Page 25 of Beg the Night

I had to bite back a sardonic laugh. “It means I’m more dangerous than anyone else in here. It means you should keep your distance before you get hurt.”

“Says the man who wants to have sex with me.”

“Wantis a strong word, don’t you think? Our survival could depend on far worse things.” Fuck, even thinking about sex sent my dick twitching in my pants. I hated this woman, but she wasn’t hideous.

And now that she was set to be my partner during the claiming, something had shifted. My power wanted her. It was desperate to be unleashed, to mingle with whatever it was she hid beneath that porcelain skin. Her power was hiding, too, likely longing for me in the same way.

Though the claiming was three weeks away, my power called for its equal. A force to entice it, to challenge it.

And for whatever reason, it was certain she possessed exactly what it craved.

“I won’t help you. I won’t become a slave to the government.”

Despite my hardening dick, anger flared hot in my chest. This fucking woman. I pushed myself up and sat on the edge of my cot, facing her.

She pushed up, too, propping herself on her elbow and narrowing her eyes on me.

“Look around you,” I bit out. “If you think you can get out of here on your own, you’re wrong. You think Director will let any of us go, let alone a female?” I laughed under my breath. “Then you’re dumber than I thought. The only way out of here is through the claiming. Get that through your thick fucking skull.”

“And then what? You fight for them in the war you want nothing to do with?”

God, her flickering eyes annoyed me. She really thought I was above joining a fight in order to save myself?

“Who said I want nothing to do with it?”

She blew out a breath. “You can’t be serious. It’s no different out there. If you let them control you now, you’re allowing them to turn you into a weapon, and they’ll use you that way for therest of your life. They’ll use your power forever. They’ll never let you go, especially since you’re a three.”

Chest heaving, I willed the anger coiling tight inside me to remain where it was. “I’ve spent months down here, New Girl. I’ve tried to escape a handful of times. It’s all useless, there’s too much at risk.”

“You mean your sister?” She glanced over her shoulder to where my sister slept soundly. God, I hadn’t seen her sleep so much since we arrived. It was New Girl’s one redeeming quality. She made my sister feel at ease enough to let her guard down. “Because she can take care of herself. She doesn’t want this.”

I angled in until my face was inches from hers. “You don’t get to talk about what she does or doesn’t want. You know nothing about her.”

“I don’t?” She cocked her head to the side. “Because she and I are the only two women down here, yet not one of the rancid creatures has tried to touch her since I arrived. I don’t see Director coming in here and trying to force her to pair up for the claiming. Suspicious, no?”

“Shut your mouth. Now.”

“Why? Because you don’t want her to hear what I’m about to say?”

A snarl escaped me.

New Girlsmiled.

That’s it.I stood, and before she even had time to flinch, I gripped her around the waist, threw her over my shoulder, and stormed away from the cot.

EIGHT

athena

“Put me down!”

In the silence of the night, my words nearly echoed off the stone walls.

But Sinner only dug his fingertips into the backs of my thighs until I was certain they bruised.

He stormed to the front of the open space, just beside the barricaded door. I squirmed and kicked the whole way, but it was no use, he was freakishly large and inhumanly strong. He didn’t loosen his grip until we had reached the very corner of the dark cavern, a place where even the moonlight didn’t reach. Nobody slept this close to the entrance, leaving it wide open for Sinner to drag me here and—what? Kill me?

No way. Not when I was his one chance at getting out of this place.

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