It feels like my brain is going to explode; the pain searing at the base of my skull throbbing away like a time bomb slowly ticking closer and closer toward something awful.

There are people around me. Voices arguing and the sound of snapping that makes my head twitch. I slide my eyes open, blinking as blurry shapes take form in my impaired vision.

“Oh, hey. She is waking up.” I hear someone say, sounding excited.

Leave her be you fool,” another person hisses. “They put it in that cell for a reason. She is dangerous.”

“I’m not dangerous.” I croak. But I regret the action, a stab of pain causing me to wince, my eyes aching.

“They don’t put just anyone in that little cage, sweetheart. Hate to tell you this, but they want you to be as weak as a I blink at the smaller blur, trying to force my vision to focus, but nothing happens and tears roll.

human.”

The memory of Penny’s eyes, the way they stabbing her through the heart from behind. How they ambushed us. And how they knew…how they knew where we would be.

My skin grows cold the more I process everything. What if they ambushed Merikh as well? What if they didn’t take a gamble by guessing what I would choose but covered both of their bases?

Merikh could have ended up exactly like Penny. My chest grows tight, and a whimper tumbles out. It’s my fault Penny is dead because of me. I pull my legs to my chest, hugging them tightly as the tears fall. They are hot and furious as they burn down my cheeks, growing from a soft place of pain to a raging storm of agony.

Penny was more than a gamma. She was a friend, someone I knew without a doubt I could always count on for more than what the gamma bond demanded. And she died because I was stubborn, because I am alive when I shouldn’t be.

“Shit. See what you did, Lenard?” Someone hisses.

“I didn’t do anything!” someone protests.

You sure as heck did! First you woke her up-”

“She woke herself up.” Lenard says.

she needs to hear before her death is the likes of

them snorts, but I block them out as I fall to my side, the cries ripping from me in heaving sobs as I try to breathe

light–headed and I feel someone’s hand on my shoulder, a gentle circular rubbing as a form of

need to breathe,” the

to anymore,” I hiccup through

that just won’t do.” She says in a

better off with me being

that feeling. The feeling of having no hope. But I learned a few things from being stuck

to stay stuck here,” one of the voices from before says

“Shut up.

Lenard.”

“Fuck you, Elle.”

leave me alone.” I whisper, pulling my

to adjust to the lights the flicker on above me. I sit up, wiping my face, meeting

around, watching as arms and figures shrink into the dark corners of the dirt filled cells we all reside in. I swallow roughly as he unlocks

is big, his shoulders wide and strong and his height unrivaled by many. But this guy, he is as

I ask him, trying

to play

He can hold me down with one hand. SO instead I scurry back against the wall, slamming into it, begging

you.” I tell him

mean…if he knew you were here he would come for me.” he grins, stalking closer and closer. “But he doesn’t know. From what my intel says, he told you not to contact him for

closing as tears fall free. No way is this fucker touching me

not be

a hilarious joke to him as he continues to laugh, slapping his legs

want to touch you?” he shakes his head. “Oh, no Princess. I want to see what you

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