Page 15 of Entangled

“I’m their problem child,” Madison continues, a self-deprecating tilt to her lips. “One escape attempt gets you busted ribs. Two gets you a broken nose and wrecked ankle. The rest get you various beatings, food deprivation, and these snug little tree attachments.”

I stifle a sigh, shaking my head as I look around the camp. Most of the men are still in their blankets, but two putter around a large pot suspended over a burgeoning fire. My nightmare crackles behind my eyes.

God, I hope Jayk died quickly.

“What?” Madison prompts, and my gaze swings back to her.

“What?” I ask with a tired brow raise.

“What’s with this?” She shakes her head with exaggerated seriousness.

“Oh.” I close my eyes again and rest back against the log, shoving down my grief ruthlessly. “Your escape plans sound terrible.”

She scoffs, wrenching against her ropes. “You’ve been here two days. I’ve been with them for three months. Either we escape before they take us to Cyanide, or we’re both worse than dead. I’m not going back there.”

“Threemonths?” I whisper.

The weight of it crashes in on me. Three months of beatings. Of pain. Of cold.

I haven’t been thinking that far ahead.

I haven’t been thinkingat all.

The camp is waking, rustles and restless sounds rippling over the men as they peel from their slumber.

She nods. “They captured me and a few others, including Akira.” Her voice lowers. “And my Tommy.”

Something about that name sounds familiar, but I can’t place it. The undercurrents of savagery and sadness when she says his name tell me what I need to know about Tommy’s fate.

God, there’s so much grief in this camp.

My eyes drift to Alastair and Mateo’s group. Alastair has been slipping in and out of consciousness—it’s hard to miss, because every time he passes out, Mateo loses it. I’ve watched his explosions of fear and fury with interest. That’s what it looks like to be on the brink ofthis. He sees my grief coming for him, knows what his impending loss will mean, and it terrifies him.

Whether or not they’re lovers, like Sam implied, Mateo loves Alastair hard.

I’m not sure whether I should care. Mateo did help me... but I can’t forget that they were at Bristlebrook. Their hands are as bloody as the rest.

Akira wanders past Alastair and curls up on the lap of one of the hunters, planting a slow kiss on his lips. And, to my surprise, that interests me too.

“I thought she was with Logan,” I remark.

Madison snorts. It’s not a kind sound. “Some days she is. Whore.”

I grimace, and my new demon snarls at the word.

More feelings start filtering in around my pain, squeezing through gaps I didn’t realize were there. The anger flares, but also a hint of shame.

Whore.

What would Madison say if she knew about the arrangementI made with my brutes?

“Don’t call her that,” I say coolly.

Madison raises a brow, with the hint of a smile, then glares back at Akira. “Why shouldn’t I call her that? It’s what she is. Gets on her fucking back for the same men who killed Tommy and a half a dozen others of our group. I hope they cut her throat when they’re done with her.”

“She’s surviving,” I reply, though a winter chill is creeping into my tone.

“She’senjoyingit.”

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