Chapter 13
The hazy early morning sun creeping in through the curtainless window wakes me from a mercifully dreamless sleep. Occasionally, my panic attacks fuel terrible nightmares full of dark creatures with sharp talons and sharper teeth, all coming after me for something. An object I don’t have.
I lift my head and look out the window to the soupy sky, the sun higher in the sky than I anticipated.
Fuck.
I didn’t mean to spend the night. I never spend the night.
I have to get back to the bordello before Otyx wakes up, if only for Isi.
I can only hope she made it back without me last night, or better yet, stayed with Orryn.
If she did go back, Orryn had better have escorted her, or he and I were going to have a conversation, one that I doubt he would enjoy.
I peer over my shoulder at the man sleeping soundly on his back beside me.
His beautiful face is relaxed and peaceful, and he’s snoring slightly, which should annoy me but somehow, I find it endearing.
My heart screams out at me to stay. There’s something about him that calls to me.
I reach out to brush his unruly waves out of his face.
I want to stay curled up in this bed against his bare chest, and finish what we started last night.
The sound of crows squawking outside the window shakes that idea from my mind, and I snap my hand back from his warmth.
I can’t stay. I can’t let him into my life.
I don’t even know his name. When he pounced on me outside the tavern and kissed me stupid, I didn’t care to ask anymore.
This was just supposed to be a fun, one-night thing.
Not knowing was part of the fun. Until it wasn’t.
I wish I knew his name.
I slip out of bed, careful not to wake him.
I dress as quickly and silently as I can and pry open the door, hoping it won’t creak.
I take one last long look at my stranger sprawled out on the bed before slipping out.
I make my way down the stairs and back through the pub.
There are a few drunkards still passed out around the room, leaning on each other or the tables.
The barkeep is in the middle of the wide space, busy sweeping clumped sawdust from the night before.
He gives me a knowing look with a small grin.
I roll my eyes and walk out into the morning chill.
I turn down the unusually empty street that leads to Vymal Street and the bordello, completely lost in thought.
I’m thinking about what will be waiting for me back at the bordello, where Isi might be, if she’s alright, if I’ll be back on the streets or sold or killed.
Otyx is still my best bet right now. The bordello at least offers some protection and comforts.
If Otyx decides to keep me after yesterday morning, I still have a chance at a better life with Isi.
If not? I'll just have to cross that bridge when I get there.
Fuck. I’m so tired of this life.
It’s a lot for this early in the morning, before I’ve even had my breakfast, or at the very least, coffee.
But what’s screaming in my mind the loudest is last night.
The kindness and compassion I was shown.
I’ve never had a man treat me that way. I would give almost anything to turn around and climb back into bed with him.
That pull in my chest from the moment I met him is almost painful.
But it’s Isi that keeps me moving forward.
The need to know if she’s safe, the need to watch over her.
To keep her protected from a world that has done nothing but beat her down.
The unknown of what Otyx will do keeps my feet moving, dragging me back inch by inch.
Because I’m so lost in thought, I don’t pick up on it for much longer than I normally would.
The tingling feeling at the back of my neck that tells me I’m being watched.
It’s a feeling I know too well. When you live in a bordello, you learn what it feels like quickly.
Sometimes the one watching you is one of the workers trying to sell you out to “Master” for preferential treatment, sometimes it’s a man who wants to buy you or worse, and sometimes it’s Otyx, waiting for you to slip up so he can punish you.
I subtly look for the source of the sensation but the only people around this early are the ones who live out on these streets, and they’re too involved in whatever shady business they are a part of to even notice me.
I keep walking, hoping that it’s just my imagination, but the feeling won’t subside. Someone is following me.
I bend over slowly, as though I’m just going to tie my boot.
I slip my hand up my trouser leg and pull my dagger out of its cheap sheath.
I can feel the panic begin to rise but now is not the time to let it win.
If it’s Otyx, as I suspect, I’ll have to think of an excuse, fast. He’s not one to care about making a scene.
I pick up my pace and turn down a small, very narrow side street where the ramshackle buildings lean on each other, looking like the drunks back at the tavern.
Blocking my path is a very tall, very broad man with sandy hair.
Attractive, but with a seriously menacing aura.
Not Otyx then. For a moment I think it might be Orryn, but as I get closer it clearly isn’t. Orryn is much stockier than this man.
I sigh and rub my free hand down my face.
I don’t want to deal with this right now.
It wouldn’t be a fair fight anyway. He’s at least six feet tall and I can see from here he’s built like a brick house.
I turn to go back the way I came to avoid the conflict when the same man melts out of the wall at the other end of the street, blocking the way back.
