Dark Need by Clarissa Wild

Chapter 42

Soren

I seeher image in front of me, but how could it be real?

How could she be truly here?

It must be a figment of my imagination. A cruel one, too, because I’ve wanted nothing more than to see her face again, hold her in my arms, and kiss her lips until the shame fades away and there’s nothing left but her and me.

But that can’t ever happen. I’m here on the island, and she … she’s safe, where she should be.

If only my brain could get the fucking memo.

“Soren. Look at me.” The hands force my head up again, and I lose myself in those starry eyes that carry an ocean of hurt. “I’m here.”

Her voice crackles with pain, and it makes me want to lash out. But when I shift, I’m reminded of the shackles around my wrists and feet and the agonizing pain that accompanies movement.

“Don’t move,” she whispers.

Warm hands wrap around my body, gathering me into an embrace. The warm feeling that fills me is familiar and something I haven’t felt in a long while. Could it be … really her?

“You …” I mutter.

“It’s me, April,” she murmurs, burying her face in my shoulder. “I’m so sorry.”

“April.” Saying her name is like whispering a wish into the wind.

Like I’m not supposed to say it out loud.

Like I could make this illusion disappear if I only blink.

And I mutter, “Am I dreaming?”

“No, I’m really here. You’re not dreaming.” She doesn’t hesitate one second to put multiple kisses on my cheek. “I’m here.”

“But how?” My voice is raspy, strained, but I still try because I need to know.

“That note you gave me. It led me to Amelia,” she replies.

I’d already forgotten about that.

It was supposed to be a failsafe. In case she’d ever want to see the other girls kept at the House again. I didn’t realize she’d use it to … find me.

“Then I flew here and took a boat ride to the island. After I got Tobias to tell me where you went.”

“You went to the House?” I growl, jerking the chains from the burning rage in my chest.

She has no idea how dangerous that is. Tobias could’ve taken her right back inside again, and then all the time we spent together, all the choices I made will all have been in vain.

“I needed to know where you were,” she replies, clutching my face with both hands. “I needed to know you were safe.” Her eyes flicker with worry. “But you’re in chains and bleeding.”

She touches the wounds on my back, and I hiss in pain.

“Who did this to you?” she asks, quickly taking her fingers off my back.

“My trainer. She was not pleased.”

She fishes a piece of cloth from her bag and gently pats my face with it. “Because of the metal or because you failed?”

“Both.”

My trainer whipped me a couple of times during the week, and she used my body to teach other trainees. I’m not angry or upset. I’m used to pain. Besides, I did the same thing to others while I was in training. It’s expected of us, so I don’t blame them.

But I do blame myself.

“You don’t deserve this,” she says.

“Yes, I do,” I retort.

But she wouldn’t understand. She’s not from here. If she was, she’d know we never stray from the path. And the course is set for us by the women who rule this place.

She sits down in front of me again and makes me look at her. “You did the right thing. You gave me what I needed the most, and it cost you … everything.”

I avert my eyes. It’s too painful. “You shouldn’t have come.”

“What?” She frowns. “Why would you say that?”

“These barracks are dangerous,” I reply, coughing from the pain in my stomach after all the beatings I took. “If the guards see you, then you’ll lose your free—”

Suddenly, her lips smash onto mine.

It’s heavenly and out of this world. Just like I remember. And the cravings to smother her with love flood right back into my frozen heart, setting it ablaze. I groan with frustration at the fact that I’m tied up, wishing I could grab her and pull her close.

But I can’t.

I’m bound by the laws of my people.

And now she’s here too, endangering herself along with it.

So I pull away and say, “You have to go. Now. Before they find you.”

She looks me dead in the eyes, planting her forehead against mine. “I am not going anywhere. Not without you.”

I frown, confused. I gave her what she wanted. Why would she come here? Why does she care? I thought she hated me. “Why?”

“Because you gave me my freedom … but it cost you yours,” she says, caressing my cheeks. Tears form in her eyes, and if it weren’t for these chains, I would wipe them away myself.

“And I can’t let you do that.”

