as the horses went galloping off, bucking and chasing each other. “Whatever you tell me stays between us, Rynn,” I told her.
Rynn smiled, but there was no happiness in it. “I figured it would.” She reached down, plucked a piece of grass and then looked back to me. “I was working that night.” The color of her eyes faded a bit as she relived that terrible night. “A man came in and there was something about him—something dark. I had no choice but to serve him. It was really creepy. His eyes followed me the entire time he was there. It was just scary, you know?”
I nodded, my voice as soft as my nod. “I bet it was.”
“When my shift ended I began to walk home. I can’t afford a car and my place really isn’t that far so I wasn’t really worried about it. Now looking back, I realize I should have been.” She drew in a deep wavering breath. “I was halfway home, walking past a school when I heard loud footsteps behind me.”
This wasn’t something she had to tell me, I’d seen it in her mind, but I couldn’t stop her. She needed to get this off her chest.
“It all happened so fast,” she continued. “One moment I was walking and the next he attacked me, pulled me into a wooded area near the back of the school. I should have screamed, called out for help, but I was too afraid. Too scared he would kill me.” She gulped deeply. “He told me how pretty I was. How he couldn’t help himself.” She began to cry, her breath gasping through a slightly open mouth, her face growing redder as the seconds passed.
I grabbed her hands tightly and squeezed, wanting nothing more than to erase this pain she suffered, but kept quiet to let her shed the horror.
“I’d never been with a guy before and…” She sobbed harder. “It just wasn’t supposed to be like that. I was waiting for, you know, the right guy.”
She held onto my hands as if they were her lifeline. I gripped them tighter in return, wishing I could have been there to help her. My skills as both Guardian and Witch could have stopped this. Unfortunately, what was done was done. Helplessness surrounded me.
“It hurt—really hurt. He was disgusting. I can’t get the image of him inside me, on top of me breathing heavy. I shut my eyes. I couldn’t look at him while he did that to me. When he was finished, he growled or something like it, and then all I felt was fur. That is when he bit me, then he was gone.” She shuddered deeply. “I just feel so…dirty.”
“You’re sweet and lovely, Rynn. Don’t let him take that from you.”
“I think I’m already gone.” She looked up at me only for a moment before she glanced back to the ground. I had to gulp deeply, her distraught emotions mixing with my own as I shared the torment of her ordeal with her. She felt empty, soulless.
“You’re not! You’re still there. You’re just a little lost right now, but you’ll get it back. You deserve it.”
“How do I get it back, Nexi?” she pleaded, meeting my gaze.
“Don’t allow him to win and continue on with your life. Know you deserve to find that one man who adores you and treats your body as it should be treated.” As much as I wanted to tell her the man who would love her like no other was just a few steps away, I couldn’t.
Rynn smiled softly, the emptiest smile I’d ever seen. “What kind of life can I have now?”
Tears fell down my face as I searched for words that would comfort her, but there weren’t any. There wasn’t anything I could say that would make this better or make it right. What happened to her would be everlasting. All I could do was hug her and pray that Briggs had enough in him to heal her tormented soul.
Chapter Three
“Here, take this,” Briggs said to Rynn, handing her a pill and a glass of water. Apprehension flashed across her face. He smiled encouraging. “It will help you sleep, darlin’. It has been a rough day.”
She took the pill without hesitation, popped it in her mouth and downed it with the water in a split second. Couldn’t say I blamed her. This had been one hell of a day for her. Briggs took a seat in a chair next to the fireplace