“You tried to hurt me,” she says.
I rub my lips together and close my eyes because I don’t know how to handle this situation. I hate talking. Every word I spit she uses against me.
But worst of all … it gives these women a way to worm their way inside my mind.
She’s right, though. I’ll give her that.
“It scared me,” she says.
I know.
I saw.
She doesn’t have to say it out loud.
But I guess she wants me to feel it.
Tough luck.
Men like me don’t have emotions.
At least, that’s what I tell myself, but when I look at her, something in her eyes undoes me.
“What do you want?” I ask.
Her shoulders rise and fall as she turns her hands into fists. “Promise me you won’t hurt me.”
My eyes twitch, and rage burns my core again. After all the shit she tried—running and fighting me off—she wants me to make her a promise?
“No.”
I turn around again and tug at the rope, but her body stays solid like a rock. Still, I continue, even when a clear thud is audible.
“Fine, then drag me along! I don’t care!” she yells.
I’m dragging her whole body along with me, and the added weight isn’t something I enjoy. Especially not when she grabs a tree.
“Let go!” I snap.
“NO!” she yells back.
I’m prepared to march over to her and give her some pain she’ll remember, but when I turn around and spot the red marks and small bruises on her skin, I stop.
I never stop.
Not for anyone.
And still, she made me stop.
I take another deep breath as I watch her clutch the tree as if it’s her only lifeline. Soil covers her body along with the marks from the short time I dragged her. And for some reason, it stings.
We stare at each other for a moment, her face as contorted and twisted as mine.
But the stakes are high, and I refuse to give up.
She knows.
She knows I cannot let her do this, even if I wanted to.
Eli gave me a job, and I’m going to see it through to the end.
I blow out a breath through my mouth. “Fine. I promise.”
A flicker of light fills her eyes with joy, and a small but wretched smile spreads on her lips yet disappears again with the snap of a finger.
She blows out a breath too and gets up from the ground, patting down her clothes like she’s trying to look proper or something. I don’t give a flying shit what she looks like as long as she follows.
“Now come,” I command.
I expect her to dig her heels into the ground again, but she doesn’t. Instead, she walks behind me quietly, obediently, like I’ve wanted this entire time. Albeit with a rope stuck between us.
I guess we’re both going to suffer as long as this journey lasts.
Because me saying those words is exactly what she wanted, and I have no patience for this nonsense.
We’re wasting time, and I have none to spare on a girl like her.
Not when she makes me feel like this. Like I want her to yield to me and only me.
I clench my hands into fists until my nails dig into my skin.
Control yourself, Soren.
The job above all else, no matter the cost.
Even if you end up wanting to kill the one thing you’re supposed to protect.
Chapter 9
April
A few weeks ago
The second time I meet Soren is only more frightening than the first. I was told by a guard to put on a fancy dress. When I did, I was hauled out of my room and dragged downstairs without so much as an explanation as to what was going to happen. I was shoved into a common room with a few chairs and lounges … and him standing in the corner of the room.
He hasn’t said a word. Didn’t even tell me his name. One of Eli’s guards had to fill me in when he brought me to my chamber the very first time. Guess I should be lucky I haven’t had the chance to get acquainted yet, judging from the dirty look on his face.
He still hasn’t taken his eyes off me when more girls start pouring in, each of them as confused as I was. I recognized two of the girls as the ones beside me when Eli welcomed us to this House.
Soren doesn’t even blink at them.
“Hey, what’s going on?” one girl asks while another approaches me.
“Hey, I’m Jane. I don’t think we’ve met before.” She holds out her hand, and I shake it.
“April,” I reply.
“Hi, my name is Olivia,” the other girl says, coming forward too. “Do you know why they’re bringing us together?”
I shake my head.
Another girl walks past us and goes to stand by the windows without saying a word to either of us.
“Who’s that?” I ask.
Jane shrugs. “No clue.”
“Hey, what’s your name?” Olivia calls out to her, but the girl doesn’t even look at her.