to her gagging on her own blood. “Hendrick, come here, please!”
One of the guards steps into the room, a gun strapped across his chest.
“Please escort Thalia down to solitary. First cell.”
“Ma’am?”
“You heard me. I’m sure our happy little Rager is ready to breed something again.”
Chapter 20
My screams echo down the hallway, as two guards grip tight to my arms, dragging me toward the solitary cells. Another guard, one I recognize as the bird killer, leads the way.
“What’s going on here? What are you doing?” The second Tom gets to his feet, the lead guard pushes him back, causing the older guard to topple backward. “What are you doing? Put her down!”
Wriggling and screaming in their grasp, I try to break free, but to no avail, as the guard ahead of us opens the cell where the Rager is held. Panic squeezes my lungs, banishing the air from my chest, and with a hard shove against my back, I stumble forward, falling to my knees. Concrete scrapes across my skin, and I twist around, scrambling for the door as it slams shut.
“No! No! Let me out of here! Please! I’m begging you!”
The sound of clicks and growls from behind set my teeth on edge, and my neck is so stiff, I can hardly twist to look at the Rager I know is somewhere behind me. With slow movements, so as not the startle it, I turn around, back flat to the wall, and I’m greeted by the shadow of a figure. Memories of the night in the cave play inside my head. The night the Rager scrambled over top of me.
“Tom! Tom! Please let me out! Please!”
No answer.
The guard doesn’t appear at the door.
No one is going to save me this time.
Every cell in my body quivers, as I mentally count off the seconds to the moment this thing rapes me, or eats me alive. I’ve heard they eat the flesh down to the bone sometimes.
And then polish off the bones afterward.
“Please!”
The Rager lurches toward me, and I let out a scream.
Inches away from me, it skids to a halt and sniffs the air. It snarls and snaps its teeth at me, its ruined lip twitching. On a hiss, it lurches again, but stops short of me, and quickly scrambles back.
As if … it’s afraid … of me?
Swallowing a gulp, I don’t take my eyes off the thing as I try to figure out why the hell it hasn’t attacked me yet. The one in the cave didn’t hesitate, after all.
It snaps its jaws again and growls, but with a step toward me, it hisses again and backs away.
“Get away from me!” I shout, and the Rager flinches, backing itself further into the shadows. “Go! Get away!”
The room almost appears empty, save for the small bit of light shining in from the hallway. After a few more minutes, it still hasn’t tried to attack.
Weak with exhaustion, I finally break down, as the weight of it all presses against my shoulders, and I slide down the wall. As soon as my behind hits the concrete, I notice something on the floor beside me.
A bone.
Whether, or not, it’s human, I can’t tell, but I toss it away from me.
The Rager scampers out of the shadows on a growl, and I suck in a gasp at the sight of him again.
It gathers up the bone from the center of the room and retreats to the shadows once more.
Pulling my knees in tight, I sit against the wall, wondering how long it’ll take before the monster becomes bold enough to scramble for me again. Will I wake in the middle of a dead sleep to find it feasting on me? Or worse?
The sound of growls rouses me from the blackness, and I open my eyes to find the world tipped on its side from where I lie against the concrete. Memories filter in. Agatha. Will. Titus. Being dragged to the Rager’s cell.
I suck in a breath, jolting upright. I don’t even remember falling asleep.
I scan the room for any sign of the Rager and find a mangled body half in and out of the shadows across the room from me. The way the tips of its fingers dangle over the bare feet tell me the monster is crouched, watching me. Perhaps it’s watched me all night. I look down at myself, searching for any sign of bites, or violation, but find nothing. No evidence that it has moved from its corner.
Blowing out a shaky breath,