“It’s different if you let her go.”
“I’ll never let her go.” She may have softened my heart once again, but I would never allow her freedom. My life would be forfeit if I did. When my brother made that threat, I knew it wasn’t idle. Because he honored every threat he made. It didn’t matter if I was his brother. That wouldn’t be a strong enough reason to keep me alive.
Alix studied me, like he didn’t believe me.
“We continue our truce—and you stay away from her.”
He gave me a glare before he stepped away. “Whatever you say, Romeo. You found a woman who’s happy licking one ball instead of two…” He returned to his post.
My eyes shifted back to Raven.
She was staring at me, like she was afraid for me.
I’d survived this long. I’d be fine.
I found any excuse to stay out of the cabin.
When the workday was over, I locked her inside then found something else to do. I had dinner alone in the communal cabin, did my evening checks at the camp to make sure everything was in order, and then I went back to the communal cabin later in the evening. There was a living room with a TV, so I sat there and watched it, a scotch in my hand to wash away the aches from the long day.
Footsteps sounded on the other side of the wall as the guards filed in. Chairs scraped against the hardwood as they got in their seats around the table to play a few rounds of poker.
I didn’t make a sound. The TV was on, so they obviously heard it, but they probably assumed it was someone else on the couch.
Beers were opened, a bag of chips popped as it was ripped open, and then the poker chips clattered on the table.
“What are you going to do about Magnus?” Eric’s voice was easy to recognize. It was raspier than the others, like he always had a sore throat.
Alix took a long time to answer. “Nothing.”
“That’s a first,” Nathan said with a laugh.
“The boss will take care of him.” Alix wasn’t his usual jovial self. He was quiet, as if the mention of my name made him simmer with anger.
“You think?” Eric asked. “Magnus burned this camp down to nothing, and the boss let him live.”
“But he mutilated him,” Nathan said. “I think I’d rather take death than the knife.”
“He won’t let him off easy again,” Alix said. “She’s supposed to live here forever, to be tortured every day, to work until her body gives out. She’s not supposed to receive special treatment.”
“She’s still working every day,” Eric said. “So, I’m not sure if she’s getting much special treatment.”
“I can’t fuck her, can I?” Alix snapped. “That’s special treatment.”
“Must be jealousy,” Nathan said. “Because Magnus never cared about the beatings we gave her.”
No, not jealousy. It was just fucking disgusting.
“Or maybe it’s because she took that knife for him,” Eric said. “She may have saved his life. Of course, he’s going to feel indebted to her.”
That wasn’t it either.
Eric spoke again. “If he tells the boss you tried to kill him, he’s going to kill you.”
It was quiet.
For a long time.
The game continued, poker chips clattering as they were thrown in the center pile. A hand dug in a chip bag. Obnoxious munching sounded from teeth.
Alix spoke. “Magnus is a lot of things, but he’s not a snitch.”
Did I catch a tone of respect in there?
He spoke again. “But she killed our guys. She let our prisoners go. She humiliated us. She doesn’t deserve to sleep soundly in that cabin. The boss knows that. He won’t let it slide.”
When I entered my cabin, she was on the floor against the bed, watching TV. She was still in her work clothes because she didn’t have anything else. Her knees were up and against her chest. Her eyes immediately darted to me once I stepped inside.
I locked the door behind me then carried the tray of food to her.
She eyed it before she took it.
She didn’t get her dinner until late in the evening because I stayed out of the cabin until bedtime. I didn’t want her to be raped, but I didn’t want to spend any extended time with her. I moved to the desk and opened my laptop. Since she was blocked by the bed, I used my fingerprint identifier to see if she’d touched my laptop while I was away. I did it every single day—and she hadn’t touched it.
I would hide my laptop, but there was nowhere I could put it without her being able to get to it anyway.
I was surprised she hadn’t tried to use it, but I also would have been surprised if she did anything to jeopardize my generosity. She’d broken my trust, and she could never earn it back now. My guard would always be up.
She ate quietly in front of the TV, not making conversation with me, like she knew I was avoiding her.
I shut the laptop then stepped into the bathroom to shower. I locked the door behind me, got under the hot water, and took my time, hoping she’d be finished with dinner and ready to go to sleep.
So we could not talk.
I dried my hair afterward then returned to the bedroom in a new pair of boxers.
She was in bed like I hoped she’d be. Her hair was styled now because she’d been using my comb and hair-dryer, so she looked more refreshed than the other girls. She probably couldn’t resist it, having nice hair. In a horrible place like this, you needed any little thing to make you feel better.
Even I hated this horrible place.
I turned off the lights then got into bed beside her.
Now, I was perpetually uncomfortable, sharing the bed with someone when it was designed for a single person. Our cabins had AC, so it kept it cool. Without it, this would be unbearable. I was at the edge, trying to stay as far away from her as possible so her body heat wouldn’t touch my bare skin. I hated listening to her breathe, but I’d have to get used to it. A week had passed, and I still wasn’t used to it.
But putting her back in her cabin wasn’t an option.
Her voice broke the silence. “Magnus?”
I didn’t respond.
“You should just send me back to my cabin…”
I stared at my desk.
“Because when you leave, they’re gonna get me anyway.”
I released a loud sigh because it was true. Why suffer this proximity when my absence would expose her to all the cruelty again? Now that I’d taken her away, they’d want her even more, just out of spite. I felt like a lone wolf trying to protect a pup from an entire pack. The second I was gone, they would rip her to pieces. “Then I won’t leave.”
She was quiet.
That sounded like a terrible plan too, but I didn’t have any other option.
The mattress shifted as she came closer to me, her chest pressing against my back, her arm wrapping around my waist. Her face moved to the back of my neck, her warm breaths falling on my skin at a quickened rate. Then she kissed the back of my shoulder, pulling me closer to her.
I pulled her arm off my body and pushed her away. “Get off me.”
She stilled, stung by my reaction. “You don’t want me?”
“No.”
She was quiet again.