Page 46 of Deadfall

Seven and I retreated back outside the bars and disappeared into the guardhouse. It was a simple room that acted as a buffer between the atrium and the outside back gardens. Inside was a kitchenette and a table with four folding chairs. Seven poked around the space and eventually sat down in one of the chairs, but I couldn’t sit still. I paced around the small structure—door to door, thinking of nothing but Emersyn.

An hour passed and in unspoken agreement, Seven and I walked back to the gate. She hadn’t touched the food and that was irritating. I unlocked the gate and walked inside where I nudged the tray with my foot.

“You need to eat.”

“I’m not eating that,” she muttered.

“Why not?”

Emersyn turned her head and looked up coldly. The calculation behind the disgust made a shiver race down my spine at the detachment there. She picked up the glass of water and while still staring, dumped it all over my boots.

I heard Seven choke behind me, probably on the laugh he was trying to hold back. She crunched the paper cup between her fist and let it drop back onto the tray in defiance. I slowly crouched down and her eyes sharpened, a flicker of something dark took over the blues.

“Wasting water,” I tsked. “I should make you lick it up.”

She leaned forward and pushed the tray forward slowly. “Do you think I’m stupid?” She asked, her words dripped with contempt. “I’m not going to willingly submit to round two.”

I heard Seven as he stepped closer. “Round two?”

There was a slight discoloring beside her eye and a cut on her swollen lower lip. Without thinking, I grabbed her chin and tilted her head so I could see it more clearly. I heard her breath catch and her hand whipped out to wrap around my wrist, but otherwise she stayed still. A nasty suspicion built.

“Round two of what?” I demanded.

My thumb barely brushed against the edge of her lip. Her lashes fluttered at the touch, although her face remained frigid with contempt. My pulse pounded in my veins as it rose at an alarming rate, both from her proximity and from the thought of someone laying their hands on her.

“Did someone drug your food?”

Confusion flashed in her eyes as she studied my face. She seemed caught off guard by my anger.

My grip tightened. “Answer me.”

Defiance solidified in her eyes and she leaned an inch closer. “Fuck. You.”

I abruptly stood and kicked the tray towards Seven. “Get rid of it.”

I turned back around and Emersyn had backed herself into a tree to put distance between us. I stalked toward her and she scrambled to get to her feet. I stopped right in front of her, inches away but not touching. I was acutely aware of the fact that she was naked, and it took every ounce of will power not to commit every inch of her to memory. But, I didn’t—I kept my eyes locked on hers.

“Did anyone touch you last night?”

Emersyn studied my face, the expression rapidly changed from defiantly standing her ground to somewhere between confusion and apprehension. She was strung tight, caught between fight or flight. I came another few inches closer until I towered over her. I could practically feel her heart race across the inches that separated us.

“Did anyone touch you last night?” I growled, enunciating each word carefully until it sounded like a threat. She tried to look away, but I slammed my hand against the tree beside her head. She jumped but met my eyes again. “I need your fucking words.”

“Why?” She forced out between clenched teeth.

This time when my hand came up, she flinched. I thought I was going to explode with rage. Instead, I forced myself not to touch her like I did before. I only moved my hand inches from where I saw the bruising around her eye and then gestured to her lip.

“Because I want to know who I have to fucking beat the shit out of for doing that to you,” I said.

“I didn’t see who they were,” Emersyn mumbled.

I stepped away, no longer able to keep my anger contained. I swiped a gloved hand down my face and paced a few steps, careful not to spiral.

The gate clicked open and Seven was back. He had two water bottles in his hand and an energy bar. He put the two bottles on a rock next to Emersyn, then held out the bar and snapped the ends.

“It’s sealed,” he said, his voice tight as he held it out. “So are the bottles.”

Emersyn looked between me and Seven, but hunger won out and she reached for the bar. When she tried to take it, Seven kept a hold of it and made her look at him.