door. I’m looking out the window at the rolling hills and a forest.
“Just outside Boise, Idaho.”
The fact that he doesn’t try to conceal their location makes my stomach drop. “You’re still going to wipe my memory, aren’t you?”
His eyes widen.
That’s right. I know about the sorcerers too.
His composure smooths, and he says, “It’s for the best, truly it is. Regardless of what you believe, Collin will be held accountable for the crimes he committed. A life with you isn’t an option after what he’s done.”
“So I really get no say in what happens to me or him?”
He gestures for me to enter the room. I do so on wooden legs. Aromas from the hot meal waft up to greet me. Several slices of bacon, a hearty bowl of oatmeal topped with fruit, and a steaming cup of coffee wait on a tray at the end of a bed. A pile of freshly washed clothes sits at its side. It’s a small room, similar to the one in the infirmary.
Wes crosses his arms and studies me. “I see that Collin told you quite a bit about us, especially if you know about our sorcerers, but tell me, Brianna, do you think you could go the rest of your life without telling anyone what happened to you during the past two months? Don’t you think that your friends and family would know that you experienced something extraordinary?” Instead of waiting for a response, he continues. “We do what’s needed to protect our kind. Even the most well-intentioned humans can’t be trusted.” He smiles sadly when angry tears pool in my eyes. “As much as I believe that you truly do think you’re fated to be with Collin, it doesn’t stop how our organization functions. We have to do what’s best for the greater good, and sometimes that means making hard choices that affect one or two.”
He doesn’t elaborate, and I doubt anything I say will sway him anyway.
They’ve made up their minds.
To them, Collin is a murderer who can’t be saved, and I’m a human who was stupid enough to fall in love with him.
It doesn’t matter that Collin’s changed.
To them, he’ll always be a murderous rogue, and I’ll always be a naïve human.
Nothing can save us now.
Chapter 32 – Brianna
Despite Wes’s suggestion that I get some sleep, I can’t. It’s six in the morning when he leaves me alone in the room—the locked room. I’m a fucking prisoner here.
I storm about the place, knocking into things. Some of the coffee sloshes over the mug’s rim when I hit the tray. Despite its mouth-watering aroma, I can’t drink it. I feel sick about what’s being done and what’s to come.
If only I could see Collin and know that he’s okay.
But I doubt I’ll ever see him again.
Over an hour passes with me pacing and raging. All I can do is hope that Collin’s not being hurt and wish for a future that will never come.
I understand now why he’s never claimed me. If he had, I could feel what he’s going through right now, especially if they’re hurting him. The thought makes my stomach heave.
It’s only when bright sunlight fills the room that I realize another day has truly begun. I finally head to the bathroom. As much as I dread what’s coming, I don’t care to have another “meeting” in which I’m wearing only my pajamas.
The bathroom has a full tub and shower. Fresh towels wait near the toilet, and a new bar of soap and a hair brush sit by the sink. I shake my head. Something tells me that I’m not the first human the Supernatural Forces have held here.
I clench my teeth and rip the shower curtain back. I’m so irritated that I don’t wait for the water to warm before stepping under it.
My squeal fills the room when the cold water hits my head, but the spray soon warms so I set to work on scrubbing myself. It’s only then I think to look where the arrow pierced my skin. The puncture wound by my shoulder is entirely healed. I don’t even have a scar—it’s as if the arrow never hit me.
And when I wash between my legs, I realize that Daria truly healed me on every level. I’d been sore last night. Collin and I had made love multiple times yesterday morning and then again before bed. He’d dominated my body, but it had been in a good way. A loving way. A way I wanted