Page 102 of Promise to Break

He's coming.

"I can smell your fear, Maricela," he says above me, finding me, grabbing me by the hair and taking away the only thing I still had: my choice.

Later, I will think about how I bled on the carpet. Later, I will recall his words and how he called me his little girl with each movement inside me. Later, I will dream about this night until I'm able to bury it in the depths of my soul, where it can fester. But now I break. I beg for mercy.

I try not to smell him. He has a high hand with cologne that makes me want to vomit. Or is it the pain? I don't know. I don't care. Just make it stop.

"That's it. Scream. I like it when they scream. When they break."

He spits on my face every time I ignore him, licking my face as if marking me for all to see. But no one is here to save me. I'm alone, all alone, like always.

I'm sorry, Little Girl, so fucking sorry.

I smile at the reprieve of his voice in my mind. He never said those words to me, and he never will, but it's nice to hear all the same.

"Look at my whore. Such a cunt. Feel me inside," he spits, going again. It hurts so much. I'm dry, so what is that I feel on my legs. The blood he promised, no doubt.

My eyes roll, and I stop begging. There's nothing left to beg for as his body ruins mine. His pace is brutal. I want him to finish. I just need it to end. Let him kill me. God, if you're real, take me to you. I think I've paid enough. Just take me away.

I forgive you. Killer is my last conscious thought as I let my mind drift, and the world becomes black.

Chapter thirty-nine

Killian

The Fourth Day in Italy

From the first moment I got here with the guys, I was attacked. I've been kicked, beaten, and almost killed.

"Remind me again. What's our mission?"

"To grab some amulet for your daddy, dearest," Liam barks.

We're out in the wild, somewhere in the northern part of Italy. The green of the trees and the clear sky look down at a war conjured between them.

I now understand why the eyes of my little girl never stay the same. Two powers like that can't be one without a fight involved. Italy was never my home. I never felt it was the place for me. The people are too kind, too welcoming, too loud and too in your face. And while I can appreciate all those things, they aren't for me.

The USA is full of problems, but I thrive and feed off those problems. It never gets dull there. The guns, the rudeness, the screaming. It's like lust for a succubus. And me being stuck here making my daddy dearest proud of me—or at least the opportunity to appear so—makes my whole body itch. Or maybe that's the mosquitos. Who knows?

I try not to think about her in order to ensure I'll get back to her so I can grovel in front of her, just as Raven advised.

I duck my head to another shot that flies into the tree behind me. Luckily, Liam is with me on that.

"We are so dead," Liam growls, pushing my head to the ground again. My cheek is definitely broken at this point.

"We need to find Kai." I look up, ignoring my body's plea to lie down and stop this madness. Santino did me dirty. That's nothing new.

"I saw him over in those bushes. He probably killed a few already."

We both duck again and aim for the tree where the shot came from. "The trees can feel us. They listen when we speak to them."

"Not now," I complain.

"Did you see something? Where are they?"

I don't tell Liam that I heard his fiancée's voice in my head telling me about how trees can feel as well, but that they can scream. "Nothing."

"Don't nothing me now, mate. We need to do something."

---