4. FOUR
FOUR
SCARS
T rapped beneath Cillian and the cool forest floor, I panted for air. Panic fluttered in my chest, not just from the physical restraint but from the realisation of my dire situation.
What choice did I have here? I was no match for three men, especially after what I'd witnessed.
Was I going to die, or worse, become a sexual plaything for them?
I was far from ready to accept those options as my only two choices.
Despite the fear, a defiant part of me whispered, There's always a way out.
I was only nineteen, but I wasn't naive. I'd figure out an escape.
I just had to bide my time, play the part they expected of a scared girl, and wait it out. Let the brothers think I was weak and compliant. They were sure to drop their guard at some point, and when they did, I would be ready to run.
Cillian's voice, unexpectedly gentle, cut through the tension.
"Are you going to get up, or will we spend the day gazing into each other's eyes?"
His words threw me a little.Ihadn’teven realised I was staring. His eyes werehauntingand unlike
anything I’d ever seen. That rich caramel was still there, but the green speckles didn't look like moss anymore, they glimmered like shards of glass.
In another circumstance, one where he wasn't keeping me a prisoner, I could have liked those eyes very much.
The forest's damp earth pressed cold against my back, grounding me to the moment. Sounds of the wilderness, the distant rustling of leaves, filled the eerie silence between us.
Drawing a deep breath, I prepared myself for what was to come, the forest around us watching as a silent witness to my resolve.
The scent of pine and earth mingled in the air, a constant reminder of the wild, untamed world just beyond the boundaries of our encounter—a world I was determined to reach again. I couldn’t let myself crumble, not now.
"Perhaps you should get off me, and we can look at something else," I said.
Was that amusement that flickered in his eyes at my comment? The thought unsettled me further. Maybe getting him to drop his guard would be easier than I had thought.
He rose and easily pulled me to my feet, his eyes appraising me with frank interest. I felt the strength of his grip, his skin rough against mine. He smiled as if reading my thoughts. Despite myself, a blush coloured my face. Dammit. That really wasn't the look I was going for, I inwardly cringed.
"I can walk on my own," I snapped, embarrassed that I'd acted like a besotted schoolgirl.
I willed myself to make my thoughts neutral and focus on what might happen to me now, alone and surrounded by strangers who were clearly not ordinary men.
Cillian ignored me. Keeping his grip on my arm, he guided me back the way I came. I thought about breaking free and making a run for it, but the slight tightening of his grip persuaded me otherwise. His guard was still up, and trying to escape right now wouldn't do me any favours
I glanced back longingly, catching one last glimpse of the retreating road before the foliage swallowed my view of freedom. Cillian's relentless pace through the forest caused me to stumble, and the pressure of his fingers on my arm became painful.
"You're hurting me," I said, trying to pry his fingers from my flesh.
Cillian’s amused glance told me he didn’t care.
"Consider this a hike through the forest on a pleasant day."
I raised an eyebrow. This couldn't be further from being a pleasant day, but I realised I had no option but to keep up with him. My chest tightened as I tried to stay calm, and the ache in my arm was a sharp reminder of my helplessness. But I wouldn’t let him see that.
"Where are you taking me?" My voice barely hid the desperation.
"Please... I promise I won't say anything if you just let me go. You can tell the others I got away, or you couldn't find me."
I already knew it wasn't going to work, but I had to try, right?
Cillian glanced at me and shook his head as if admonishing a naughty child.
"Ah, Tilly, my sweet, it doesn't matter where you were going or who you were going to see. All you need to know is that your old life is merely a memory. You're forever ours now, and we're not letting you go."
The possessive tone of his voice worried me. What was going on? I belonged to him. To them. Was this some type of twisted joke?
I wasn't some kind of stray animal they could just snatch and claim as their own .
Images flooded my mind of kidnappings, cults, and worse. But these were stories found in the newspapers or in television reports from big cities, not sleepy countryside villages. They happened to other people, not to people like me.
I felt eyes on me. Now, I understood how prey felt before they were pounced upon by unseen predators lurking nearby.
"Well, if it isn't the lost lamb, come back to the flock," Torin said, stepping out nonchalantly from behind a tree.
Fionn's darker voice held no lightness as he appeared quite suddenly at my side and looked at me without emotion. The proximity made my stomach tighten, a reminder of how trapped I truly was.
"Thanks to you, the leader of the Gatemen escaped."
I cringed. Fionn frightened me the most. But I wasn't about to show it.
I felt the weight of his cold blue eyes boring into me, daring me to crumble.
I refused to let him see that I was afraid of him.
If they were going to kill me anyway, then I could at least make their lives a bit more difficult first.
"Thanks to me? You kidnap me in broad daylight, then blame me for a fight that's not even mine?
That quarrel with those men is yours! How am I at fault here?
" My voice trembled slightly, but I steadied it, trying to sound braver than I felt.
Their reasoning was absurd, blaming me for a situation they had thrust me into.
Their silence after my accusation was eerie, but nothing prepared me for witnessing Fionn's wound heal miraculously. The sight confirmed what my gut had known all along, they were far from human. But what were they? My mind reeled, rejecting the impossible even as I faced it. I wasn’t supposed to see things like that.
I decided it was probably better not to know exactly what these...these things were. I just had to concentrate on escaping.
Fionn followed my gaze to his fixed hand and smiled faintly, just enough to make my skin crawl.
