Page 153 of Born in Depravity

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

I thought about it.

The thing with Henry felt like it happened so long ago, I was mostly feeling numb now. It would probably hit me tomorrow, or perhaps not at all.

I didn’t know.

I didn’t know how a normal person was supposed to react to being assaulted, because right now, I didn’t feel normal.

Nothing about the situation I was in was normal.

I shrugged.

“Where are we?” I asked in a low voice.

“Santa Fe, New Mexico.”

That was surprising. I wondered where we were ultimately heading.

“Did you know I grew up here?” I asked.

He nodded. I supposed they had done their research when they decided to take me.

My vision lost its focus and I narrowed in on a gold light some distance away. Did Damien grow up here after Father had—boughthim?

“Did you know my father killed my mom here?”

He hesitated before he offered me another nod.

“How are you feeling about that?”

“Numb.”

Again, he nodded, like he understood. There was nothing nice about New Mexico for me.

“Bed, pet.”

I let him lead me to bed, and much to my surprise and joy, when he emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, he joined me in bed.

He automatically pulled me close to his body, focusing his attention on the ceiling while I focused on him.

The only light was from the window, but it was enough for me to make out his features. I traced every hard line on his face with my eyes, my finger twitching with need to touch him.

“Did you know?” I asked after a while. It was getting easier and easier to talk to him. I wondered when I would be ready to talk to Nikolay. Maybe when he stopped feeling so volatile.

Perhaps never, then.

“Know what?”

“That Henry was my fiancé.”

He tensed beside me. “What?”

Okay, so he didn’t know.

“The day I ran away from home, I had met him the night before. He wanted to … uh, ‘check the merchandise,’ and when I flinched because he … grabbed me … uh, Father hurt me.”

I didn’t know if I was making any sense.

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