Page 7 of UnTrained: Volume One
Gavin points to one of them as he looks from me to Alex, then heads toward the other.
“Hello, sweetheart,” he says, his voice soft. “You’re safe now. Come on out.”
The girl is still crying, but she does and falls into Gavin’s embrace. He holds her for a minute, then leads her away.
I focus on our subject. Her expression is neutral, her gaze fixed on the floor, although she steals glances at us when she thinks we’re not looking.
Unlike the other woman, she’s not crying. She didn’t fight.
I wonder just how broken she is.
I gesture with my head to Alex, and the two of us approach her crate. I unlatch the door and swing it wide.
Alex crouches down. “You’re safe now. You can come out.”
The woman studies us with wide, terrified eyes, pressing her body into the back of the crate as far as it can go.
“What’s your name, honey?” Alex asks, holding out a hand.
The woman just shakes her head.
“It’s okay, honey,” he says, his voice still soft. “You can come out. We’re going to help you.”
The woman, if anything, looks more terrified.
I run a hand over my jaw, thinking. This woman obeyed without question when the assholes who dropped her off told her to go to the crate. She crawled in without a fight, unlike the other one. She doesn’t seem to trust kindness.
Fortunately, I’m not a nice guy.
I nudge Alex, who stands, then clear my throat and fix the woman with a glare. “What do they call you, girl?”
She blinks, finally focusing on me. “One- one twenty-seven.”
127. It’s what the driver said, when he instructed her to go to the crate. Apparently, this woman has been captive long enough to respond to the dehumanizing name.
I push down my disgust, forcing myself to focus on what she needs. “127. Come here and kneel.” I point at the ground in front of me.
This time, she moves, crawling gingerly out of the crate to kneel at my feet.
She’s been trained. That much is clear.
Her posture is ramrod straight. Arms folded behind her back. Gaze cast down.
“What are you here for, 127?” I ask in the same rough tone.
Her reply is immediate and practiced. “I’m here to serve you, Master.”
She’s not just trained. She’s broken.
Shit.
5
LANA
Ihold my breath as I wait for instructions, hoping I haven’t disappointed my new Master.
Was it wrong to call him that? What about the man standing next to him? IsheMaster?
