He’s bluffing. Murder is as illegal in New Orleans as it is in Oregon. He won’t risk jail time just to keep me here.
“You don’t look like enough of an idiot to believe you’ll get away with it.” I take a step toward the stairs, angling my body so it’s still between Peony and him, the wall a shadow to my back.
What do I do now?The fog in my brain mixed with terror is making it harder to figure out my next step.
Each thought takes tremendous effort.
Each thought is draining my dwindling energy.
Each thought is drowning in an ocean of hopelessness.
Stay strong. For Peony.
“Should we test your theory? See if I can get away with it?” The smile returns to his face, and a chill forms low in my stomach.
He shifts the recipient of his smile to Peony. She tightens her fists on my T-shirt, her body trembling against mine. And a high-pitched wail, so frightened, so shattered, erupts from her.
I rock her, straining to keep the pain from my face, to prevent the truth of my body’s betrayal from being broadcast. Especially to this man.
I press my lips to her temple and hum the opening melody of “Spirit” to try to soothe her. It doesn’t do much. The only way she’ll feel safe is if we’re millions of miles from this place. And in her father’s arms.
The man shoves his hands into his trouser pockets, the move deceptively casual. “So I guess you haven’t figured it out yet? About Rosaline? About who killed her?”
I stare at him, my arms visibly shaking from the effort of holding Peony. There’s no way I can hide that truth.
His mouth slants to one side, and I shudder once more at the cruelness reflected in the gesture. “A random mall shooting. Isn’t that what they called it? Nothing random about it though.”
Mall shooting? He really does mean Kenda?
“So pretty. You’ll be a nice addition to my stable.” He tenderly wipes calloused fingertips along my cheek.
I jerk my head away from his hand. An unreleased growl coils up deep in my throat.
He snatches my chin and roughly yanks it to face forward again, forcing me to look at him. “Take her to her room. We’ll give her two days to recover from the trip, then she can join us for the next party. I have a few men in mind who’ll appreciate her.” His hand moves down to the V of my T-shirt, and he yanks the fabric aside.
I jerk away once more, but this time with my entire body. The startled movement is so violent, my back bangs into the wall.
Undeterred by my reaction, or maybe encouraged by it, he traces the skin below my collarbone on the same spot where Athena’s and Tilly’s matching scars are located. My skin crawls and prickles at his touch, but I’m too frozen with fear, with anger, with disgust, to move—my fight-or-flight instinct bailing on me. “Perfect. We’ll also need to brand her.”
“You sure about this one?” The high-pitched Texan drawl from behind me belongs to a female, and I turn to it. A tall, dark-haired woman approaches us from the top step of the staircase. “Wolf said she has trouble walking.”
“As long as she can spread her legs—that’s all I care ’bout.”
Spread her legs.
The meaning of the words doesn’t hit me like a cement truck failing to stop at a red light. It hits me with the force of the meteor that rendered dinosaurs extinct.
My already rapidly beating heart starts beating that much more, louder, harder—powerful aftershocks rattling my rib cage.
The woman is maybe two or three years younger than me. A curtain of silky hair swings against the lower curve of her spine. Her pencil skirt and sleeveless blouse aren’t as revealing as Tilly’s clothes, but they still show off acres of smooth tanned skin.
She flashes Peony a look of disgust, her frosty eyes two soulless dark orbs.
Peony presses her face into my chest, muffling her cries. Her tears soak through my T-shirt.
“What about Nina?” The woman’s gaze takes me in from head to toe, but she keeps what she’s thinking off her face. “Wasn’t the goal supposed to be to bring her back here? It wasn’t to get another girl.”
“Let me worry about Nina. We’ve got something she wants. Nina will cooperate just to keep the little girl safe.” The stiffness in his voice speaks of a man who requires complete respect from those addressing him.
