Page 58 of Freeing Souls

“I think it’s a good idea,” Grayson says so quietly, I almost think I misheard him, but by the way Ryker’s head snaps up, I know I didn’t.

“You do?” Ryker questions.

Grayson nods, his cheeks tinting pink. “I think it would be good for all of us.”

I was most worried Grayson would be against the idea, but I think our shy tech boy has more things to say about all of this than he is letting on.

Now to just find the fuckers, because waiting is not something any of us are going to want.

Harley

“I’ve been waiting years for you. You are even more gorgeous than I remember.”

I can’t speak as the injection he gave me causes my body to turn to stone. I can’t move as he lays me out on the bed and strips me of the dress. I think I feel tears gather in my eyes as I blink and fight to move, but I can’t.

I can’t move. This is worse than death– “Redheads have always been my favorite. I heard about you through the grapevine a while after your mother died. It really was heartbreaking to hear about the fire that killed her, but I was so grateful you ended up with your aunt and she decided to spread the word in our community about you.”

He presses his cheek against mine and breathes me in before meeting my eyes. “I knew I had to have you, and when I learned you weren’t in school–well, I needed to change that.”

Whatever he gave me seems to be only half working, my fingers twitching, but I try to keep them still so he doesn’t notice. My legs still feel solid, but I can feel his hands as theyrun up and down my skin, making me feel like I am being set on fire.

“You see, because of my family, I can only keep one of you at a time. I couldn’t take you in right away, and I needed you to be educated for my plans. And now that you are, well, we can begin. But after waiting so long for you, I knew I needed to have you first. Usually, I love a little fight, but I just want something calm right now.”

His hands cup my breasts as he grins down at me and licks a stray tear from my cheek. “My God, you have never looked more beautiful. This is the first time I have used this new injection, and I think I may keep more on hand.”

I can hear him stripping his clothing off, and I scream inside. I scream and fight to move. Just move. Why can’t I just move my body? I need to fight. I can do this– Just. Move.

“Now we will have some fun, and then once I take you to your new home, we will discuss your duties, my beautiful little whore.”

Please don’t, I beg internally. I just need to move. I can do this. Just move.

He climbs on top of me and smiles softly down at me. Please, don’t, I beg with my eyes.

I’m trapped—

Gasping, I fling the arms and body touching me off and fly out of the bed. My name is called, but I ignore them as I run to the bathroom and proceed to dry heave into the toilet. I have barely eaten anything, so there is nothing to come up, but my body wants to expel this feeling–I was trapped again. I couldn’t move.

“Breathe, Harley. You have to breathe,” I hear someone say as hands rub up and down my back.

“I–Can’t—” I gasp as someone else cups my face and turns me towards them.

“Open your eyes, beautiful.” My eyes snap open to meet his green ones. “Breathe with me. In.” He inhales. “And out.” Exhale. Come on, beautiful, you can do this,” he tells me as he keeps going. Another body plasters itself to my back, and I feel them breathing with Grayson. I try to inhale and exhale, but they are shaky and short until they finally even out.

I never look away from Grayson’s forest eyes as I finally calm enough to breathe fully. Knowing what comes next, I slump forward against Grayson and tell them everything.

From the nightmare and more—how I am tainted now. Ruined. Broken. I don’t know if I will ever be able to do anything again. How does someone move past that? How does someone not view it as being cheated on when it’s the person you are with? How–

“That’s enough,” Ryker growls. I tense, waiting for the words to come:you're disgusting, we don’t want you, this is your fault.

But as I am pulled away from Grayson’s chest, I am met with three sets of eyes all burning with rage, sadness, concern, and–and pride?

“None of this is your fault, do you hear me?” Ryker starts. “We let you get it all out so now you can listen to us. You aren’t alone, and you won’t ever be. Good luck getting any of us to leave your side anytime soon. You are not broken. You are a survivor. You lived through it, and here you are, fighting another day. You lived through hell for a month prior to what that fucker did to you and you have lived through hell years prior to this.”

“You are the strongest person I know, and I don’t mean that lightly. I couldn’t survive what you have, and I doubt most people around here could. They would break. But you haven’t, and now you won’t, because you already know you can recover from hell all alone. This time, you don’t have to do it alone. We will do it with you,” Grayson says softly.

“If you need to drown in your pain for a while before you are ready to recover, we will do it with you. You're not alone anymore, and nothing is going to change that. You are stuck with us forever, no matter what,” Cade grunts.

After wiping my tears, we all pile back into my bed. The guys must be exhausted, as they all pass out within minutes while I lay awake, not sure if I will be able to fall back asleep after that dream and my breakdown.

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