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Awesome. Those assholes had driven me right into a trap.
I didn’t give a fuck what Adonis’s real name was at that point, because whoever he was, he was officially on my shit list and quickly rising to the top.
Not that it mattered. I was stuck where I was, at least for the moment. The sharp pain in my ankle started to fade into more of a throb, but there was no way I was climbing out of that hole without getting mauled by the feral frat boys leering at me. So, I sat up and examined the primitive trap. It was probably seven feet deep, but the sides were just dirt and rock. It might take a few tries, but I could pull myself out if they decided to leave me there to die.
Except, I was ninety-seven-percent sure that wasn’t happening. The other two frat boys argued over something, but I wasn’t tracking the details of their bickering because all my senses were hyper-focused on Adonis. He was taller than the other two by nearly a foot, and broader across the shoulders. If I’d seen either of the others first, I might have thought they were attractive too, but next to him, they were downright homely.
And his eyes were different. Still not human, but maybe not soulless, exactly.
Even without looking directly at him, I knew he was watching me, cataloguing my every move as his hot gaze slid over my skin. Rather than let that feeling eat away at my nerves, I turned my attention to dealing with my ankle. If I was going to stand any chance of getting to my feet, it would need support and stability around the joint.
I untied my boot and pulled the lace as tight as the battered leather, and the already impressive swelling, would allow. That was phase one.
Phase two involved scooting to the nearest wall and rolling to my knees, which went smoothly enough. I pulled in a deep breath and held it as I rolled back onto my feet, doing my best to keep most of my weight off the injured side. I had to brace my hand against the crumbling dirt wall to keep from wobbling as I pulled myself upright, but after a few shaky seconds I was standing, albeit on one leg.
I let out a slow breath, counting to four on the exhale while I let myself do a little victory dance in my head. If a person couldn’t learn to celebrate the little things in life, what was the point of it all?
My moment of triumph faded quickly though, because phase three was next and I so wasn’t looking forward to it. Taking that first step after twisting my ankle was always a bitch and I hesitated for a second, holding my foot up off the ground, letting it hover there while I sucked in a breath and held it firmly in place.
No time like the fucking present, Nev.The thought came through in my snarkiest inner bitch voice.
“I should be an inspirational speaker when I grow up.” I almost snorted a laugh at my own stupid joke, but the notion made me smile and gave me a much-needed boost of confidence. I would be fine. I stepped gingerly, testing how much weight my ankle could actually support.
Survey says: Not much.
Pain lanced down my foot and up my calf, turning my normally reliable knee to jelly. I lost my grip on the dirt wall beside me and spun awkwardly, trying desperately to regain my balance.
Total failure. My ass collided with the ground so hard the air whooshed out of me.
“For fuck’s sake,” I gasped, looking down at the useless pendant/amulet thing. “Would it kill you to lend a girl a hand? A little pick-me-up would go a long way toward making me like you more.” To my surprise, the damned thing flickered. But that was it.
“Stop talking.” Adonis’s voice sent an icy shiver through me.
Did that stop me from glaring up at him? Nope.
“Make me.” The challenge was out of my mouth before my common sense had time to catch up.
The pendant flickered again, and a muscle in his beautifully sculpted jaw slid. The other two boys fell silent beside him. My stomach sank a little lower in my abdomen, like it was trying to hide from the shit storm my mouth was stirring up. Of all the things Adonis could have done, dropping quietly into the hole beside me hadn’t been especially high on my list of possibilities.
I scrambled back to put some distance between us, freezing when my back hit the dirt barrier behind me. Not far enough, but it’d have to do. I threw him my bestfuck offlook, complete with the obligatory chin jut, while I oh-so-discreetly reached for my knife.
“Stop.” The single word warning stopped me dead. He crouched beside me, dwarfing my five-foot-six-inch frame. His shoulders and chest were a wall of solid muscle, and the way he positioned himself, that wall blocked my view of the other boys entirely.
My anxiety ratcheted up a few hundred notches, sending a fresh surge of adrenaline coursing through me. He leaned in and I flinched back, but instead of grabbing or hitting me, he inhaled deeply. His eyelids fluttered closed and when he opened them, the yellow-green shimmer was gone, replaced by breathtakingly haunted, hazel eyes. It wasn’t the color so much as the longing that called to me, so raw it made my chest tighten painfully. With the next blink, the shimmer was back.
Was I losing my mind? Because it sure as hell felt like it.
He leaned in close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. Keeping his voice so low I could barely make out the words, he said, “If you value your life, hide that necklace. Let no one else on this island or in this realm lay eyes on it. And keep your dagger hidden. If the others see it, they will take it.”
Wait. What?
25
NEVER
Adonis’s moment of kindness—or was it comradery? I didn’t know. Whatever it was, it was short-lived. He gave me just enough time to hide my necklace and blade before pulling me to my feet. He spun me around and hoisted me up to the ledge of the hole so quickly I felt like he might launch me into space. He didn’t, obviously, but the boost left me sprawled half in and half out of the hole, with my ribs screaming and my legs and feet dangling over the edge. I had to claw at the soft ground to pull myself the rest of the way up.
The other two, true to their asshole frat boy forms, just stood back and laughed while they watched my struggle. When I finally got to my feet, holding most of my weight on my uninjured side, I flipped them both the bird.
