, even if the towerhadbeen a gilded cage.
I’d gone from the sterile living conditions in the lab where I’d been artificially conceived and raised, to quickly becoming used to Adam’s extravagant lifestyle.
One year and I’d turned into a princess.
Not anymore.
I had a feeling my life wouldnotbe easy from this point on and I’d be earning every bit of my freedom.And yet, suddenly this grungy world was welcoming, liberating!
It didn’t stop me from wincing as I pushed to my feet.Now that adrenaline had worn off I was feeling every strain, every ache and hurt.My ankle throbbed and radiated heat, and I couldn’t help but wonder if infection was setting in.
Worth it.
I peered down at my ankle but it was too dark to make out my self-inflicted burn and I was too weary to use echolocation to check.I had more important things to worry about, like finding clothes to make me blend into the crowd.Being half-naked certainly wouldn’t do that, especially with my wings pressed against my back for anyone to see.
That I’d never see Adam again was a niggling disquiet I couldn’t quite dismiss.He’d been my captor!I’d been nothing more to him than his exorbitantly priced asset.I had no doubt that tomorrow he would have seduced me and that I would have been powerless to stop him with my entire body already vibrating with awareness around him.
Sucking in a steadying breath, I set off, sticking to the shadows as I limped past decrepit buildings and dark alleyways.I rubbed my hands up and down my bared arms.It was getting chilly.
A tread sounded somewhere behind me and I resisted spinning around to instead glance discreetly behind me.My heart picked up pace at the handful of menacing shadows that materialized into five men.
Another three appeared in the darkness ahead, their faces mostly hidden by shadows, their bodies lean and as savage as their auras.
I stilled, my adrenaline surging.I opened my mouth and sent out a silentpingto reveal the men surrounding me.My echolocation was weak, I wanted to save my energy for when I needed it most.That there were actually seven men behind me and five in front sent a chill down my spine.
Their menace intermingled with a carnal energy that made my stomach turn.
“What’s this little beauty doing in our neck of the woods?”
The low-growling male voice followed by a ripple of laughter from the other men raised the hairs on my arms even as more chills slipped down my spine.I hadn’t been raised to defend myself, the scientists had done everything possible to keep me compliant.
I swallowed past my dry throat.Thankfully, those same scientists had never been privy to my echolocation ability, which I’d practiced in my rare moments of privacy.Now I just needed to summon the energy and skill to make use of it.
I opened my mouth and silently screamed.It was the top of my range, so enhanced I’d never used it before.I had to concentrate to steer each wave to the individual men.I’d never trained at that level, it had been impossible while constrained in the lab and then the tower.It meant my targets stayed limited to half-a-dozen hits while the rest of my soundwaves staggered wide.
Six of the men flew backward with startled yelps and grunts before they hit the brick wall of a building behind them, then slumped and slid quietly to the ground where they stayed motionless.
Something between wonder and exhilaration hit me in the solar plexus.I’d done it—half done it!But I didn’t have time to contemplate my success along with my failure, not when the six remaining men ran toward me with taunting cries.
I’d seriously hurt and maybe even killed their friends.They’d make sure I’d pay for it.
I had no choice but to turn down an alleyway that was darker than midnight.I sprinted for my life, my bare feet slapping the concrete while the heavy boots of the men behind me thumped closer and closer.
A weak lightbulb flickered above a doorway ahead, and I strained every muscle I had to reach it.I was almost there when one of the men grabbed my hair and jerked me back.I shrieked as I twisted around to face him, kicking his groin as hard as possible to incapacitate him.
He grunted, releasing me to drop onto his knees.But I was unbalanced and fell hard on my back, the breath whooshing from my lungs as the other men rushed to restrain me.
Their sour, cheap wine breaths assailed me, making me gag.One of the men flashed rotten teeth behind his thick beard when he said, “I don’t know what you did back there girl, but you’re going to pay for it.”
I struggled, but as one man took hold of my arms and kept me on the ground, another gripped my lower legs, chafing my ankle’s blistered and scalded skin.My scream didn’t make it past my thick throat as the world dimmed around me.I only wished Icouldlose consciousness.At least then I wouldn’t feel or recall anything.
“We’re going to have a lot of fun with you, little girl,” the bearded man said hoarsely, the fabric of his pants rustling as he shoved them down.
I whimpered at seeing his exposed shaft that was as large and as filthy as the rest of him.
I was only distantly aware then of the door in the alleyway opening and shutting with a clunk, before a harsh voice asked, “What the fuck is going on?”
The grip on my arms and legs weakened and I emitted another whimper at the sudden release of pressure, at the lessening of white-hot pain.
