Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 132491 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132491 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 662(@200wpm)___ 530(@250wpm)___ 442(@300wpm)
A hard kick lands in my stomach, doubling me over. My feet are swept out from under me, putting me in a prone position on the ground.
Instinct kicks in. I shield my head with my hands and scoot away, hitting a wall.
We’re in Marcelle’s tiny room. She passes the torch to someone else and descends on me, her hands wildly punching me everywhere. Spit lands on my cheek.
Someone else is kicking my legs. My arms are being forced from around my head and held to the ground.
I try to resist, but they’re all so damn strong. I get a hand free and use it to claw at Marcelle’s face, hooking a thumb inside her cheek and pulling on her face with every ounce of my strength.
She mutters a curse and bites me, drawing blood. It’s warm, a droplet falling onto my cheek.
I’m beat. There are too many of them. But I won’t give them the satisfaction of hearing me cry. I hold in every moan and plea, taking my mind somewhere else.
I’m with my sister. We’re kids again, running through a clearing of wildflowers. Her smile is carefree, the sun glinting off her caramel ponytail as it swings through the air.
Mae is with me. I’m not going to die alone.
7
Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.
- Jack London, The Strength of the Strong
“Hey, she’s waking up.”
My eyelids are weighted. I want to open them and see who’s talking, but I can’t.
“Briar, open your eyes.”
I’m faintly aware that my head hurts. My legs do, too. But I’ll worry about that later. I just don’t have the energy.
“Briar.” The deep voice turns stern. “Come on, we don’t have IVs here. You have to drink and eat if you want to live. Wake up.”
The musky scents of decaying vegetation and wet soil fast-track my return to reality. I’m on the island. And the voice belongs to Pax.
It takes all my energy to force my eyes open, and I immediately squint against the light. Pax slowly transforms from a blurry outline to someone I recognize.
“Attagirl,” he says. “I’m gonna help you into a sitting position so you can get some water down. It’s going to hurt, but you have to do it.”
He wraps an arm around my middle back, stabbing pains shooting through my core. I groan and try to resist the movement, but I’m too weak.
“You were beaten.” He supports my back with one arm, his other hand picking up a canteen. “Can you hold this?”
I look at him blankly. I can’t even lift my arm up, let alone hold anything.
“I need some help,” he calls over his shoulder.
“On my way, Commander.”
A woman comes to the other side of the bed, unscrewing the canteen’s cap and holding it up to my lips. I go limp, unable to stay awake any longer.
“Briar, drink the fucking water.” Pax’s harsh tone brings me out of my haze. “You want to live? Drink the water and eat the food. Mari will pour it in your mouth if you need her to.”
Listlessly, I part my lips. Mari gently tips the canteen to my mouth, lukewarm water flowing out of it. It feels good on my throat. The dribble that runs down my chin and neck grounds me.
Marcelle’s room. A torch. And a threat about being a “baby killer.”
How did I live through that? I didn’t think there was a chance. I turn my mouth away from the canteen and look to the side, expecting Marcelle and her friends to be standing there.
I cry out in pain from the movement. Everything hurts. I’ve had broken ribs enough times to know what it feels like. One of my eyes is so swollen I can only partially see out of it.
“I need to know who did this to you,” Pax says. “Was it Marcelle?”
Somewhere on the edges of my consciousness, I’m slightly offended. He thinks one woman could do this to me and I wouldn’t fight back at all? People were holding me down. I didn’t get in a single hit or kick. They planned to do this to me, and they executed their plan well.
“You can just nod. It’s not a big mystery—you were found unconscious in her room and she has scratch marks on her face.”
That bitch spat on me. She didn’t even have the guts to fight me one on one. When I’m able to stay awake, I’m going to be more pissed off about it. For now, it’s just not important.
When he sees I’m not going to respond, Pax sighs, aggravated. “We can talk about that later. For now, you need to eat this.” He holds something in front of my mouth.
I waver, sleep lulling me like a siren song I can’t resist.
“Fucking eat it!” he commands. “You’re not dying, do you hear me? Whoever did this to you violated the rules and they’ll pay for it. Open your mouth and eat three bites of food and then you can sleep.”