comfort in the promise I had no idea if he would keep. But there was something about him that made his words unbreakable, that gave a high level of credibility. A man like that didn’t need to lie…so why would he?
But his words could mean less than what I hoped for.
He wouldn’t hurt me.
Didn’t say he wouldn’t rape me.
I remained motionless on the bed, my eyes still turned away, waiting for him to make his move.
He did—by walking out.
The door locked, and several sets of footsteps thudded against the wooden beams and disappeared.
The girls asked questions the next day on the line.
Petunia sat beside me, taking the bags I prepared and doing the final measurement before she handed it off to the next person. “Where did they take you?”
I kept my eyes down, my voice low, and did my best not to get caught by the guards. “A different cabin. I’m by myself now.”
“Why?”
“I…I’m not sure.” I didn’t bring up the boss. Not sure why.
“They only put the really difficult people in isolated cabins,” Petunia said, taking the bag from me and working like we weren’t deep in conversation. “Did you do something?”
“No.” I was just very unlucky.
Kiley sat on the other side of me and gave me a nudge. “Your sister…”
I looked up to see a large guard at the edge of her table, standing right over her, watching her sit across from Bethany and not take a single bite. He loomed over her, making sure she starved so her work would weaken on the line…and she would be hanged.
Tears welled in my eyes, and the only reason I didn’t break down into sobs was because Raven wouldn’t want that. If I drew attention to myself, I would be hanged too. And it would kill her if she had to see that, just as this was killing me now.
A guard escorted me to my new cabin.
There was a stack of firewood beside the fireplace, but I didn’t know how to get a fire going, so I didn’t bother. It was cold in the cabin, so I wrapped a blanket around me as I sat at the edge of the bed. Without company or a book to read, I didn’t know what to do with myself. I stared at the armchair where the boss had sat the day before.
An hour later, several sets of boots sounded outside the front door. The lock was turned, and a guard carried my tray of food to the edge of my bed before he departed. He took his position on one side of the open door, while another stood on the other side, as if they were guarding the entrance.
Then another pair of heavy footfalls sounded, growing louder and louder as the man rose up the steps and entered my cabin. In his black bomber jacket with the gray hood, his massive shoulders stressing the material at the seams and the same coldness in his dark eyes, he planted his feet.
The door shut behind him.
I didn’t move for the food. A long day of work made me hungry every day, but that appetite was chased away by the terrifying man who invaded my space and took away my freedoms.
I didn’t cry this time, but I was fucking scared.
His gaze had the same searing nature as before, like a hot branding iron against my skin, except his look wasn’t warm, but so cold that it burned like dry ice. His jacket was open in the front, showing his black shirt underneath that outlined the discrete lines of his pecs. He was muscular beneath all those clothes; there was no doubt about it, like a bear or something. His invasive look lasted a bit longer before he lowered himself into the armchair across from me, taking the exact same position as before. His hand gripped the armrests, his fingertips curling underneath the wood. His hands were visible, monstrous in size, covered with cords of veins. He hardly blinked as he stared at me, his look constant and piercing, like a knife right between my ribs. “Eat.”
I didn’t turn to the tray beside me. I didn’t want to drop my guard, not even for a second, even though this would be a match I could never win. My hands tightened the blanket around me, the material covering my appearance and perhaps making me less desirable.
“You’re cold. Make a fire.”
All I could do was shake my head.
He stared at me for another minute, having distinct characteristics of a