Page 42 of The Pretty Savage

I winced inwardly as I reached the door where Yolanda stood, feeling the pull of my sore muscles, especially at my shoulder, but I didn't want to show it to her.

True to her word, no one even looked at me twice when we started walking toward the main building. Well, no one but him.

Adrian Zylla had stood there in the middle of the crowd, looking bored out of his mind as he gazed up at the hanging girl, looking at everyone around him as if they were nothing more than a stain on the sole of his shoe, until his eyes landed on me.

Fire licked my insides the moment those dark eyes connected with mine, and just like yesterday, just like last night, I couldn't help the reaction my body was having at the sight of him. My mind hated him, but my body obviously wasn't on the same wavelength.

And it pissed me off.

Oh boy, did that piss me off.

He had disappeared with Jax, the guy we met last night when we arrived at The Pit, approximately half an hour ago, and I loathed myself for constantly waiting for him to return. But he wasn't coming back and instead of wasting my energy on the guy that wasn't worthy of my time, a guy I was sent for, I focused on the hanging girl, racking my brain through all the possibilities and different scenarios on what might have happened.

The Schatten wasn't exactly revered in this part of the world, not even among the people that did the exact same thing. Perhaps it was because The Schatten had no code, no honor, which was exactly what Heinrich wanted. He would stop at nothing to get what he wanted and he made sure his agents were trained in the same way.

Even monsters had a heart, but the savages Heinrich created had nothing in their body. There was a gaping hole where our hearts should've been, and I was glad I was one of the few that had managed to wake up from the deep slumber—the control he had over me.

Ignoring the thoughts swirling through my mind, I followed Yolanda into the building, paying no attention to the men and women gathered around in what looked like a grand foyer, and instead focused on my steps and keeping my body upright.

I hated admitting it, but Yolanda was right—I was in no shape to train today or to participate in any of the classes that were more on the physical side, and I was glad they were all getting canceled. Perhaps it was the fact that the girl was killed in the same way as what The Schatten usually used, but the mere thought of mindlessly training and pretending I was Vega Konstantinova, the daughter of a man that worked for the Russian mafia, didn't sit well with me.

There were wolves hiding behind these walls, and I had to be more vigilant than I initially thought if I wanted to survive.

"The bathroom is just down the hall. You'll want to take the left once you reach the very end," Yolanda said, pointing at the hallway leading deeper into the building, just underneath the grand staircase that led to the first floor. "Want me to come with you?" she asked, her eyes searching my face, but I didn't want her to see me breaking apart. I just needed a moment alone to gather my thoughts, to try and figure out what the hell was going on here.

Rebecca's death was no accident, and I had a feeling I was in deeper shit than what Alena and Heinrich told me.

"No." I shook my head, trying not to move my shoulder too much with the action. "I think I got it. Save me a spot, will you?" I murmured, placing a hand on her shoulder and doing my best to plaster a smile on my face. But the moment I tried moving my lips into a smile, the skin on my face pulled, making me wince, which in turn probably made my smile look more like a grimace than something that would settle her nerves.

Yolanda took a deep breath, coming closer to me. "I really wish you would've stayed in your room today. You are definitely not doing well, Vega."

"I'm fine," I repeated. I didn't even know which time today I was referring to, and maybe if I said it enough times, she would start believing me. "I've had worse," I gritted out, for the first time telling the truth.

We were expendable, the agents of The Schatten, and out there on the field, it didn't matter how hurt you were. If you couldn't do your job, you were as good as dead. What use would they have of us if we couldn't live through a little bit of pain?

"Don't look at me like that." I frowned when her eyes started filling with tears. "I'm okay, truly."

"It's not that," she whispered, looking around at the crowd that was getting louder and louder with each passing second. "I'm scared," Yolanda admitted, her voice barely audible. "I was scared of this place before, but now," she shuddered, "I'm terrified, and the fact that I don't even know how to defend myself is making me paralyzed with fear."

I completely forgot about that little tidbit, and if that didn't tell me that my mind was more fucked up than I thought, then I had no idea what would.

"Yo," I murmured, squeezing her shoulder. "I'll teach you how to fight. Hell, I won't let you out of my sight if that makes you feel better, but you're going to survive this place. Besides," I took a step closer to her, bringing my lips to her ear, "I'll kill every person that dares to touch you. We got this."

A shudder rocked through her, and before I could step back, she wrapped her arms around my middle, keeping them limp. "Thank you, Vega," she sniffed, her chin on my other shoulder. "I have never had a friend here, and I'm glad I got you."

Perhaps it was idiotic getting close to a person I knew nothing about, apart from those facts that anyone could find out, but it felt good. It felt as if I was doing something good, something important. I swore I would always help those in need, no matter how much The Schatten tried to tell me it wasn't my place, but I refused to just stand on the side while somebody suffered because they had nobody.

And it was obvious Yolanda needed me, and no one else in my entire life had ever needed me.

"We got this," I repeated, patting her back before stepping away. "But I really do need to go to the toilet now." I chuckled and she wiped her tears quickly, replacing them with a dashing smile I realized she used as a defensive weapon. "You'll be fine once everyone goes inside. I don't think anyone would try to do anything in a room full of people."

Or at least, I tried to believe that. I had no idea what we were dealing with, and I just hoped that Andries and the rest of the staff I saw milling around had some idea. My eyes kept roving over the people gathered around, looking for the one person I needed to have in my eyesight at all times, but Adrian was nowhere to be seen and neither was Jax.

I hadn’t seen Dante yet, but if the other two were here, then he probably was as well.

"I'll see you shortly," I said to Yolanda before heading toward the hallway she had mentioned, pushing through the throng of people. My body was in no way, shape or form ready for this many people to be pushing against me, making me wince with each step I took, but once I finally managed to get through all of them, I exhaled slowly, feeling relief.

I wasn't claustrophobic, not really, but I hated massive crowds of people. I was fine with it for a couple of minutes, but we’d been surrounded with far too many idiots that attended this school and I trusted no one when it came to my safety, and well, Yolanda's.

---