Page 110 of Juniper Unraveling

“For Rhys. Take it to him.”

Anger seethes in my blood, so hot I could unleash hell in this place. Instead, I carry that anger with me through the cave and back to the room where I awakened earlier.

Slamming through the door, I find Rhys standing with his back to me, peeling the leather vest from his shoulders. When he turns, a splotch of red marks an injury that he leans into, as if in pain.

Good.

“Here’s your supper.” The venom coursing through my veins bleeds into my voice as I cross the room to him.

He falls into one of the chairs beside his bed, and waves the food over.

I stand before him and dump the bowl of broth, meat and juice into his lap, tossing the tray to the side, but oddly enough, he doesn’t so much as flinch with the scalding liquid. “I hope you burn in hell, asshole.”

His lips peel back with anger, a sight that brings a smile to my face, until I twist around to find Red standing behind me.

Fury tinges her face, and all I see is a flash of her fist flying toward me.

* * *

A dull ache throbs in my jaw, and I lift my hand to rub it. The clink of a chain draws my eyes open, to the cuffs at my wrists, and I roll my head back against a rusted post, which I’m tethered to once more.

Goddamn it.

The flicker of a sconce on the wall allows me to see that this post is thinner, staked down into the gravelly bed of sand.

Beyond the post is a long tunnel with no light at the end—not Rhys’s cavern—and I’m smack in the middle of it, lying in a soft bed of sand. With a frown, I roll over onto my stomach, tugging at the post.

“C’mon, sleeping beauty.” Red’s voice has officially become my least favorite sound in the world.

I roll my eyes and lower my gaze, to see her standing at my feet, keys dangling from her hip. “I really hate you.”

“I’m crushed. Really.” She kneels down beside me, and the second my bound hand grips the keyring, her blade is at my throat. “Piss break. And if you try anything, I won’t hesitate to tell the others that a Rager ran off with you.”

“You’re taking me out of the cave?” The air of disbelief in my voice isn’t feigned. I find it stupid she’d take the chance.

“We go as a group. It’s safer that way.”

“I’m not pissing in front of a bunch of oversexed men. I choose to die of piss poisoning, thanks.”

“It’s only women. There’s a small tinaja where we gather water and bathe.”

I rear back at that, disgusted. “You drink from the same water you bathe in?”

“Unless someone’s sick out here? Yeah. In case you missed it, we don’t have the luxury of showers and cozy bubble-baths.” Lowering the blade, she unlocks the cuffs, releasing my arms. “No one wants to keep you in chains, but if you’re going to pull that bullshit, I’ve got no reason to let you walk around here.”

“Do they give you a cut, or something? What do you get out of enslaving women?”

“I told you before. No one’s a slave here.”

“You drag these women from their hives to … what? Hook up with the men here? I’ve seen it, so don’t tell me you don’t.”

“Every one of these women wants to be here, so watch your fucking mouth. They’re safer here than out there.” She juts out her chin and pushes to her feet. “You’re lucky Rigs found you.” Reaching down to me, she flicks her fingers, but I bat her hand away, clambering to my feet without her help.

“You’re delusional. The only thing Rigs did was transport me from one prison to the next.”

“Gordy isn’t a bad man. Certainly not the worst. But he’ll damn well do whatever he has to for his family. That includes selling young women to men who wouldn’t think twice about cutting out the tongue of a smart-mouth like you.”

I don’t tell her that she’ll have to cut off my legs to keep me from taking off. Instead, I follow her out of the cave, along with four other women, none of whom were in last night’s group.