Page 83 of The Delta's Rogue
I scoff and hug the mug to my chest. “Tú eres la preferida de Amara. It’s obvious to anyone that Amara favors you.”
“And yet I’m still only allowed access to the interior doors. I can’t leave the building except to attend auctions, and even then I’m stuck at Amara’s side. I can’t go outside. I don’t know where we are. My cage may look different from yours, but I’m still a prisoner too.”
She takes the now empty mug from me and sets it on the table next to the bed, then perches on the edge of the mattress and grips my hands in her fists, holding my gaze with pure sincerity and earnestness. “I can help you contact your friends. I’ll help you get home if you promise you’ll come back and rescue me too.”
The shaking in my body returns, stemming from the nervous, hesitantly hopeful anticipation bubbling inside me like a pot on the verge of boiling. I keep my face neutral,though, to hide any shade of hope I may have. “What makes you think I have friends who can help?”
“Most of the girls he has them capture are girls who won’t be missed, girls who are packless.”
He. I’ve heard them mention a “he” before.
Amara mentioned him when Nuncio struck Brenna, claiming “he” wouldn’t be happy about it, that Nuncio would pay for it.
Whatever punishment Nuncio received, I doubt it was enough.
“Who is he?” I move the conversation away from my past and my connections.
Brenna swallows. “His name is Lowell.” Her voice is a fluttering whisper of rustling leaves in the wind. “He’s the head of the entire operation.”
“Is he a werewolf?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen him.” Her grip on my hands tightens, and a dark flicker of fear flashes across her face. “But he’s seen me, and he wants me. I’m his prize.”
“That’s why Amara protects you and won’t let you leave.”
She nods.
Rage vibrates through me, a vicious tornado building and swirling behind the chains they’ve bound me in while I’m here. It’s a fury that, once released, will know no bounds and answer to no master but me. My vengeance on all who’ve harmed me, and any other female, will be swift. My claws will tear through their skin, mangling their bodies until they’re unrecognizable. My teeth will rip out their throats and their innards, and I’ll leave their barely alive remains for the scavengers to feed on.
I push down my growing bloodlust, and glance at our joined hands, debating my next words, my next move.
“I’m packless too,” I mutter, testing the waters with my lie.
Brenna laughs. It’s the first time I’ve heard her make the sound. While brief, it’s a rare glittering gem in this den of darkness we’re trapped in. “You and I both know that’s not true,Anaís. Or should I say Sar—”
I growl at her in warning, my head whirling towards the corners of the room.
“My illusion,” she reminds me. “They can’t hear us.”
My thundering heart slows. I breathe through the panic as I return my gaze to hers. “When you rifled through my thoughts…”
“Whatever you relived in your mind when I touched you is only a fraction of what I saw in your memories.”
An icy chill sprints over my skin, but it has little to do with the temperature of the room and everything to do with the powerful witch I’m considering forming an alliance with. “What else did you see?”
“I saw enough. Iknowthere are people out there who care about you, people who won’t give up until they find you.”
“So when you asked me abouthimthe other day–”
“I was playing my part, following Amara’s protocols for ensuring the girls here won’t be missed.” She waits, observing my inner turmoil.
I hug my knees to my chest as I think.
Trusting her is a risk. She’s powerful—more powerful than I think she realizes. Magic such as hers is rare, which makes trusting her dangerous.
What if she turns against me? What if helping her places a larger target on my back?
But she’s my only potential ally. It’s her or no one.
