Page 131 of Born in Depravity

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I openedmy eyes to the bright morning sun.

Right away, I knew I was in bed alone.

I couldn’t help but feel bereft somehow, especially with everything I had done with Damien.

But he wasn’t here.

I looked around the room.

It was still the same room I had been locked in for—

I didn’t know how many days it had been. I had long ago stopped keeping track.

The room was still the same.

I wasn’t.

I climbed out of bed and quickly dressed, putting on Damien’s clothes, feeling my muscles aching with every little movement. I tried to find any regret I might have over all that I had done, especially in the morning light, but I felt nothing.

My future was still so uncertain, but right now, I didn’t care.

I didn’t care because of my captors.

There was something messed up about it, but I couldn’t help the way I felt. Perhaps it was my mind’s way of protecting me.

Because feeling …affectionatefor my captors was better than feeling hatred or fear for them. I lay back down on the bed, pulling the blanket up to my chest, and looked up at the ceiling.

A knock came at the door.

I knew right away it wasn’t either one of my captors, because they never knocked.

Sure enough, the door opened and the woman who usually brought me my meal came in, a tray of breakfast in her hands.

She regarded me with a look in her eyes that I didn’t really understand, but it made me blush for some reason. I looked away just as she placed the tray beside me on the bed.

Before I could write a simple “thank you” in my notebook, she was already heading out without looking back, though I thought I caught something in her eyes that looked like pity. I couldn’t be sure.

I pulled the tray toward me and picked at my food.

I was sure a man like Damien had something important to do. I had only wished he’d stayed until I woke, because I was feeling vulnerable after all that we had done, and I didn’t like it one bit.

I pushed the tray away when I was about halfway done, knowing I wouldn’t be able to finish it. Not when my stomach felt like it was tangled in knots. I grabbed my eReader from the nightstand and was about to turn it on when the door unlocked.

My heart stalled a bit and I looked toward it, trying hard not to appear too eager.

Mikhail came in, his blue eyes light today.

“Hey,kotyonok. Did you miss me?”

I bit my lip to keep from smiling too widely. It wouldn’t do me any good to show them how badly they had gotten to me, but I couldn’t lie. I didn’twantto lie to him.

I nodded shyly, earning the pleased look in his eyes.

Mikhail looked at my half-eaten breakfast, frowning a bit, though he didn’t say anything.

He placed it on the floor and took a seat on the bed.

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