Page 79 of The Pretty Savage

"A fucking filthy orphan!" another one thundered, and I covered my head, hoping they would at least avoid that spot. But before I could wrap myself into the fetal position, someone grabbed my hair, pulling me up, and as two people held my arms, the third one started hitting me with their fists, targeting my face, the side of my head, my stomach, my chest.

The pain kept erupting all over my body, my mouth filling with the coppery taste of blood, and I knew, I just fucking knew they wouldn't stop.

Their curses and filthy words didn't bother me, but the fact that I would never get to tell Adrian the truth, that I would never get to warn him about Heinrich, that was what bothered me.

And as they pushed me onto the ground, bloodied and incapacitated, before the darkness took over, his name was the last thing on my mind.

Someone was screaming.

Someone was… My eyes flashed open, my throat raw from the sounds erupting from me, and I quickly realized it was me. I was screaming.

"Shhh, baby girl. It's okay. You're okay," Adrian's voice pushed through the fog in my mind, and it took me a second to notice I wasn't on the ground anymore, but in his arms. My head pressed against his shoulder, my eyes closing, trying to ignore the pain all over my body, but there was no use. "You're gonna be okay," he murmured, his voice breaking.

I wasn't a stranger to pain or to situations like these, but nothing had ever felt like this. My body was on fire, or at least that was what it felt like. My teeth chattered, the cold winter air seeping deep inside my bones, and all I wanted was to sleep and never wake up.

Maybe then the pain would disappear and leave me be.

"Hurts," I croaked as he carried me.

"We're almost there, Bambi. Almost there. Just stay with me, okay? Stay with me." I was with him. I had no idea what he was talking about, but it took all my willpower not to close my eyes and drift away.

"God, she looks terrible," someone said, and somewhere in the back of my mind the voice registered as a friendly one, but nothing made sense. My head throbbed, my body was completely shattered, and whoever spoke was probably trying to help.

"Shut up, Jax," somebody else said, and I recognized him. Dante. My friend Dante. He was here as well. "Just shut up."

"I'm okay," I mumbled, or at least I thought I did, but it sounded jumbled, my lower lip was swollen, and I couldn't open my eyes. "I promise." But even that came out more like I pwoms, and I knew that wasn't good. That wasn't good at all.

"Don't talk, Bambi. Just, save your energy, okay? Save your energy," Adrian murmured, his steps getting hurried, and before long I knew we were entering his cabin. "Where the fuck is the doctor!" he roared, making me close my eyes again. "I need him here, now!"

Feet shuffled on the ground as he lowered me down on his bed gently, cradling my head as if I were a kid. I opened my eyes again, looking up at him and trying to smile, but I knew that it looked more like a grimace when a fresh wave of pain washed over me, making me whimper all over again.

"You came for me," I mumbled, swallowing the distressed sounds trying to erupt from me.

Adrian's hands landed on my cheeks, so soft, so careful, and I wished I had more time to tell him the truth. It had to happen tonight, but I knew I wouldn't be able to.

"Who did this to you, Bambi?" he asked, his voice barely above a murmur, but the fury lacing those words wasn't lost on me. Neither was the pure anger swirling in the dark pits of his eyes, mixed with the worry grazing his features. "Can you remember? Who did this? Who dared to hurt you?"

"I don't know," I mumbled. "Masks." I coughed, feeling the blood in my mouth. "Too dark."

"Shhh, it's okay," he grunted. "We will talk later. You need to rest. Just stay with me, okay? You gotta stay with me."

My brain worked like crazy, trying to grasp everything happening around me, and it took me a moment to notice I wasn't the one trembling—it was Adrian. His hands shook as he cupped my cheeks, his thumb slowly rubbing over something on my skin, which made me wince again.

"I'm sorry, baby girl. I'm so sorry. But you'll be fine. You're gonna be just fine." He kept repeating the same words, over and over again, his lips pressing against my forehead, my nose, while his hands never steered away from my cheeks.

I opened my eyes wider, fighting against the darkness slowly seeping into the edges of my vision, and saw the unshed tears in his eyes. I saw the terror, the fear, the helplessness, anger, all mixed together, and almost all directed at me. His entire body shook while he sat next to me, and I knew I was completely wrong about him.

"You don't hate me after all." He opened his mouth to say something, but I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. The terror in his voice as he yelled out my name followed me into sleep, wrapping around me like a blanket, meant to protect me.

And then I couldn't hear anything else.

29

ADRIAN

I was trained to be a soldier.

Unfeeling.

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