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Prologue
Briar
“Trust me.” His voice was low, his tone barely hinting at his plea as he placed the material over my eyes, wrapping it around my head and tying it in a knot. Making it so the darkness and his voice and the terrifying memories were all I was aware of.
His mouth passed across my cheek then my lips . . . lingering there as he spoke. The ache in his whispered words nearly bringing me to my knees. “I’m sorry I have to force you to relive those days, but I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”
I wanted to reach out for him when I felt him move away from me; I wanted to cling to him and his voice and his words . . . but memories began to grip and suffocate me. I could no longer move. No longer breathe.
A shuddering breath finally burst from my chest and my body began trembling. My lips automatically began moving out of fear as a song begged to be freed.
My entire being thrashed and rebelled against the memories that flashed through my mind as I stood in the enforced darkness. Memories that felt so real as if they were happening now instead of all those months ago.
My body shook harder, and I nearly screamed, “How can this be happening to me?”
But it wasn’t real. Not anymore.
I’d lived a life made up of rules and appearances. I was told what to wear, how to act, and when to speak—or sing.
Even when I’d found the man I thought I wanted to spend my future with, nothing felt like it was my own. But I’d been happy with our life and excited for the days to come.
Until they didn’t.
Until I was forced into a world I’d been blind to and came face to face with the devil.
A man cloaked in darkness—a man who would set me free.
A man hidden in a world I vowed to destroy with him by my side.
“Briar.”
I whipped my head to the left when his voice sounded from across the room, barely loud enough to hear. My shaking grew stronger, and when I felt his dark, dark presence slip behind me, the song I’d been trying so desperately to hold back bled out as a whisper.
“I know him. I know the man behind me,” my mind screamed. But those screams couldn’t be heard while I was consumed with memories he wanted me to surrender to.
His breath stirred the loose hair on my neck, and just before his arms wrapped around me, he spoke in a low, sinister tone that sent chills up my spine. “Fight me.”
Chapter 1
The Dark Room
Briar
I didn’t know day from night, or how many hours or days had passed while I was unconscious. I only knew the nausea and headache when I awoke, and then the awful stench soon after.
It smelled like human waste and bile, and soon I added to it as my stomach forced up any trace of food it held. Hard sobs wracked my body as I tried to free my hands from where they were zip-tied behind me, but it didn’t give.
Oh God. Where am I? I need to get out of here.
“Help,” I croaked then gagged again. “Help.” I repeated it louder and louder until I was screaming it.
“Stop.”
I froze at the hushed word and strained to hear anything in the dark.
“Hello?” I asked hesitantly.
“Stop,” the feminine voice pled again.
“Who are—?”
“Hush.”
I heard the rustling of a body—bodies. I couldn’t tell how many, but it sounded like a lot.
“If you don’t stop, they’ll come in here.”
I wanted that. I needed to get out of wherever I was. “Someone help,” I screamed. “Help me!”
More women were hushing me, some in languages I didn’t know, but I didn’t stop.
A metal door slid open and slammed shut, and I paused as unease crawled through the room and made its way to me, fear sliding over me like oil. I didn’t know what had just entered the room, but I bit my lip to keep from making another sound.
The room was dark enough that I couldn’t see the floor, and I hoped the darkness would hide me from whoever was here with us . . .
The sound of heavy boots grew closer and closer, every now and then hitting what sounded like a puddle or squishing something. My stomach rolled.
Just when I thought the boots would pass by me, a hand pressed my head roughly against the floor.
“No, no, n—” I thrashed against the strong hold, screaming when something pinched my neck.
My loud sobs tore through the room, echoing back to me as the heavy boots moved back in the direction they’d come. When the metal door screeched open, I pled for someone to help me. But my words were soft and slurred.
No one hushed me again, and no one came to save me as darkness engulfed me.
“Beautiful,” a familiar voice whispered into my ear. A pair of warm arms curled around my waist, pulling me back against his chest.
