Page 22 of Pray for Scars
After I slam down my cup I say, loud enough for everyone to hear, “No one is going torough her up. If she says no, you stop.Period.”
“And let her take her secrets to the grave you’re gonna throw her in?” Ezra asks, eyeing me from across the room.
I meet his gaze. “If she says no,you stop.”
Silence greets me, but I know they get it. Even Ezra. Especially Ezra.
“Cain’s right, you know,” Atlas says as Cain heads into the living room and starts talking with the rest of them. Maverick plays music from his wireless speakers,The Violenceby Asking Alexandria, drowning out my conversation with Atlas. No one can hear us now. “You gotta find Jeremiah. You have to bring him in, too. And as forher…”
My fingers clench around the plastic cup, caving it in.
“You gotta figure out how fucking far you’re willing to go.” Atlas sighs, leans against the counter, brings the bottle to his lips. He doesn’t look at me when he says, “You’ve already dragged Julie into this shit. You don’t want a repeat.”
I finish my drink, toss the cup into the sink so Mav can clean that shit up later, and back away from Atlas. “Don’t talk to me about Julie.”
It’s true. I did drag her into it, back before I knew better. I told her too much, because I thought she was going to be the mother of my child. And I can’t cut her off completely without facing the consequences.
Consequences I don’t wanna deal with.
I head down the hall, away from the guys, toward the staircase. “Be ready in five,” I shout to them over the music.
When I reach the guest bedroom door, it takes me an entire minute to work up the nerve to go in, knowing where I’m taking her. Knowing what I’m about to do to her.
But I do it.
I take off her cuffs, cradle her to my chest while I hear the guys stirring downstairs, getting ready to go. She lets her head rest against me, her palms pressed against my heart.
She looks up at me with sleepy eyes, and I know she’s still tired. Not from the past twenty-four hours, but from her entire fucking life. A life I don’t think even she remembers.
A life she’s been running from.
And for one night, I caught her. One night, I brought her to her knees, and she brought me to mine. But the thing about submission is it never lasts long.
Not for people like us.
We get back up, we bare our teeth, and then we’re both out for blood again.
She’s quiet in my arms now, but when I take her to Sanctum, her claws will come back out. I hope to God they do. I need to see what she’s made of. What she’s done to the 6 to get on their list ofsacrifices. I need to see who made her what she is.
Chapter Seven
I smellthe sharp tang of blood, feel my fear like a cold, hard thing twisting in my gut, and I can’t stop shaking.
I’ve got my head on my knees, my hands bound behind my back, and there’s nothing over my eyes but it’s completely dark in here. Whereverhereis inside this church. A cathedral I’ve never seen before in my life.
My breaths come in shallow gasps, and I’m sure if I could see, those gasps would be puffs of cold in front of my face.
As it is, I see nothing.
Hear nothing.
But Lucifer’s words against my skin before he left me in here have me rooted to the spot of this cold cement floor.
Don’t run, Lilith. You can’t hide from your own mind.He’d laughed, a delicious rasp that made my chest tighten, before he said,Tonight, we’ll find out where yours has been.
I squeeze my eyes shut, willing myself to stay put, even as my shaking hands make my chains clank, metal on metal.
I wish he’d come back. I wonder if that makes me, still, suicidal.
