Defining Darkness - K E Osborn Page 0,60
his neck ticking in aggravation.
He’s angry.
Good.
I bet it’s not even a pinprick of how I’m feeling.
“You better start watching your mouth, Eva. I need you to remember where you are and who you’re talking to,” he warns.
“I need you to remember I’m a human being, and you played a motherfucking game with me. I don’t know what the hell your intentions were, or what the hell you thought you were going to achieve. Did you want to show everyone you could easily make me look like a damn fool? Well, congratulations, Nycto, you won. Aren’t I a damn idiot? I want out of this clubhouse and away from your lying sack-of-shit ass. To be honest, I don’t care whether you come with me or not, Ivy. You’re just as guilty as the rest of these assholes.” My feet stomp as I turn heading for the clubhouse exit.
“Eva, you can’t leave the compound,” Nycto calls out.
“Watch me,” I yell in reply, determination flowing through me.
I’m angry.
Angry as hell.
Furious.
The anger is fueling me right now as I storm out the exit. The sunlight of the late afternoon rays hits me as I make my way up the concrete ramp toward the giant gate. The funky smell of Hillsborough Bay causes me to turn up my nose as I reach the giant ten-foot wrought iron fence. The top of each blackened spike has barbed wire circles linking it to the next like some ring of fucking death. There’s no way I could climb it even if there weren’t barbed wire. I stare at the brother sitting at his station while he assesses me in curiosity.
“You gonna open the gate or what?” I snarl at him.
“No can do, Eva.”
Groaning, I fold my arms over my chest. There must be another way out of this fucking hell hole. Making my way back down the concrete ramp, I’m raging as I traipse around the side of the bunker. It’s mainly just concrete and shrubs out here. Every angle I take, the fence is impenetrable. My anger’s starting to wear thin as I make my way to the rear of the bunker when I finally see an out. Excitement bubbles inside of me as I rush up to the opening in the brush, pushing it to the sides.
This is it. I can finally break free and leave this godawful place.
Suddenly, a sign comes into view as I push another shrub out of the way.
Warning Electric Fence Ahead
My throat begins to close up as my chest tightens. My body shudders as my legs give out. I plummet to the ground letting out a harrowing sob. All my pent-up emotions pour out of me as it all becomes too much.
Nycto lied to me.
Ivy lied to me.
Why?
I don’t fully comprehend.
I can’t even imagine the motivation behind it.
Did Nycto want to see if I would submit to him? Was this all a power play to see if I would fall into his arms?
The whole idea makes me sick.
Bringing my head into my hands, tears flow into my palms as I rock back and forth on the ground. I’m losing my shit. It’s as if everything I thought was reality is all a fabrication.
Suddenly, an arm slides around me as a person shifts in beside me.
“You’re going to be okay, hon.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
EVA
Trixie’s beside me, her kind eyes feeling like the only friend I have right now. I sniffle as I wipe my eyes with the backs of my hands.
“I have no idea what’s going on, Trix. I don’t even know what’s been real the last however many weeks this ride has been.”
“Eva, there’s one thing I know for certain… the way Nycto feels about you is one-hundred percent real. He adores you. That’s why all of this happened at the start.”
Confusion riddles me. What does she mean?
“I don’t understand?”
“Nycto’s job is to transport packages from the boat to wherever they need to go, right?”
I shrug.
“You took his eye when you left the boat. Eva, he’s wanted you. Needed you, since he first saw you. Everything he’s done has been to make you happy and keep you and your sister safe.”
“Right, keeping me from Ivy when she’s in the same place as me is keeping me happy?”
Trixie dips her head. “True. His methods aren’t always flawless, he’s a damaged man. Honestly, Eva, all he wanted was to have you to himself for as long as possible. He knew the second you were reunited with Ivy, you’d want to either leave with her, which