Page 45 of Shadows in Bloom

Sobbing and crying, I groan in pain. “He—he wanted me to, he told me to,” I say through panting breaths as blood pools beneath me.

“Diablo,” an unfamiliar voice calls from the dining room.

Diablo’s jaw clenches before he stands, glares at me, then leaves the room.

With the door wide open, I can hear him talking to the other man who must be a doctor. “I’ve sedated him so I can stitch him up. It’s going to scar, but he’ll survive,” the doctor says.

“Take him to the master bedroom, everything you need is in there,” Diablo replies. A minute later, he appears in the doorway of my bedroom, gauze in hand.

“I’m going to cover your wound,” he says as though he wasn’t the one who inflicted it mere minutes ago. The complete shift in his emotions shocks me, but I remain calm, breathing through the pain.

I only nod. “Salem’s okay?” I ask while he inspects the wound.

“He will be.” Diablo sits on the side of the bed and cuts away the bottom half of my t-shirt. He presses a pad of gauze to the gash, and strangely, he’s gentle.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I… I didn’t want to kill him,” I admit.

“He needs you,” Diablo says, his eyes never shift away from where he’s tending to my wound.

I let out a self-deprecating laugh. “For what? To torture me.”

“You’ll figure it out… and if you don’t, he still has me.” Diablo stands and smiles, cruel and sadistic.

“Has you?” I question before he can leave. “What does that mean?” And why the hell is jealousy coursing through my veins all of a sudden?

Diablo leans down to my ear. “If you can’t give him what he wants, I can, little firebird. And don’t you forget that.” He turns and leaves, closing the door behind him before he slides the lock into place.

CHAPTER 11

JUSTICE

One week later

“HELP!” my screams are muffled by the dense, dark forest. Not that it matters, here, there’s no one to hear my screams except for him.

“HELP!” he mimics my plea with perfection.

I scramble through the tangled undergrowth, branches lashing at my skin as I search for an escape from this nightmare. This nightmare I put myself in by running from Salem, and foolishly believing that this time might be any different.

“You should know better than to run.”

Right now, the thought of giving in to Salem and letting him have his way with me, no matter what, is at the forefront of my mind. Maybe it’s time to admit defeat. To give in and simply live this life of madness and terror with Salem by my side.

The rain soaks me, my bare feet sink into puddles of mud and dirt, sending shivers down my spine. The cold seeps into the marrow of my bones. Fear courses through every nerve ending in my body, my muscles tremble uncontrollably.

“Justice!” His voice is barely audible over the encroaching, summer storm.

But I feel his presence closing in on me, the hunter stalking his prey.

A low hum vibrates against my skin, a harsh reminder of the shock collar clasped firmly around my neck.

“I’m sorry, my love, but you know I have to punish you.”

I grit my teeth and try to ignore the bite of pain as desperation fuels me, and I sprint forward, trying to put as much distance between us as possible.

The collar vibrates again, the setting dialled up to increase the shock. I stumble over a fallen branch, falling to my knees and gasping for air as electricity courses through my veins.

I can’t stay here. I can’t let him catch me. I force myself up, ignoring my burning muscles and the lingering pain shooting through my body.

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