“I don’t think so. My record only shows breaking and entering. I never said anything about my past. I guess no one ever filed me missing or anything, because my name didn’t show up in the database.”
“What is your full name?” Layla asks.
“Candy Kay,” she replies.
Candy Kay? The name sounds totally made up. More suitable for a stripper than this poor child.
“Are you sure, sweetie?” Layla urges gently. I understand the question. If Candy doesn’t remember her early years, then she could have been given a false name. Candy Kay doesn’t exactly sound like something a new mom would name a child.
“I..I don’t know. It’s all I’ve known, but in truth, I hate it. The men would always talk about licking and eating candy.”
A tear rolls down her cheek and my stomach twists.
Taliesin lets out a deep sigh, looking at the wall somewhere above Candy’s head. “Thanks for telling us, kid. We’ll keep you safe here. The worst of it is over.”
Candy looks at me, a tiny spark of hope flickering in those hollow eyes. “You promise?”
“Absolutely. We’ll go to war for you if we have to, Candy,” I tell her, making the commitment without a single doubt. And I don’t have to ask if Layla and Taliesin are with me…Iknowthey are.
Fuck. Is this what it’s like to be…on a team?
A family?
Candy gives me a small smile, and something occurs to me. “What do you think about choosing a new name for yourself? You said you don’t like Candy, so you could have a fresh name for a fresh start.”
That makes her smile widen. “I’d love that, but what should it be? Can you choose, Rory?”
“We can brainstorm together if you like, but this choice is going to be all yours. The first of many independent decisions you get to make from now on.” I pull her into my arms and squeeze her tight. Poor fucking Candy.
No. Not Candy.
Taliesin and I meet eyes and I know we are in agreement.
We are going to make sure she is never Candy, ever again.
13. AURORA
I’ve been at Quo for nearly a month when an older man arrives at the cell, pushing a rattling cleaning cart. “Boss,” he says respectfully, though the words are garbled and thick.
Taliesin gestures something with his hands while saying, “Come in, Spigot.”
The man called Spigot pulls something out of the cart. An old-fashioned shaver?
The two of them don’t exchange any words as Taliesin sits, then Spigot gets to work cutting his scruff and hair stubble back down to quarter of an inch.
I just sit on my cot and watch, the door to the cage sits open. Taliesin doesn’t lock me in anymore, unless he’s not in the room, and then he says he has to for my safety.
I don’t kick up a fuss about it.
The buzz of the shaver is the only sound in the cell. I find myself leaning forward, almost hypnotized as Taliesin’s scruff falls away, revealing the sharp line of his jaw. I can stare as much as I like, because Taliesin’s eyes are closed, head tilted back, exposing his throat. The skin is tan, despite never seeing the sun. His natural coloring I guess. Light catches on a bead of sweat on his now revealed top lip.
I find myself licking my own top lip. His kiss would be…salty.
The thought makes a slow, heavy heat coil in my lower belly.
As Spigot finishes up the job, brushing Taliesin down with a rag, I splash water over my face.
Gods.
