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I fucking hated my name. Luke thought it was fitting and ironic, but all it did was remind me that I controlled these women.
I’d rather think about the end ofThe Tempest, when Prospero renounced magic instead. When he found true freedom. I swallowed the hatred of my name long enough to step forward, ready to play the part of a dutiful Kingsnake.
The girls stilled, knowing what would come next. Laura looked up at me with eager eyes, adjusting her dirty dress to show more cleavage. I wanted to cover her up and send her home. She didn’t deserve this. None of them did.
I looked Mila dead in the eyes, daring her to recognize me, to see through the mask I wore. But she only looked past me, through me, already compartmentalizing. She did that so well. Or she used to. I stuffed down the memories. “This month, for the honor of bearing my child, I choose… Mila.”
Laura gasped, shooting Mila the dirtiest glare I had ever seen the woman use. Obviously she wasn’t all about being demure and malleable, at least not when it came to the other girls. Mila’s gaze didn’t shift from whatever she was staring at over my shoulder.
If I knew her as well as I hoped I did, I would put money on the fact she was plotting something.
I tore my eyes away from her long enough to see Luke offer me a proud smile. I didn’t want his pride. I didn’t want anything he offered me.
But desperate times called for desperate measures, and I could no longer afford the luxury of being choosy. I tipped my head down in a slight acknowledgement of respect, repressing the anger brewing beneath my skin.
Luke turned back toward the girls. “Mila. I hope you understand the honor we are offering you. A place to belong. An opportunity to thrive, even when the darkness encourages us to fall. I hope your fertility serves you well, and you bear us a healthy child, and thus are able to provide the family with plenty. Together, we will rise.”
His short speech was common for the new girls, usually changed up by a word or two, but tonight it made me want to gag.
Together, yeah fucking right.
Luke might feel like his sins were washed away by providing the girls a roof over their heads and food in their bellies in exchange for their babies, but at the end of the day they were still captives.
Taken from their families, their lives, against their wills. We all had been really. Safety was an illusion, and the Kingsnakes fancied themselves the magicians pulling rabbits out of hats.
I walked toward Mila, who still refused to meet my eyes. I grabbed her wrist firmly, and pulled her behind me toward the stairwell, leaving the next brother in line to choose his girl.
She followed me without complaint or resistance, which terrified me. Either she had entirely lost her will to fight, or she was planning to slit my throat the second she got me alone – honestly, I didn’t know which one I preferred.
Her footsteps echoed mine as we walked the worn floorboards of the second floor, toward the end of the hall where I knew there was an empty room. I dragged her into the room behind me, closing the door with a soft click.
Once we were alone, her demeanor changed entirely.
She spun around the room, taking in her surroundings, before turning to face me with one eyebrow raised. This time, she at least looked at me, even if it wasn’t directly in my eyes. I’d take it, especially after a decade of nothing from her.
The heat of her angry stare, the discerning gaze she ran over my body… damn, it felt good to be in her presence once more. I could hardly believe ten years had passed.
“So,” she began, hands on her hips. “How does this whole breeding thing work? Are you really expecting me to just roll over and play dead while you do your thing?”
I stayed silent and took her in. The quiet fight, rising up as she gained steam. The snarky response, disguising fear with attitude.
“Well?” Mila narrowed her eyes. She turned and sat on the edge of the bed, bouncing up and down a few times as if to test the quality of the mattress. I watched her carefully, not able to get enough of her. Immediately she scowled. “Please tell me you’re not one of those guys who gets off on women fighting and screaming. I don’t play well, and you’ll end up with a concussion before you even get your pants unzipped.”
I couldn’t do this any longer. It was too hard, my heart beating too rapidly. I needed to rip off the bandage and tell her who I was – consequences be damned. And this tough front of hers… God, it hurt my heart. “Mila, drop the damn act.”
“Who are you to tell me what to do? You fucking kidnapped me. I think that basically invalidates any opinion you have.” She smirked, but I saw the wariness behind her eyes. “Although it’s funny. You do remind me of someone I used to know, before the Collapse. He thought he could tell me what to do too.”
Did I think I could tell her what to do? Fuck no. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could control Mila. But I couldn’t lie, I had probably tried. I was young and stupid and desperate.
Now I was older, slightly less stupid, and ten times more desperate. I dropped to my knees in front of her, and she recoiled ever so slightly. “I need you to promise me you won’t scream. I don’t want to gag you, but I will if I have to.”
Mila scowled. “If you think I’m not going to scream as I’m fucking beingbred, then you have another thing coming.”
I closed my eyes, willing my heartbeat to steady.
She doesn’t know, I reminded myself.
She’s still in the dark.
