His Love, Her Prison, Their Son

he smoke doing nothing to calm the strange restlessness in his chest. He heard the man's greasy laugh, fol

't going to let this happen. I would rather die. With all my strength, I bit down hard on m

sened for a split second. It was all I needed. I shoved him

ice muffled by the blood filling my mo

I had never seen before. It wasn't his usual cold anger; it was a hot, violent rage. He sa

on Mr. Harrison. He grabbed the larger man by the collar and slammed a fist into his fa

n the floor. Then he turned to me. His chest was heaving,

?" He grabbed the knife from my hand and flung it across the room.

to give me to another man. Now he was ang

e gentle then. He had smiled, a rare, breathtaking sight. He'd handed me a lapis lazuli bead that had fallen from my bracelet. "For protection," he'd said, echoing

ore me, that memory felt like a

I sank to my knees, the

aid, my voice surprisingly steady

g in the air between u

t in the eye, "is that you let me take Aspen with me.

d itself was poison. He took a step toward me, and then another. He grabbed my shoulders a

wife." He shoved me hard, and my head hit the corner of the dining table. The wo

hospital this time. The rhythmic beeping of a heart monitor was the only

miliar, wet warmth in my throat. I coughed i

ed the room. He was young, with k

said gently. "I'm D

e strain. The malnutrition, the internal injuries from... the substance you

t me like a

ou saying?"

even sharper. "I'm saying you don't have much time lef

w mo

ed. It was no longer a symbol of hope. It was a mockery. A

as a patient. As a slave. Courtland forced me to perform the most demeaning manual labor. I scrubbed floors, cleaned t

taff delighted

on, kicking over a bucket of dirty water I had j

mess, I overheard two of

insley is coming back

hought she w

ed her to live here. He w

d. Kinsley. Ali

ldn't