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My eyes slowly closed, and I waited for the embrace of death. Just as darkness hollowed out my mind, strong fingers pressed against my flesh and hauled me out of the water before dropping me heavily onto icy stone.
My eyelids sprang open, and I rolled to my side as huge, racking coughs exploded from me, and water poured from my throat. My shoulders heaved as I retched, and I could feel eyes on me, but I didn’t care. I wasalive.
When I could breathe normally again, I stared around at the other villagers and counted them as they were tossed from the water onto the rock shelf with me.Nine. No, wait. Ten.My gaze swept frantically around at the villagers. Gina was there, and so was Bri and Nora. But…Lana.My blood went cold.
Peering back at the water, I squinted, hoping desperately that she would appear, but the black water was now eerily still, the surface as smooth as glass.No.Lana and I weren’t friends. Far from it, but she didn’t deserve this.
She was gone. Likelydead.A cold numbness wrapped around me. Whether we were just deep underground or in a different world altogether, I had no clue. I only knew one thing with certainty.No one will ever know what happened to her.
Sadness swirled within me, and I looked away from the other villagers and to the top of the pit, where the faintest tinge of blue could be seen. Whatever it was that had brought us here, that strange magical doorway, it was up there. When I found Cara, we’d have to find a way to get to it.
I forced my back to straighten and turned to glare at the monsters, who watched us from nearby. A-Two stood with his hands resting on the ends of his ax handles, and A-Four had his arms crossed in front of his chest.Where are the other two?
As if he’d heard my thought, A-One appeared from a stone archway further to the left. His black gaze connected with mine, and he smirked. I wished I could slap the smug smile from his face.Cara. Remember, you’re here for Cara.I said the words internally like a mantra. I could do this.
But as A-One stepped closer to me, my pulse began racing again. It was as if there was a force inside me, telling me to go to him. Telling me that Ineededhim.What the hell?I didn’t need him, but my body was telling me otherwise.Fuck.I’d never really thought of the fact that the monsters might have magic. It was the only explanation for how I was feeling, and it was going to make my whole rescue mission a lot harder.
A-One stopped alongside the other monsters, but his gaze remained fixed on me.Seriously, this is your own fault, Raine. If you hadn’t called them ugly, they might not have paid much attention to you.
“Please, I’ll do anything. Please, please don’t kill me,” a trembling voice cried out, and I turned to see Gina sobbing as she crawled toward the monsters on her hands and knees. Her wet dress was plastered to her skin, making her look fragile and almost naked.
I ground my jaw as A-One’s gaze flicked to her and his expression darkened as he stared down at the shivering girl.
Get up, Gina, I pleaded.Get up before he kills you.
I stared at the two villagers closest to her, hoping one of them would reach out and pull her to her feet. They looked at her but made no move to help, their own fear freezing them in place.
“Rise, human,” A-Four growled, his rumbling voice echoing around the space.
“I–I can do things. I can clean or cook. Anything!” Gina’s voice became shrill.
“To your feet,” A-Four said, but Gina just sobbed harder, her shoulders shaking.
I swallowed as dread unfurled inside me. I had to do something.You’ve already drawn too much attention. Remember why you’re here.I chewed on the inside of my cheek, biting hard enough to taste the bitter tang of blood.
My gaze found Nora’s, and my dread was mirrored in her eyes, but she shook her head at me—a small, almost imperceptible shake.You can’t help her. I could hear her silent words.
“I hate it when they grovel,” A-One said with disgust. He stepped forward, a clawed hand outstretched toward a wide-eyed, sniffling Gina.
Fuck it.There was a reason I was called a freak back on the island. I was never happy to just follow the rules.
“Keep your damn hands to yourself,” I said as I shot forward, moving in front of Gina. I’d meant to sound confident, but my words were a quiet rasp, my throat still raw from throwing up half the lake. If that was even what the hell the black water was.
Shock flared on A-One’s face, and his hand hovered in the air. Assholes Two and Four remained seemingly relaxed, but I noticed the hardening of their bodies as if they were about to spring into action.Shit.
“You good there, Locke?” Amusement lit the horned monster’s eyes.
Locke.I took note of the name.
A-One’s,Locke’s, expression hardened as he stared at me, a sparkle of something dangerous in his black eyes. When he spoke again, his gaze remained on me, but his voice rang around the dank space. “You all belong to us now. If we want to hurt you, we can. If we want to starve you, we can. And if we want to…touch you…” His gaze lowered to my chest, and I looked down to see what he was staring at. My hard nipples poked out from my soaked dress, puckered from the cold.Fucking. White. Dress.I glared back at him, refusing to be embarrassed. The monster smirked. “We can,” he finished, his voice lowering.
My nostrils flared as heat once again bloomed in my cheeks, a strange thrill going through me as my gaze dipped to Locke’s ridiculously perfect lips.What is wrong with me?I should have been scared. And I should have learned my lesson about insulting and defying monsters.
At least the monster’s attention was away from Gina. I tried to think only of the dagger still strapped tightly to my inner thigh, but then I was thinking about the monster’s lips kissing my thigh instead.How much would it hurt if he bit me?
Shit.I seriously needed help.
In a flash of movement, cold fingers wrapped around my arm, and once again, I was being yanked forward by the monster.
