Blake yanked me out of his arms, crushing me to his chest and I was lost to the familiarity of his muscles folding around me, his spiced cologne dragging me back to that incredible night we’d spent together. I was practically panting as my hands slid over his powerful frame, brushing along his broad shoulders and grazing against the tattoo on the back of his neck. My heart thrummed in time with his, my pulse skipping everywhere under my skin with the memory of the pleasure he’d delivered me, how right it had felt to be in his arms that night. But then I recalled staring down the barrel of a gun, that same beautiful face twisted into hate behind it, and a dagger of fear sliced through me.
I pulled away and my eyes fell on Kyan who was watching me like a bird of prey. He cocked his head to one side, his eyes drawing me in, but he made no move to pull me close. I could tell he wanted me to go to him so I did, lured by the devilish glint in his eyes and the smile that quirked up the corner of his mouth. He was toxic and dangerous, lethal and twisted. And he was mine. Just like the others.
I moved into his personal space and his hands snared me, crushing me to his bare chest, the heat of his body like a furnace against my skin. He smelled of gasoline and the promise of danger. It spoke to me on a base level that reminded me of the times I’d spent out in the woods fending for myself. There was something so simple about survival, and yet something so enticingly exciting about it too. Kyan was that feeling embodied.
He buried his nose in my hair, his hands clutching me tight enough to almost pull me off of the floor, forcing me to move onto the very tips of my toes.
He released me at last and I backed away from them all, needing some space to collect my thoughts.
“So what now?” I asked, surveying their expressions closely, but I couldn’t read anything from them.
A prickling sensation ran up my spine. A warning.
My grasp on the inch of control I held was slipping away as they moved toward me shoulder to shoulder, and I forced myself to remain rooted in place.
Something’s wrong.
“Now…you’re not going to let that pretty little brain of yours get carried away with ideas of things changing, Barbie doll,” Saint said in a tone that made my heart clench in my chest. He moved forward, reaching out to pinch my chin between his finger and thumb and I glared up at him with a heaviness weighing down my entire body. It was decided; I was going to hell. My soul had been claimed by these three demons and no good deed would ever make them grow wings. “I can see defiance in your eyes as blindingly bright as the sun,” he growled.
I slapped his hand away from my chin, baring my teeth in anger and confirming his words.
“Did you just hit me, Plague?” His eyes narrowed sharply, looking like arrow slits, my death awaiting me beyond them.
“Yes,” I said, my voice stronger than I felt. “Don’t touch me.”
“It looks like you’ve spent forty eight hours in quarantine growing a backbone. But every spine breaks, some just need to be kicked harder,” Saint said, making a chill rush through every inch of my body.
I pressed my lips together, my hands balling into fists as I tried to keep them from shaking. Saint snatched my arm, dragging me across the room and I sensed Kyan and Blake following like shadows. Saint glanced at my face, a hopeful glint in his eyes like he was waiting for the moment I started begging for mercy, but I clamped my lips tightly together. I wasn’t going to cower. I was going to take whatever he had to give and show him my backbone was made of iron.
A swelling flame roared in my chest and I gilded myself in its strength. I would not be broken. I would gaze into the eyes of my monsters and I would not blink.
Saint led me down into the crypt and my heart started to pound like crazy as he kept walking through the gym and under the arch that led further underground. He kept glancing at me, hunting my face for fear and I refused to let an inch of it show despite the wave of terror crashing through my chest. He guided me past the mass of food stores and further into the tunnels as my skin tingled with the memories of being chased down here by Merl. I tried to crush those thoughts away, but they held onto me with sharp claws. I was never going to be free of them.
Saint finally pulled me in front of a large coffin, the huge rectangular stone box standing as high as my chest. He released me, nodding to Kyan and Blake who moved forward wordlessly like they’d planned this, gripping the edge of the thick stone lid and shoving it aside.
Saint never let go of my arm and my throat became too tight as I stood there, trying not to shake.
“Get in,” he growled when there was enough room between the edge of the tomb and the lid for me to squeeze inside.
I bit back a plea, my lungs compressing with fear as I looked to Kyan and Blake, finding their faces hard, their expressions unreadable.
Saint opened his mouth to order me again, but I wasn’t going to flinch at this. I was never