“You can and you will,” I growl, jerking the chains to get her frightened, to make her run. “Leave!”

But she won’t move. She keeps sitting in front of me with one hand on my cheek and one on my back.

“No. I’m not scared of you. Not anymore,” she says. “Nor of the consequences that come with falling for you.”

Falling …? Does she mean …?

She makes me look at her again. Even with all the bruises on my body, she still chooses to sit beside me and look at me without disdain, without shame. Instead, there is only warmth and gentleness where I’ve had none for days, maybe weeks, and it warms something in my body that I forgot existed.

What is it that she makes me feel that is so irresistible to me? That makes me feel like I could move mountains just to be with her?

“Thank you,” she whispers, and I close my eyes to listen to her sweet voice. “For giving me a taste of freedom. And I’m sorry it took me so long to find you.” Her eyes fill with tears. “Please … let me do this. Come with me.”

Suddenly, she pulls something out of her bag. Bolt cutters.

Before I can say anything, she cuts through the chains around my wrists one by one. My strength does the rest as I release myself from the bonds, groaning with pain. How could I not when she pleads with me like that? I’ve never wanted to make anyone happy, but for her … for her, I will break any rules.

I wrap my arms around her and hold her tight, taking in a whiff of her delicious scent to memorize it and keep it close in my heart.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers, sniffing. “I didn’t mean it when I said I hated you.”

I lean back and grab her chin, tilting it to meet my gaze. “Don’t apologize. Ever.”

And I smash my lips on hers, covering her mouth with mine to silence the doubt swirling through her eyes. Those words cut me like a knife, but she came all the way here to find me, and that means more than any words ever could.

Suddenly, the door smashes open, breaking the spell.

Her eyes immediately flick away from me and toward the door where two guards just stepped in, their gazes settling on her.

Panic flutters to the forefront of her eyes as she gets up, her legs quaking as they approach quickly. I roar out loud, ready to defend her at all cost.

“RUN!” I yell at her.

The guards rush at her the second they realize she isn’t from here, and she bolts off right past one of them. I try to intervene, but my feet are still chained to the ground.

Fuck!

One guard runs to me, but his eyes aren’t on me.

They’re on the bolt cutters.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

I jump to it, but not in time, as he kicks them away.

I lunge at him, but he jumps back, laughing … while his buddy chases April to the door and grabs her before she escapes. The squeal that follows tears a hole into my heart.

“No! Please!” she begs, and it makes me want to lash out.

But what the fuck can I do tied to the ground, with that guard right out of my reach?

I push myself to the limit, forcing my legs to extend as far as they possibly can while tied up, but the guard is still an inch out of my grasp. And he just stands there with his knife in his hands, grinning at me.

“Let her go,” I growl, wishing I could carve him a new smile.

The guard in front of me glances at his buddy, who sits on top of April and ties her wrists to her back. Then he turns his head to me, narrowing his eyes while speaking in our native tongue. “Take her. I’ll deal with this one.”

* * *

April

My feet dragbehind me as I struggle against the weight of my attacker, but he is far stronger than I am as he pulls me out the door.

“No! Soren!” I yelp.

“I’ll come for you!” he yells back, but as the door closes, the last thing I see is the other guard brutally beating his face in.

I look away, tears streaming down my face as I’m dragged farther away from the barracks. Terror floods my body as I look up at the man dragging me with him across the ground like a rag doll. I don’t know where he’s taking me or what’s going to happen. But I will not let them hurt me without putting up a fight.

“Where are you taking me?” I ask, but he doesn’t reply.

The fire brightens the sky as we pass the partying people and head straight into the village. Some people stop dancing and look at me with fear and disgust in their eyes. Some even gather their children and make them look away. It’s as if I’m the scary monster trying to eat their kids. But I’m not a monster. All I wanted to do was free Soren from his restraints and get us out of there, in whatever way. Is that such a crime?

I’m dragged up a hill to a hut. The tarp is pushed away, and I’m thrown inside, along with my bag. The guard throws me a foul glance before leaving, but I can still see his feet steady on the ground outside, which means he’s staying there to make sure I don’t run.

