Then I start to clean down his neck and shoulders.
As soon as the cold cloth meets his skin, his purring cuts off.
“I know,” I soothe. “I’ll make it quick, then you can snuggle back into your blanket nest, okay?”
I rub my cheek against Seventy-one’s neck, flooding him with stronger pheromones in comfort.
I wish that he could reply.
I shift Seventy-one on my lap to give myself better access to his chest.
“Wake up,” I murmur, drawing the cloth between his pecs. “Wake up, and I swear that I will find a way to free us from this hell.”
Suddenly, something shifts in Seventy-one’s breathing.
It’s slight, but I have become so attuned to him that it’s the same as if he’d screamed.
Alarmed, I grab him by the chin and tip his head back.
His eyes — stunning, wide, gray eyes — are staring up at me sleepily.
I’m lost in Seventy-one’s gaze.
I stare at him in wonder.
I’m dazed at finally knowing the color of his eyes, when I thought that I would never see him open them.
“If this is hell,” Seventy-one whispers, despite his voice’s hoarseness, “then why do you look like an angel?”
CHAPTER SIX
ABO Facility
Seventy-one is awake.
He’s alive.
My brother loved to garden alongside Nico. They would spend long, summer afternoons underneath the warm sun amongst the roses.
Is that why Gianna pushed Mars into the rose bushes? Why she took delight in secretly scratching him with the roses’ thorns whenever she could?
I always wondered if she was jealous of her dad’s relationship with Mars. Yet Nico despised her cruelty and he didn’t hide it.
Nico took beatings for scolding his Alpha daughter for her attacks on both her brother and me.
One of the worst, was the time Nico caught Gianna laughing at me, after I discovered a flower seed. I didn’t even know what it was. I lovingly planted the seed, however, trying to copy Mars.
I wanted to prove that I could grow something beautiful as well.
Perhaps then, I would feel like part of the family.
Yet Gianna caught sight of me.
Barking a mocking laugh, she trampled over my lovingly watered soil. She kicked at it with her shoe, grinding down.
“Stupid,” Gianna tormented. “You’re not allowed to grow things here, Rogue. You’re notfamily. Anything you grew would be freakish, mutant,wrong. But then, I wouldn’t need to pull it out at the roots because you’dkillit anyway. You should thank me for crushing this seed; I’ve stopped you from being disappointed. Someone like you can’t keep anything alive.”
Now, I clench my jaw.
