“Oh my God! Does she have amnesia?” Immy cried. “Does she think she’s back at the camp?”
“Immy, calm down,” Sampson barked. “She’s probably dreaming.”
“Sampson? Oh no, the Deity doesn’t want us to have sex again, does he?”
The silence had her opening her eyes. It was then that she realized she wasn’t sleeping on her old mattress on the floor of the shack she and her mom had lived in.
Nope, she was lying on a really comfortable mattress in a room filled with her friends.
She stared around at them all. Immy was sitting on an armchair next to the bed. Isaiah was sitting on the other side, his laptop on his knees. Jenner was standing by the door with Abe, while Sampson stood at the end of the bed with his arms crossed over his chest.
Everyone was glaring at Sampson. Why? What did he do?
Sampson sighed, running his hand over his face. He looked tired. Poor guy.
“You look tired, Sampson,” she said. “You want to lie down for a while?”
“Not with you, he won’t,” Jenner snapped. He looked as gorgeous as ever. It was sickening how one person could be that good looking.
Beside him, Abe studied her. He was attractive, even if he kind of slipped into the background when standing next to Jenner’s glow.
“You had sex with Maeve while we were at the camp?” Immy snapped.
Huh?
She tried to make her tired brain work. She felt so sluggish and exhausted.
Oh. Wait.
Everything rushed back at her. Being attacked. The bus. Getting here only for that asshole at the gate to turn her away.
And then nothing. Until she woke up just now. Where she’d said . . .
She tried to sit up. Immy turned to her, red hair flying out behind her. Immy had never been able to tame her hair properly.
“What are you doing?” Immy asked, clearly in mother hen mode. “Lie down.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine,” Jenner said, pacing back and forth. “You’ve got a bruised face and from the way you’re moving there are probably other bruises under your clothes. You were so exhausted when you got here that you collapsed and you’ve been sleeping for hours. You’re not fine.”
Whoa.
Everyone turned to stare at Jenner now. It wasn’t like him to have an outburst like that.
“Okay, let’s just all calm down a bit,” Isaiah said calmly. “None of this is helping Maeve.”
Everyone sent her guilty looks.
“I’m all right, guys. I promise.” She sat up slowly, trying not to wince. She thought she’d feel better after some sleep. She’d barely slept on the bus, she’d been too scared to fall asleep surrounded by strangers.
But if anything, she almost felt worse.
“First of all, Sampson didn’t do anything to me when we were younger. The Deity ordered him to and we just pretended.”
Sampson grunted. “Fucking bastard, thinking he could order me to fuck her. She was only fifteen.”
None of them were shocked by the Deity at this point. They knew how sick and depraved he had been.