Page 49 of A Blackened Bond

A shaky breath falls from my lips, tears dripping down my cheeks.

I was unlucky enough to be taken to this hellish prison but somehow lucky enough to withstand that attack.

I wipe the tears from my cheeks and pull myself up. Maybe I was stronger than I thought I was.

Suddenly, I hear the sound of the metal door opening. I turn toward it, hoping the guards from earlier would take me back to my cell. Even in that small, bleak room with no way out, I felt safer than here.

I take a step toward the door, my brows instantly synching together.

It was still locked.

The noise gets louder as I slowly turn around toward the opposite side of the room…and see two glistening silver eyes gazing back at me from the other door.

A roar thunders throughout the room as I reach for the blade still in the other beast—

I’m woken up by a voice calling my name.

My heart is racing out of my chest, and sweat is pouring down my neck with the horrible memory.

Why the hell did I have to dream about The Facility? And about the first ‘beast test’ I had too?

A tremor works its way into my hands, and my vision slightly blurs as I hear my name called.

“—ed…Micai?”

I twist around. A different type of fear pumping through my veins at the thought of an intruder in my own room. How had I missed that?

I fall from the bed, landing into a crouch and ready to attack as a familiar voice calls my name again before the figure sits up straight in my bed.

“Are you okay, Red?” Annex brushes a hand through his hair, his chest bare and trousers low as a worried look takes over his expression. “Did you have a nightmare?”

My racing heart starts to calm down, my shoulders dropping slightly with relief as I pull myself up straight. Any fear instantly disappearing with the sight of Annex’s face.

He pulls the blanket down, beckoning me back into the small single bed.

“I’ll scare away anything that makes you afraid, Red. Nothing will touch you as long as I’m here…” A mischievous grin stretches his lip as he raises his hand, “Unless it’sthesefingers.”

A small smile laces my lips before I school it and raise a brow.

“Andhowdid you manage to crawl into my bed?”

A dark chuckle leaves his lips. “Don’t pretend like you’re not happy I’m keeping you warm, Red. If not for the nightmare, you would have been wrapped around me like a baby monkey.”

“How do you knowyou’renot what I was dreaming about?”

A husky chuckle peels from his lips as he shakes his head, pulling his bottom lip in between his teeth.

“Trust me, Red. If I was what you were dreaming about, those screams…would only be from pure ecstasy. Not fear.”

A softer look forms in his gaze as he reaches a hand out toward me, gently pulling me closer and down into the bed beside him. He pulls the blanket over us, wrapping his large frame around mine and turning me until we’re facing each other, his arm beneath my head as its pillow.

“Nobody will ever hurt you while I’m alive, Red. And as you can see, even if I die, I‘ll return with a vengeance and bloody fury.”

“Bloody fury?” I grin, leaning in closer.

“It’s always gotta get bloody, Red. That’s just my M.O.” He gives me a small grin and a slight shrug before his hand reaches toward my face, his fingers stroking down my cheek. “Even your nightmares can fuck off.” He strokes his finger down the crease between my brows. “Nobody gets to make you scared, even your dreams. You’re only allowed to see the best of things from now on and with us.”

A warm feeling works its way through me with his words, warming the cold parts of me overtaken by my dream.

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