Page 78 of The Delta's Rogue
Brenna stammers, “I-I…um…” Her head angles towards Amara.
I grab Brenna’s hand in mine and squeeze as hard as I can, keeping her focus on me. “Brenna, please,” I whisper, my voice cracking. “Don’t let her—”
“Don’t let me what?”
I flinch and shut my eyes, blowing out a controlled breath and dropping Brenna’s hand from mine. The cotton-candy sweetness of Amara’s voice hurts my teeth and sends a shiver—like nails on a chalkboard—over my body.
I shouldn’t have spoken. I shouldn’t have moved.
“Don’t let me see your tattoos?” Amara’s fingertips graze over my ribs through my dress.
My eyes fly open. I bolt away from her touch, bumping into Brenna as I do.
Amara grabs my hands to prevent me from moving further. Her frosty touch sends another shiver down my spine. It breaks through the spell of warmth Brenna has used on me since she dressed me in my room, seeping through every layer of my skin and straight into my bones, almost as cold as the silver cuffs and collar leaving freezing burns on my skin.
“Did you forget I’ve already seen them twice?” Amara reminds me, a chilling smile forming on her face. “Once when you first arrived, and a second time when my darling Brenna here checked your virginity.”
My chin shakes, and I swallow back the whimper that wants to be heard as my entire body trembles.
Her hand cups my cheek, and I flinch at her touch.
“What do they mean?” she asks. “Why are they so important to you?”
“They’re from a songmi mamásang to me as a little girl.” I lie through my teeth and lower my eyes towards the floor to avoid her gaze. I hate how weak it makes me seem, but at this moment I am grateful for the erratic, frantic beating of my heart that’s helping hide my lie. “It’s an old Spanish love song about two soulmates separated by their duty.”
“Do they ever meet again?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. The song doesn’t say.”
The world vanishes as we talk.
I’m aware of the other girls standing around us, listening to and observing us—most of them now naked—but I don’tseethem. I only see Amara’s feet wrapped in sparkly heels and her long legs beneath the sheer skirt of her gown. It’s as if the room shrinks, the walls moving inward, until it’s the size of a broom closet and Amara, Brenna, and I are the only occupants. Even the ceiling drops lower, hanging only inches above Amara’s head.
She trails her hand from my cheek to my collarbone, then across to the top of the sheer sleeves of my dress. Her nail scrapes the hem, tracing the stitching there, and she hums in thought.
“I’ll make a deal with you, sweet girl.” Her voice returns to that honeyed tone of a mother soothing a small child.
Goosebumps form on my skin, raising all the little downy hairs.
“I’ll let you keep your tattoos,” Amara says, “if you strip for me without raising a fuss about it.”
Indecision wars within me.
The room returns to its normal size. Vast and gaping, it’s filled with eyes locked on me, waiting to see what I decide. Amara watches me, a glint of satisfaction and the glitter of triumph in her eyes, and that fake, oozing smile forms on her lips.
I know what she’s doing. She’s attempting to create a false sense of security for me and the others, making it appear as though we can trust her. She’ll use me as an example of what happens when we oppose her. And she’s testing me, feeling out my weaknesses and limits.
She thinks she has me pegged. She thinks she knows me.
But I know her. I see the cruelty ingrained into her soul. It seeps from her like sap from a tree.
She won’t uphold her word. She only wants to see me break and give in. When I do, when I’ve humiliated myself to her satisfaction, she’ll take my tattoos anyway, to remind us all thatshe’sthe one with the power.
I said I wouldn’t let them take my tattoos, take Sebastian’s words, after they’ve already taken so much from me. But I won’t bend to their will for this.
I can replace my tattoos. And I do not submit to those who are beneath me.
“Anaís?” Amara prompts, tucking a loose curl behind my ear. “You need to decide, sweet girl. Will you undress willingly and keep your gorgeous, meaningful tattoos? Or will you force Brenna to use your blood against you?”
