Page 65 of Haven

The door opened, and a meek girl came inside. Her hair was long and faded pink. She looked skittish as she scurried closer to me with a bucket and a bottle of water. I had never seen her before, but she seemed to know me. Her boyfriend or whoever he was spent the last however many weeks torturing me, but she hardly showed her face.

“They don’t want me down here, but you’re Aurora’s sister. I can’t let them kill you.” She cleaned my wounds, the water and peroxide stinging slightly.

“Who are you?”

“Who I am doesn’t matter. They want to hurt her. I don’t want it to happen. She doesn’t need to be hurt again. Jude was a bad man. He never kept promises.” She cringed, opening the water. “I said too much. You need to drink. I have pills.”

I glared at her. Did she think I was that naïve to take anything from her? “No, I’m not taking that.”

“He’s going to hurt you more. This will help with the pain. I want to help you before she comes back, too!”

Who the hell was she talking about? She and the man were the only two people who were with me. There wasn't another woman here, but she seemed mortified of this woman. “Who is she? Let me go and I can help you.”

“No one can help me. No one helped me before. Please take the medicine. I can’t let them catch me down here.”

I caved and took the medicine from her. If I could get her to trust me, then I could use her to escape. I would go home to Rory and be a better sister. It was my unheard promise to her. I would get out and I would fix the damage I created trying to protect her.

Fifty-Six

Rory

Three weeks had passed since I lost Pink Betty, and I missed my bike. Vesper said she’d get me a new one, but nothing would compare. I had that bike for almost five years, and it was a gift from Cinder. But in all honesty, I didn’t care about the bike—I wanted my sister back. Guilt was eating me alive, knowing the last words I said to her and now someone had my sister. I didn’t know what he would do to her, but there wasn't a doubt in my mind he wanted revenge for that. This could've been planned for years after Cinder rescued me.

Hades stayed at the clubhouse, which made the other Vipers paranoid right up until the moment she whipped out a pool stick. Even Mal, who was notorious for hating everyone who wasn’t a Viper, took to her like a duck to water. I would be concerned if they weren’t in a happy, monogamous relationship with their partner of ten-plus years. It was refreshing not having to choose, but my options weren’t vast. Hades was the only one who verbally claimed she wanted me and showed me how deeply.

Vesper wanted me as well, but she was too loyal. And Widow, well, she was just fucking complicated.

I was finally able to get out of bed without feeling like death incarnate. My ankle caused me a little bit of problems, but Hades helped me with physical therapy sessions, even if they turned into makeout sessions. My ribs hurt like a bitch, but unfortunately, I couldn’t do anything about those. When I did the MRI at the hospital before they discharged me, they didn’t find anything life-threatening, so I didn’t have anything more than a concussion. Hades took care of me and made me have some wicked fantasies. Never thought I would enjoy roleplay, but I also never imagined dating a hotter-than-sin doctor, either.

“You give true Viper vibes.” I smirked as I sat on the edge of the pool table.

Hades bit her lip, eyeing me as she pushed herself between my thighs. “Is my initiation fucking the most beautiful woman in front of everyone? ‘Cause I’ll do it.”

I laughed, wrapping my hands around her neck. “That'd be weird, considering practically everyone here is my family. But we can arrange for that to happen when no one's around.”

She rolled her eyes, leaning in to kiss me on the lips. Being with Hades was easy. When I was younger and Cin would visit me before Mom took me away, she’d read these stories to me and tell me about falling in love. She said falling in love was effortless, as if falling into a peaceful sleep where everything seemed perfect, and time would stop. And it did. With Hades, my world slowed down in the best possible way. My mind wasn’t a constant battlefield, and I was at peace. There were still parts of me missing; I was incomplete without Vesper or Widow.

Neither of us were paying attention to our surroundings as we stumbled to my bedroom. Along the way, we passed Widow and Vesper who were both deep in conversation. I pulled back slightly, eyeing the two women. Widow wouldn’t fold, but I bet I could talk Vesper into joining me for the threesome of my wildest dreams. One day I’d have all three of them, even if it was a distant future that for now only existed in my dreams.

I was at my door, Hades’s shirt halfway unbuttoned, when my phone rang, effectively killing the mood.

UNKNOWN

I miss you

We’ll meet again soon, my princess.

I frowned, but before anything could be done, my phone rang with the same unknown number. Anger simmered inside me as I answered it, putting it on speaker phone. “Listen, here asshole.” Thinking I’d hear the voice of my stalker.

“Hey, princess,” Cinder said, her voice rough. I cringed at the name. Cinder had stopped calling me that ever since she saved me from Jude. She knew it made me uncomfortable.

I glanced at Widow. “Cinder?” my voice trembled. “Where are you? Did he hurt you?”

“You wanna chase fireflies, firefly?” My blood chilled as fear crept up my spine. Heat tore through my body like a ravenous wildfire. We never said that unless there was…danger.

It took a moment, but I finally found the courage to utter the word caught in my throat. “Cinder?”

“I love you. I’m sorry.”