Page 9 of Saviors

I leaned against the desk, trying to make myself appear smaller. Maverick dropped into the chair next to me. Reid hovered by the door like he was ready to bolt.

“What’s your name, little bloom?”

She avoided eye contact, her gaze fixed on the floor. “Violet.”

I suppressed a smile. The floral nickname could’ve been a weird coincidence, instead it seemed like fate.

“Violet.” Her head shot up. Her eyes focusing on Reid. His voice commanded the attention. “Your brothers are safe.”

“You don’t know that.” A whimper fall from her lips. It made me think of the sounds that had escaped her in that room. My guts clenched. I loathed myself for touching her. For not realizing sooner that she hadn’t consented. “Please, just let me go back to him.”

My teeth snapped together. I hated the sound of her pleas. Hated that she was so brainwashed.

Her eyes swept around the office, looking for the weak link. For one of us to break. But we wouldn’t. We couldn’t. Simon would be dead soon; there was nobody for her to go back to.

“We can’t do that.” Maverick spoke to the desperation in her gaze.

A tear slip down her cheek. My heart jerked in my chest. The strings that sewed it together seemed to come undone at the sight.

I wanted to wipe it away. Gather her in my arms and promise she was okay. I wanted to keep her.

But I couldn’t. We couldn’t.

Violet wasn’t for us. She was too sweet. She deserved better than a couple of criminals.

“I want to go home.” I wondered how many times she’d said those words before. How often they’d been ignored.

“We’ll take you.” Her lips parted as she looked at me with surprise. She didn’t trust us. She thought we were going to hurt her like Simon. And I couldn’t blame her.

“But first, we’ve called a doctor. Why don’t—.”

“No!” She shouted, cutting off Reid. Jumping to her feet, she lunged towards the door. “I want to go now!”

It was as if our tiny sign of hope had sparked something inside her. Like she had to grasp onto her freedom before it was ripped away again.

He held his hands up in a calm down gesture. “Okay.”

Violet stood in the middle of the room, swaying and shaking in fear. She wanted to leave, but Reid was by the door. She didn’t want to get close.

“Why don’t you clean up first?” Maverick suggested. “There’s a shower—.”

“No!” Her scream echoed in my soul. “You’re just like him. You’re trying to trap me!” She collapsed to the ground. Her legs drew to her chest, her arms encircled them. “No. No. No.”

She repeated the words over and over again like she was making up for all the time she hadn’t said them. Another string around my heart snapped. The organ tried to jump out of my chest to comfort her.

“Okay.” I looked at my brothers and they nodded. “We’re going to take you home. Right now.”

“Really?” Those beautiful green eyes rounded, hope filled them.

I’d do anything in the world to protect that hope. To make sure it was never crushed again.

6

Violet

The car window was cool on my cheek as I leaned my head against it. I felt the vibrations of the tires, but it didn’t soothe me at first. Not until after an hour of driving when the landmarks became familiar. I could make them out even in the dark.

I saw the giant billboard for a local diner; a sign I’d always used on the highway to indicate I was home. We drove past the grocery store I shopped at. The gym I went to. The music studio I’d learned to play piano in as a child. The lights were out now. I thought of the instruments growing dust in the dark building.

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