AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That’s what I thought,” he replies, his hand shooting out as he grips my throat for what seems like the hundredth time today.
When I remain mute, not even gasping for breath, he leans close and presses a hard kiss against my mouth before saying, “I’m going to enjoy fucking you.”
Then he releases his hand and shoves me in the chest. I stumble backwards onto the bed, sitting down heavily, and with my fingers curling tightly around the bedsheets, I watch as he strides across the room.
“Cynthia,” Faith whispers, but I shake my head and refuse to look at her, keeping my eye on the predator still in the room.
When Soren reaches the door, he throws us both a twisted look, his lips curling up into a cruel smile. “Until tomorrow,” he says before hauling open the door and slamming it shut behind him.
The second he’s gone, Faith crawls across the bed to me, her arms wrapping around my front as my shoulders collapse inwards and the heavy tears fall. Not one of them is for me, but for the girl whose life will be taken by a deviant man that these bastards are selling her to, and for the woman who’ll suffer tomorrow night if the men I love don’t hurry up and get to us soon.
“Did he…?” Faith’s voice trails off, her unfinished question a heavy weight between us as she waits for me to purge myself of tears.
Eventually I respond.
“No. He beat me. He didn’t rape me,” I reply hoarsely, picking up the cream I made for Faith and applying it to the bruises that litter my skin. My ribs ache as I move, and I wince, dragging in a sharp breath.
“Thank God,” Faith says, reaching around and taking the cream from me, applying some to a fist shaped bruise on my upper thigh. She sighs, whispering softly. “I meant thank god he didn’t rape you, not thank god that he beat you.”
“I know what you meant, Faith,” I reply, laying my hand over hers in reassurance.
“I’m so sorry,” she replies softly, tears muffling her words.
“As horrific as my time with him was, I know that if he’d raped me I might not have survived it,” I admit, honesty stripping me bare.
“How did you stop him from taking you? Did you refuse to make more diamonds?” she asks.
“No. He’s waiting until the celebration tomorrow night,” I say numbly, pressing my eyes shut as Faith lifts up my t-shirt and rubs some cream into a particularly painful bruise on my lower back. She’s exceedingly gentle, partly due to not wanting to hurt me further, but also partly due to the fact she is still so weak. “He wants tosavourme. His words, not mine.”
“I’m so sorry for what you’ve had to endure,” Faith says, the tremble in her voice matching the tremble in her fingers. Another sob rises up her throat and somehow that’s more painful to withstand than any of the bruises Soren inflicted on me these past couple of hours.
Twisting to face her, I take the tub of cream from her hands and place it on the nightstand next to the bed, then curl my fingers around hers. “I’mnotbroken by him,” I tell her, steeling my voice as well as my spine. “He hurt me, yes. Did it make me feel powerless when he beat me? Also yes. But I amnotbroken by him. I refuse to be.”
She sniffles, swiping at the tears on her cheeks. “You’re so strong.”
“No. You’re the one who’s strong. You’ve survived three years in his company, Faith. Three years,” I reply, squeezing her hands. “But I am angry. So fucking angry. That’s the only reason I’ve not withdrawn into myself. Theonlyreason. That and knowing my menwillcome for us, and we’ll seek retribution together. All of us.”
She nods, her eyes meeting mine, the fire and the strength I’ve seen glimpses of fully blazing to life as she stares at me. “He’s going to die, isn’t he?”
“Yes. Soren’s going to die,” I promise her, leaning my forehead against hers. “And believe me when I say it will be excruciatingly painful.”
“Thank you,” she whispers, her soft breath feathering across my skin.
“For what?”
“For giving me hope.”
“I’m not giving you hope. I’m giving you my word,” I reply fiercely.
She smiles at me. “Cras es noster…”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“Tomorrow is ours.”
* * *
Afew hours later as Faith and I sip the tea I just prepared, savouring its calming properties that help to soothe our physical and emotional pain, the sun sets beyond the window of our room, its colours bleeding onto the horizon like a bloody wound.