Fuck.

Suddenly, I hear the jingles of an armband. I tilt my head up toward the sound. A wrinkly old lady is looking down at me, her whole face covered in tattoos.

I crawl away into a corner, scared for what they might do to me. “Please, don’t hurt me,” I say, clutching my legs.

An old woman might not look threatening, but those guards out there sure do. Soren was raised here … and that means those men out there are just like him. Burly, strong, dangerous to the core. The mere sight of that knife made me complacent.

And if he brought me to this old woman, that can only mean one thing. Power.

She approaches me like I’m some kind of wildling, taking quick steps and then slow ones, confusing the fuck out of me until she’s right in front of me and I have no way out. With her cane, she slides aside a part of my shirt, revealing my shoulder, and she curiously glances at it with a frown. Then she bends over and clutches my chin, pushing my head side to side.

“No markings,” she says with a clearly not English accent.

Markings? Is that what they call tattoos here?

“You don’t belong here,” she says, looking me directly in the eyes. “Tell me who you are.”

“April,” I say in a single breath, struggling to breathe. “Please, let me go. I was only trying to—”

“Tsk,” she interrupts. “Silence, child.”

Child?I haven’t been called that since I was ten.

What is this place?

No wonder Soren was so adamant about following the rules, seeing where he was sent back to when he didn’t … and how they welcomed him back.

“Let Soren go,” I growl at her.

What is she going to do? Call that guard on me again?

He brought me here for a reason. She wanted to see me, which means she wants information. And I’m not going to give her anything until she gives me what I want.

She smirks and cocks her head, then gets up and opens the tarp to whisper to the guard. He leaves, only to come back minutes later with two more people. Two old women, to be exact, all wearing that same damn crown of leaves on their heads.

Are they the village elders or something? I’ve never seen women in a position of this kind of power before. It’d be intriguing if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m tied up and left to their mercy.

“So … this is the one?” one of the other older women says, who has the most wrinkles of all of them, and her skin seems covered in mud … or blood. Was she the one performing that ritual out there?

She approaches me, and I lean back, away from her fingers as she touches my skin and cheeks. A horrible stench is left on my skin, but I can’t brush it off, and it makes me want to vomit. Definitely animal blood.

The other, more timid one steps forward. Clutching her hands, she goes to her knees and looks at me. “Child. Tell us where you’re from.”

I don’t reply. I’m not about to give these women my address. Fuck no.

“How did you get to this island?”

“A boat,” I hiss.

“Whose?”

I shrug. I’m not going to throw my sailor under the bus.

“Why?” the other one with the blood on her skin asks.

I look her directly in the eyes. “For Soren.”

The other one gasps, and they all look at each other like they could never fathom someone coming here for one of their own.

They whisper amongst themselves, but I can hear them. The one with the cane says, “The guard told me she was trying to free him.”

“And I won’t stop until I’ve succeeded,” I respond, after which they all stare at me.

The one with the cane taps the floor while running her tongue across her teeth. She stands in front of me and goes to her knees while the other two elder ladies search my bag, inspecting every little thing that I brought, including a comb, a bottle of water, a sleeping bag, and a knife.

I wish I’d grabbed it before that guard got ahold of me.

The old woman in front of me clears her throat and taps the floor with her cane to catch my attention. “I’m curious, child. Why do you care so much about this one man?”

“Because he chose me and my happiness over his own freedom. That’s why.”

She frowns, but then a peculiar smile forms on her lips. “So you’re the one …”

The one? What does she mean?

“Soren told me about you and what you did to him.” She cocks her head and smiles. “You are the one who took away his honor.”

My eyes widen. Oh, God. Are they going to accuse me of taking away his virginity?

“It’s not like that. He was in pain, I tried to help him, and then—”

She covers my mouth with her hand. “We don’t speak of such heinous acts here.” When she removes her hand again, she continues. “Our customs are sacred to us. But he has tasted the forbidden fruit, and now he must be punished.”

“Forbidden fruit?” I splutter. This is ridiculous.

They’re just like that cult.

“You stomped all over his pride and then decided it was a good idea to defile our island as well.”

