Page 26 of Bound By Darkness

She paused. “Cart?”

My head dipped in a nod. “For the water. I’ll mine the rest of his so focus on your cart as thanks.”

A beautiful smile lit her face, and for a second, a young girl gleamed back at me, not tarnished by Galar’s conditions as she said, “Thanks.”

Without another word, I headed over to the man’s section, my hands as heavy as iron. He didn’t say anything as he rested his head against a wooden beam, his eyes closing as he slept.

If I was Thalia, I’d have slit his throat for his arrogance. But I wasn’t her. I was trying to survive the best I knew how.

As my ax met solid rock and dirt, I imagined his face as I crushed the pieces to bits of dust. It helped to calm the storm inside me.

The raging for Ellia.

Strike.

The raging I felt for not fighting to save Thalia that day in the cell as Gayle dragged her away.

Strike.

The raging I harbored toward myself for letting men defile me for years.

Strike.

The intense hatred I directed toward myself.

Strike. Strike. Strike.

Every hit chipped at the chains surrounding my heart and released a part of myself I’d hidden in the depths of my shadows.

Chapter 10

Broken Deals

THALIA

The screen doorslapped loudly against the wooden frame as I slowly inched down the slightly uneven steps that sang their protests. Everything creaked in this old cabin.

After days of counting the dents in the wall, of which there were twenty-nine, I’d needed to escape the room.

The wind whipped through my hair, tickling my nose with hints of lavender and pine as I left the drab cabin behind. My fingers floated over the wooden railing, avoiding the splinters as I descended.

Surrounded by dense forest on every side, the cabin tucked itself away in the middle. Blades of grass were painted a lovely shade of green and yellow, daises pushing their way from the slightly damp ground.

Nothing obstructed the views as if I were in a glass bottle.

I was outside, not an iron bar in sight. My heart ached with a level of blissfulness I had not experienced since my childhood adventures. My senses screamed as the grass neared my feet.

I wanted to touch it.

I wanted to bathe in the prickly feeling.

Being outside always grounded me. It gave me a sense of security even as a kid when father would leave for his travels.

Glancing to the left, a pond rested toward the back of the house, and to the right, a well-maintained garden sat.

My eyes widened as they stared at the figure hunched over in the garden, sweat dripping across his brow as Ivan plucked weeds from the garden beds. He tossed them lazily over his shoulder as he focused on the tedious task.

My feet were glued to the last step as I held my breath, hoping he did not sense me from where he toiled.

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