Page 27 of Sold Wolf Slave

“It’s my sister,” I said, unable to look at him.

He blinked, looking me up and down as comprehension dawned on him. “Your sister? You have a sister?”

I nodded, looking at the floor. “Her name’s Morgan. She was taken with me when the slavers first found us. But we got separated recently, and I don’t know where she is.” I tried to explain the whole thing, but the words stuck in my throat, refusing to budge at first.

“Sit down.”

Without giving me the chance to say anything, Will guided me to the couch and made me sit. I stared at the floor as his footsteps faded, heading toward the kitchen. By now, the puddle had ceased growing. It reflected part of the ceiling as I stared into it, the spell that had shown my sister broken. For a brief moment, I had felt a little closer to her. Now, she felt further than she ever had before.

Off to the side, I heard the faucet start and stop. A moment later, Will’s footsteps resumed, and a glass of water appeared in front of me.

“Drink,” he ordered.

I didn’t even have the strength to argue. I took the glass robotically and raised it to my lips. For a long moment, the only sounds were the massive gulps as I chugged the water, not realizing how thirsty I had been until I started drinking. Once the glass was empty, he took it from my hand without asking and refilled it, handing it to me once more.

It wasn’t until I had taken two more generous swigs of water that he actually spoke. “What’s going on?” he asked.

I wanted to tell him to mind his own business. Just because he was being nice to me didn’t mean I trusted him. But an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion washed over me. I was tired of arguing, tired of keeping it in.

“Morgan and I were taken at the same time,” I said. “Right before we met, I made a mistake and put her in trouble.”

“What mistake?” he asked. When I hesitated, I heard him let out an exhale. “I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me. Do you believe I want to help you?”

Despite myself, I did. I gave a short nod. Still, that didn’t make the conversation any easier. It wasn’t just that I didn’t want to talk about my sister with Will. It was because I was ashamed of what I had done. None of this would have happened if it weren’t for me.

A wave of self-loathing slammed into me as that thought slammed into me for the fiftieth time that day. I could sense Will staring at me. I forced myself to look at him as I told the story.

“I saw a chance to escape and tried to take it,” I said, my voice bitter, still hating myself for putting my sister in danger. “I wasn’t going to let her stay there while I got away, so I broke her out, too. But we got caught and taken to Cain. Part of the punishment was that he separated us. He sent me to the fighting pits.”

Will kept his gaze locked on me, waiting to see if I would say more. After a long moment, he nodded.

“That explains a lot,” he said.

“Yeah.” I took a deep breath, sensing a fresh round of tears threatening to burst out. I blinked furiously, trying to hold them back.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said. “Do you know where he’s keeping her? You do, don’t you? That’s where you were trying to go that night.” When I nodded, I heard an exasperated sigh. “You had to know that wouldn’t work, right?”

“I had to try something,” I said. “It wasn’t like I could just sit around here doing nothing.”

“You could have confided in me,” he pointed out. There wasn’t a harshness to the words, more a firmness, as if he was annoyed I hadn’t considered that possibility.

I let out another exasperated sound. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t trust the guy I was effectively sold to against my will.”

I braced for some sort of blow. Honestly, given how much sass and backtalk I’d been giving him over the last couple of days, I was surprised it hadn’t happened yet. I’d gotten worse punishments for less.

Instead, Will bit the inside of his lip, fingers tapping on his jeans as he considered something. “Where is she?” he asked.

“In Cain’s palace. Or what counts as a palace down here.”

“The massive manor in the center of town?”

“That’s the one.”

“What does she look like?”

Instead of answering, I held up my hand, palm out in front of me, and muttered under my breath. Sparks of color swirled through the air in front of it, spiraling away. The more colors flew out, the more a shape began to form in front of me. After a moment, Morgan’s smiling face appeared, followed by the rest of her body.

He stared at the form, not leering the way most of the guys around here might. But more scrutinizing, as if trying to commit every inch of her image to memory. His eyebrows knitted together as he studied her for a long moment, not saying anything.

---