Page 18 of Beg the Night

“Sleep tight.” I winked. “And if you snore, I’ll fucking kill you.” With that, I straightened to my full height, then retreated to my bed. I lay back on my cot and picked up my book, pretending to read. I was much too aware of the girls whispering together to actually focus on the words. Much too aware of how many eyes now lingered on them after our little show.

I didn’t talk to people in here. I much preferred my solitude. I rarely even talked to Mags these days, though she certainly never stopped making an effort. It was better if people like me didn’t make friends. It was better if everyone here hated me.

They would all learn to hate me eventually, so there was no use dragging out the inevitable.

After a few painfully long seconds, the two approached the cot. I had forced the original owner to move, and although he still glared at me every time we made eye contact, he didn’t say a goddamn word.

My dungeon. My rules.

And I needed these two where I could see them at all times. Mags practically dragged New Girl behind her, fighting all the way about who would take the side closest to me.

Mags wanted the outside, because the owner of the next cot was Carter, whose prick fucking friends all bunked nearby.

I shifted, flipping another page. I scanned the page from left to right, unseeing, while keeping my ears perked and my focus locked on the movement beside me.

New Girl eventually set her nasty, wet boots down on the edge of the cot. She moved slowly, as if the careful movements would save her from the horrible fucking fate of this place.

I didn’t look up from the book as the bed beside me shifted. I waited until their quiet whispers stopped, waited until their breaths had slowed to a dull, even pace.

Only then did I dare a glance in their direction.

Moonlight from the small cracks in the cave ceiling filtered across the bed, allowing enough light for me to make out their forms. They slept back-to-back, as if on guard. And when I dragged my eyes up to New Girl’s face, I found her watching me.

I didn’t look away. Neither did she. We stayed like that, practically killing each other with the daggers in our eyes, until she slowly moved her hand up.

And flipped me off.

If I had any emotions left in me at all, I might have been amused.

Instead, I simply returned my attention to the book, pretending to read the same page over and over again until I finally drifted off to sleep for the first time in days.

SIX

athena

Something was wrong.

The sun was just rising in the distance, its light filtering through the small window above my new cot. I sat up in bed and surveyed the silent, still dungeon.

I wasn’t sure what caused my heart to race and my palms to sweat. I couldn’t pinpoint what made adrenaline surge through me. But it wassomething.

My body was always one step ahead of my mind, always ready to fight before I knew what the fight was for.

To my right, Sinner was laying in his bed, shirtless, propped up on an elbow and staring at me.

He didn’t speak. He only watched me, his dark eyes intense and his brows drawn together like he wanted to ask why the hell I was freaking out.

The answer came seconds later when the massive steel door, the one that only opened on the occasion the Ministry felt generous and came to feed us, creaked, the locks turning.

Sinner went rigid, his focus flying to the door. Margaret stirred in bed next to me, but didn’t wake. I couldn’t blame her now that she was no longer sleeping on the dungeon floor.

It was probably better if she stayed asleep rather than witness whatever the hell was about to go down. Though, the sounds of the locks were anything but silent, so with each one that clanged, more men around us stirred.

When Director entered, I sucked in a gasp.

“Morning, gentleman,” she called out. Her voice echoed off the walls, vibrating through my bones. “Ladies.” She scanned the room once before landing on my cot.

Beside me, Sinner grumbled and pushed himself all the way up to stand.

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