Page 117 of Juniper Unraveling

“Hi.” Out of the corner of my eye, I examine the bruises on her skin, the cuts that have been cleaned. “You came yesterday, right?”

She nods, not bothering to look up.

“Are you okay?”

That single question seems to set off some kind of trigger. Her lip trembles, and she sucks in a sharp inhale, covering her mouth with her hand.

I catch the glisten of a tear slipping down her cheek and set a hand to her shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay.” Leaning into her, I glance around the room. “I’m getting out of here. I’ll send help. I promise.”

With tears in her eyes, she studies me with a look of confusion. “Help?”

Nodding, I give a light squeeze to her shoulder. “These assholes are going to pay for what they did to you.”

Puzzlement plasters across her face, as she tips her head. “Who?”

Now I’m the one confused. “The … bikers?”

Brows knitted, she shakes her head. “They didn’t do anything to me.”

“But you … yesterday, you … had blood. And your dress was torn.”

She lowers her gaze again, and more tears slide down her cheek. “Our hive was raided. By Legion soldiers. My mother and sister were killed.” Dropping the plate of food, she pulls her knees into her body and buries her face in her palms. All I can hear are the sniffles that tell me she’s sobbing behind her hands. “One of the … soldiers. He dragged me into … the hallway.”

A cold sensation moves through my bones, knowing what comes next.

“He … wouldn’t stop. It hurt, and I kept screaming for him to stop.” Her throat bobs with a swallow, and when her hands fall away from her face, her eyes seem locked in a trance.

Immediately, I regret asking this girl anything. Subjecting her to the cruel memories.

“I’m sorr—”

“Then it stopped.” An air of wonderment clings to her voice, and she stares off, her eyes softening with relief. “He pulled him off of me. All I saw was the soldier’s body. Fell to the ground next to me. I was lifted up and carried out of that place, just clutching to him. I couldn’t let him go. I didn’t want to, I was so scared.”

“Who?”

“Rhys.”

“The bikers … I thought … I thought they hurt you. They stole your food and supplies.”

Casting her gaze from mine, she shakes her head. “We had no food. We were starving.”

Once again, my eyes are peeled back to a cold reality I failed to see. I look around the cavern, to all of the people serving food, eating it, laughing. My gaze lifts to Red, standing off to the side, her hand stroking the spongy red curls of a little girl beside her.

Suddenly, its clear.

The rebels were saving them. Rescuing them from Legion soldiers.

Of course.

I’m an idiot.

A blind and ignorant fool who fell prey to the propaganda—the same lies I accused others of blindly accepting—that had me believing the rebels were an unruly band of misfits out to raise hell and steal from the innocent.

“Did they raid your hive?” The girl’s question draws my attention back to her, as she wipes the fallen tears from her cheeks. “The Legion soldiers. Did they raid your hive, too?”

Lips tight, I nod.

“We’re gonna be okay now. We’re safe. Rhys says he knows a place. With a wall, so no one can hurt us again.” Her smile lights up her sad eyes that brim with so much hope.