He adjusted his shredded shirt with quiet precision, smoothing the fabric as if restoring order to something much darker beneath its surface.
The gesture was too composed to be vain, more like ritual, a reminder of who he was.
Torin stepped towards him.
"We can discuss this later. Horous will bring others. They won't stop until they find the girl."
Cillian drew me protectively toward him. His touch sent a cold shiver down my spine, and I wondered how I could feel so afraid of him and yet so drawn to him at the same time. Did he really care about my fate, or was he just possessive of his newest toy?
"You must wonder about our intentions, Tilly, but be assured, the Gatemen are not the heroes you believe them to be."
I wanted so badly to believe him, to think that his intentions are pure, but the evidence suggests otherwise, and I can't stop myself from blurting out my questions.
"And you are heroes? Am I supposed to feel reassured?
You kidnap me, put the fear of God into me, and then your wounds heal before my very eyes.
Do you honestly expect me to believe I should fear those men more than you?
" I looked closely at each of my captors.
"Who are you? I've never seen you around here before. "
The brothers looked knowingly at each other.
"Is silence your answer?" I challenged, eyeing their model-perfect features, sculpted bodies, and unusual wardrobe.
"Did you steal your clothes from a museum? You look like aristocratic toffs dropped into a council estate. You don't fit in with the people around here."
Cillian and Torin laughed while Fionn simply watched. His light blue eyes locked onto mine, expressionless. I think it was his ability to hide his thoughts completely that made me feel more nervous around him, far more than the others .
"Actually, Tilly," Torin began, a smirk playing on his lips, "We were thinking the same about you."
His amused gaze travelled from the rose barrette clasping my unruly mane of dark auburn hair down to the pearl-buttoned, pink and green jewelled cardigan I wore over a floral-print dress of bold peach and green.
While I had always loved anything embellished, a passion I had inherited from my mother, Torin's condescending expression seemed to challenge my taste.
"Let's just say that you could also be a character from a movie, with your strange English accent and eccentric dress sense," he said.
"I love flowers," I replied, feeling slightly insulted. "Is there something wrong with that? I didn't ask to be here, so your opinion on the way I'm dressed and how I speak, really doesn't matter to me."
Torin smiled, clearly enjoying the game.
“Tilly, the question isn’t who are we? It’s who are you?” Cillian said gently. “Your aura shines with the purest essence. You’re not just beautiful, you carry a rare spirit. We’re genuinely awed by you.”
Well, I had to admit, I didn’t see that coming. It was the kind of compliment that could almost make you forget you were being abducted, if you weren’t paying attention. I kept my face neutral, refusing to let charm cloud my judgment.
Torin approached with his hands clasped behind his back and regarded me with a hunger I found disturbing. I swallowed hard as he leaned forward.
“When I look into your innocent eyes, I glimpse a purity unique among many. I feel your essence touch me like the heat from a smouldering fire. You don’t understand how rare this is for us.”
His gaze settled on the feathered scars that stretched from the left side of my neck down to my shoulder and onto my arm. These scars were the result of a strange energy surge I experienced in childhood, something that no doctor could explain. They had led to a great deal of teasing at school.
Torin smiled again, clearly enjoying the game. I was about to pull my cardigan up over my neck to hide my scars when I realised I could use them to my advantage. If they saw that I was flawed, they might leave me alone. Torin’s gaze lingered.
“Those scars—why haven’t you covered them up? In our world, we hide such disfigurements with clothing. Why would you choose to display them like this? Do you have no respect for yourself?”
I felt myself becoming angry, but his comments hurt. They echoed the taunts I’d endured as a child.
You are disgusting. Ugly and Hideous.
Instead of retaliating, I shut down. I pulled my cardigan over myself as much as I could. Wait, I thought. His words in our world echoed loudly in my head.
Oh shit, where the hell is their world.
Fionn smiled. It wasn't an amused smile— it was the smile of someone who’d just bent another piece into place. The smile of a man who knew he held the reins.
"That’s much better,” he said, voice smooth with approval. “No need to show the world what should stay hidden. Especially when the inside is so… beautiful. "
He stepped forward, his coat brushing the earth like a shadow, regarding me with a cold, authoritative stare.
"You belong to us now, Tilly," Fionn said, his voice low and final. "You’ll obey our commands. If we demand you kneel, you’ll kneel. If we say bleed, you’ll bleed. There is no negotiation nor mercy. The sooner you accept your fate, the less it will hurt."
I glanced at Cillian, hoping the sympathy he seemed to have for me would work in my favour, but he remained silent. One thing was certain, none of them were going to release me .
I wasn't ready to agree to their commands like a dog, but I wasn't ready to argue the point right now. Instead, I stayed silent, a quiet rebellion where I refused to acknowledge such a ridiculous request. I stared Fionn in the eyes with all the defiance I could muster. It wasn’t much, but it was mine.
***
Fionn looked away from me, his eyes narrowing. For a moment, I allowed myself to believe I had won the battle of wills.
"We must go," Fionn said, addressing Torin and Cillian.
I hadn't won anything. He had sensed something. He turned to me with a dangerous look, and it was all I could do to suppress the shudder that threatened to run through me as his eyes burned into mine.
"Now, come with us and stop your ceaseless questions. We've wasted enough time here thanks to you. I warn you, if you try to escape again, I will kill you."