What in the abysm?
My heart rate spikes and a stone settles in my stomach.
I twist to look back at the man still leaning against the building farther down the street, then back to the one slowly walking toward me.
Twins. Definitely not a fair fight, and they clearly aren’t here to make a new friend.
They’d be impossible to tell apart if it weren’t for a scar that runs down the left cheek, from hairline to jaw, of the twin that had come through the wall. How did he come through the wall?
He didn’t, Vay. Probably just a trick of shadow. You probably walked right past him and didn’t notice.
The logical side of my brain has to be right.
I give my head a shake, refocusing on the problem at hand.
I turn to face the one waiting at the end of the street, the one without the scar.
I can probably startle him enough with my speed to slip past him, catch him off guard.
I take off running toward him, dagger in hand.
Out of thin air, he produces a shield so large it nearly touches the buildings on both sides and blocks me from running around him.
I jump back, automatically taking the defensive stance I’ve practiced for so many years, my heart practically beating through my chest. I take a deep, calming breath.
Breathe. Assess. Think. You’ve got this, Vay.
I turn my head slightly to see how close the other one is, but he has vanished.
I turn tail and run for the other end of the street.
Almost immediately, I collide with something solid and fall flat on my back, the breath knocked from my lungs.
I look up, and there’s nothing and no one in front of me
“What the fuck?” I grind through my teeth, my breathing coming in wheezes. A cackle comes from the air in front of my face. It wavers and Scarface, the twin that had vanished, is now right in front of my face. I crawl back, startled, still trying to catch my breath.
“She’s quite tempting, isn’t she? For a Condemned whore I mean.
” His sneer pulls at his scar. “What do you think, Osper?” His voice is high and nasally, not at all matching his strong body.
“Think we can convince Father to let us have some fun with her?” My stomach drops and I grip my dagger tighter.
I know exactly the kind of “fun” he has in mind.
“Now, now Elex,” the other twin chides with a smirk, his voice much deeper, much more serious. “If she’s the one, you know Father wants her whole. He needs to figure out how she’s doing it before we can have her.”
My eyebrows come together. Doing what?
Finally able to catch my breath, I spring to my feet and slowly back away from Scarface—Elex—toward the wall, but I walk right into Osper, who must have moved closer behind me. His hands clamp down on my biceps.
“What do you want?” I spit.
Elex reaches for me, brushing his hand down my face.
“All in due time, Red. For now, all you need to know is you’re coming with us.
One way or another.” His gaze rakes down my body.
He’s closer now; right where I need him to be.
I throw my arms up, surprising and dislodging Osper, then slash out at Elex with the dagger.
I catch him in the chest, slicing through his shirt and causing blood to bubble from the shallow cut.
“Don’t call me Red, Scarface,” I seethe.
Osper moves to grab me again, but I’m quicker than he expects.
If they think I’m going anywhere with them without a fight, they’re dumber than they look.
I duck under Osper’s arm and slash his leg.
He wails and pulls something from the air.
A knife, and a violent-looking one at that.
Serrated with tiny hooks. I definitely don’t want that anywhere near me.
He rounds on me, knife at the ready. I look for Scarface behind him, but he’s gone again. I shake my head.
I must be losing my godsdamn mind.
I put my full focus on Osper, focusing on the threat right in front of me.
A hand shoots out of the wall beside me, gripping my wrist and twisting.
My dagger clatters to the ground, nearly swallowed up by the muddy street.
I turn and see Elex’s face appear in the wall, followed by his body as he pulls my back to his chest, his brother advancing on us.
Osper bends and retrieves my dagger from the muck, wiping it on my bustier across my breasts.
I kick out, trying to dislodge Elex, but he’s too strong.
I kick out again and connect with Osper’s face, blood splattering.
Osper growls and spits blood on the ground. “You bitch,” he snarls.
Elex throws me to the ground, his boot connecting with my stomach quicker than I can react this time.
I grunt and curl in on myself, trying to protect my internal organs.
A fist collides with my face, while another boot hits my spine.
My back snaps back only for another blow to land on my chest. The pain is overwhelming and I can’t catch my breath long enough to try to fight back.
Darkness starts to crowd my vision as the onslaught continues.
One of the twins, Osper I think, based on the blood pouring from his nose, grabs the hair at the nape of my neck, hauling my face to his.
He puts his lips to my ear, smearing his blood on the side of my face, our blood mixing on my skin.
“I’m going to enjoy watching you break, Red,” he whispers. He grabs both sides of my face and slams his forehead into mine.