Page 6 of Unmasked Prophecy

“Because carryin’ shit like that alone? It’ll eat you alive. You talk, you bleed a little of it out. Makes the load lighter.”

I stare at him. His face is a perfect mix of danger and beauty. His eyes are the most exquisite part of his face, being different colors. One is a stark blue and the other a more hazel-type color. His hair, dark blond and messy, only makes his eyes jump out against his olive skin. He’s everything and more. The members of the club call him Steel, but Talon is always how I’ll see him.

“I guess the scary part is that I don’t know anything different. I was born into that world, and I’ve never left it. Never gone to school, never had friends, never experienced the outside world. That place, it’s all I’ve ever known.”

Talon’s mouth twists. “You’ve never been outside of it?”

“Here and there. I somehow managed to make friends with a girl outside of the camp, and that’s how I got kidnapped. I was trying to sneak out and see her. Otherwise, no, my life has been that cult.”

“You always know it was bad?”

“The cult? Yeah. When I was little, it was just what I knew, but as I got older, I knew something was wrong. I guess I was different.”

“Ever try to run?”

I shake my head. “I wanted to, believe me. But where would I go?”

His eyes flash. He understands.

“There is a little girl in there named Lily. When she was born, she was sickly, and they just didn’t care about her. I did. I always made sure she was taken care of. In the end, she is the reason I didn’t run. She is the reason I fear them now.”

“We’ll get her out.”

He says that with such confidence.

But he doesn’t know the kind of monsters they are.

“This is a war I’m afraid you might lose,” I whisper.

He leans forward, eyes pinning mine. “I don’t lose.”

I believe thathebelieves that.

But the kind of evil that runs in that cult... it’s the kind of evil most people can’t even begin to understand.

“I want them to burn,” I say, so softly I wonder if he’ll even hear me.

“Then we’ll fuckin’ do it together.”

I hold his gaze.

He means it.

Do I dare allow myself to hope?

I JOLT AWAKE, MY NECKstiff, and the faint crackle of dying embers in the fireplace echoing in the silence. It takes me a long moment to remember where I am, and as my eyes zero in on the coffee mug on the table, it all comes flashing back. Somehow, I fell asleep on the damn couch. I rub the back of my neck, groaning softly as I sit up. The blanket Talon threw over me has fallen to the floor.

I can’t remember the last time I slept like that.

A stark reality that I’m still here.

Still breathing.

Still free.

Sort of.

My family haven’t caught up with me yet, but they will.

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