Page 32

Kole kisses me, and I sigh as I taste myself on his lips.

“Captivity is good for us,” he mutters.

“Seems so,” I reply.

* * *

We are woken by the sound of metal scraping against concrete. My clothes are on the floor, but I don’t have time to grab them.

Hands take hold of me and drag me from the cell.

Kole calls after me.

But then a scarf is tied around my face and everything is dark.

16

NOVA

Ice-cold fingers brush against my skin, the tips of my ears, the fine hairs that have come loose from beneath the blindfold. The knot is unfastened. I blink hard as the fabric falls to the floor, and whoever was standing behind me steps away.

Despite usually running hot, right now I am cold. Shivering as I stand completely naked, completely exposed.

A memory pummels into me – so forcefully that I’m almost knocked sideways.

I remember how fragile I was when I first arrived in Phoenix Falls. How much the thought of Tanner, or Kole, or Mack seeing me naked terrified me. I remember the first time Tanner saw me under the moonlight in the grounds of The Hollow. The way he told me not to hide from him, not to be afraid, not to be shy.

In the time since, I’ve learned to love myself when I am around them. I’ve learned to accept that they want me, and my body, and that they love the way it looks and feels and responds to their touch.

But this is not like that. Here, now, I am alone. And it is not my fated mates watching me… it is a nest of hungry vampires.

I can feel their presence.

I know they’re there.

I don’t know what game Zephyra is playing, but I know she is trying to break me. Humiliate me.

She will not win.

I decide — right now this second — she will not win.

A palm meets the middle of my bare back and pushes me forward. I’m still blinking hard against the light. I can’t tell where I am. There is nothing but light and harshness, and it’s making my head hurt.

My body fizzes with tension. But it isn’t the good kind.

I am desperate to cover myself.

I wrap my arms around my waist and hug tightly as my eyes begin to focus.

A door closes behind me.

I am alone.

And I am surrounded by nothing but mirrors.

Some are cracked and dusty. Others look new and shiny. I try not to look at myself, but I can’t help it. No matter where I turn, I am reflected back to myself. My body. My curves, my imperfections, from every angle.

I screw my eyes closed and breathe out slowly. When I open them again, I realize my breath is coming out as thick white fog, lighting on the mirrors then disappearing.