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This isn’t my first time mending a wing, either. In Szolen, one of the native women and I found a crow with a broken wing, and I watched as she repaired it. Of course, it would never fly again after, but it was able to tuck its wing enough to get around. With a gentle hand, I feel along the length of the wing to where a sharp protrusion marks its injury. At home, I’d apply raw honey and some gauze. Here, I’ve only a small tincture of iodine that expired six years ago. Once I’ve cleaned the wound, I wrap it with the thin bandaging tape, avoiding her defensive pecking with every sweep of my hand.

“I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but I promise, I won’t let anyone else hurt you.” Within minutes, the wound is securely wrapped, and I set the bird down on my bed, allowing her to hop around.

Glancing around the room shows nothing for her to nestle in, aside from the space itself being one massive cage. For the next hour, I watch and pet her, hoping to gain her trust.

It isn’t long before darkness falls, the shadows stretching across the walls toward me, and a sense of foreboding crawls over my spine, as another night approaches. A clanking sound echoes from down the hall, and with the thud of approaching footsteps, I search for a place to hide the bird.

The drawer of the nightstand will have to do for now, until I can find a proper bed for it.

I stuff it inside and sit back on my bed, waiting to see who approaches.

The guard I noticed from outside, the creepy one, stands in the doorway, arms crossed. “I’ve been asked to fetch you for Remus.”

My stomach twists into tight knots, and I look around the room, as if there’s some unseen portal where I can hide in an alternate dimension.

There’s nowhere, and when his brows wing up expectantly, I reluctantly climb from my bed.

Don’t do anything stupid, I remind myself. Having found Will, I have more reasons today to survive and get back to Szolen, but the thought of being subjected to Remus’s sick and twisted pastime a second night in a row is a dread I can’t bear to face again.

As I attempt to pass the guard, I feel a tight clutch of my arm, which sends alarms through me.

“You want out of this place.”

It’s not a question, and I’m certain he can see the answer written all over my face. “You know a way?”

“It’ll cost you. Freedom isn’t actually free.”

“I’ve … got nothing with me, but … back in Szolen, I can--”

“I don’t mean your worthless little trinkets, girl.”

Frowning, I tug my arm from his grasp, my lips peeling back with disgust. “Is everyone this side of the wall so preoccupied with that?”

“You haven’t lived out here long enough, princess.” A hard shove of my body sends my spine crashing into the bars behind me, where he holds me prisoner against them. Panic explodes through my muscles that are comparably weak, but ready for defense, if necessary. “I’ve not seen a woman in weeks. Weeks. My balls are swollen to stones. I’m not asking to fuck you. Just put your mouth on it, is all.”

Body trembling, I grind my teeth, catching the tic of his jaw. The man is so desperate, I wonder if he is capable of taking without my consent.

“Suck me off, and I’ll see about sneaking you on the next run to the hive.”

“See about it? You’re lying, then. You can’t help me, at all.”

He licks his lips, eyes riveted on mine. “With time, maybe I can. I could get us both out. And you could be mine.” The glint of unseen fantasies in his eyes is enough to make me puke, but I can’t deny the lure of possibility.

“And all I have to do is suck you off.”

“Yes,” he says on a shaky exhale. “Please. Women are hard to come by out here. A man can only go so long before he cracks.”

“And what then? You take it, anyway?”

“Maybe I do.”

Strange how the mind works this side of the wall. The way the questions begin to shift from how will I survive to how low am I willing to sink? Unfortunately for me, I was born with a stubborn streak.

“I’d rather suck the guts from a worm than put my mouth on you.”

Lips twisted to a wicked smirk, he gnashes his teeth, and I wonder if he’ll punch me like the other guard, or petition Remus to have me strung up and whipped again.

Doesn’t matter that he was the one who propositioned me in exchange for freedom, it’s his word against mine.