“I’m saving him from your insane rules,” I hiss back.

Her eyes narrow. “You think we are insane?” She laughs, but it’s not gentle. Or nice. In fact, it sounds more like she’s laughing at me. But then her face turns so serious all of a sudden that it brings goose bumps to my skin. “We are the Vikholm people. We do not fear, as there is only beauty beyond death.”

She gets up from the ground and stands among the other elders, their heads held high, their thorny crowns making me swallow in awe.

“You are from the outside world, where men strike fear into the hearts of women,” she says, all of them looking at me like I’m the evil one. “Here, women make the rules.”

I suck in a breath. “Then you are no better than the outside world. Punishing men, inflicting wounds, just because they removed a piece of metal you put on their bodies.” I spit on the ground in front of me. “Fuck your rules. Soren doesn’t deserve what you did to him. He did the right thing by freeing me.”

She approaches me again and tilts up my head by my chin until it hurts. “Yet you are here … chained, helpless. So what did that freedom bring you?”

Tears well up in my eyes. “I came here to do the right thing and free him from more pain inflicted on him by you.”

“He did that to himself,” she says, sighing as she turns around again.

“You clearly misunderstand, girl. Our men live to serve this community,” the other gentler lady says. “They devote their lives to their calling, whether it is serving us or serving another owner. It is the greatest honor to be dismissed after completing their mission and come back to us.”

“To claim their prize …” the bloodied elder says, and she opens the tarp and shows me the bonfire outside along with the people dancing there. She points at a particular woman, solemnly sitting at a table where she’s rolling yarn into a ball, the look in her eyes mournful.

“What?” I mutter.

What does she want me to see?

“Soren was meant to be hers,” she says.

My eyes widen.

That woman … was she supposed to be with Soren?

Thatwas his prize for bringing me to the cult?

For completing his mission and being dismissed by the House?

The older woman who was here first slams her cane into the ground right in front of my feet, making me jolt back into my corner. “Instead, you defiled him. Took from him what wasn’t yours to take. You ruined him.”

Tears well up in my eyes as she looks down at me.

“You come here to break rules that weren’t meant to be broken. Soren is where he is supposed to be. He accepted his punishment to regain his honor. And you try to destroy his only chance to regain his honor.”

I gasp.

Soren didn’t want me … No wonder he told me I shouldn’t have come. That I should … leave.

“Do you see it now, child?” she murmurs. “Everything is as it should be … without you, Soren would’ve thrived.”

“Stop,” I beg. “Please. I can’t … I … please just let me go. I promise I’ll go away.”

I don’t know what to say anymore, but I have to do something to make her stop.

Maybe I shouldn’t have come. Maybe it would’ve been better for Soren.

But I don’t think they’ll allow me to leave.

She smiles. “You came here uninvited, sneaking into our homes … and now you wish us to stop?” She shakes her head. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Panic entrenches in my heart. “No. You can’t do that.” I look at all the women, but they seem serious. “I’ll call the cops,” I say in a desperate attempt to intimidate them.

But all they do is laugh. “Child, do you honestly think policemen come to this island?” the gentler one says.

The bloodied one steps forward. “No outsiders come here. This is our land.” They come closer and closer until there’s no way I can creep out from their grabby hands. “And what happens here … stays here.”

The oldest stomps her cane onto the ground, and the guard comes back inside to whisk me away. I try to fight him off, but I’m powerless against his strength as he drags me away from the hut and toward another one on the other side of the bonfire. All the people here look at me like I’m a criminal in need of punishment, and I scream out loud to try to capture their attention, to let me free.

Instead, I’m thrown inside, and the door is locked behind me.

I scramble up from the floor and jerk the door handle.

“Let me out! I didn’t do anything!” I yell through the small opening in the door.

The guard looks at me through the hole and narrows his eyes. “Your language is despicable.”

I make a face. “So are you for doing this to me!”

I jerk the door a few more times, but of course, he locked it from the outside. Panic washes over me. “What’s going to happen to me? And what about Soren?”

“The Elders will decide over his fate as well as yours.”