Ruin (Rhodes #1) by Rina Kent

                             It’s...euphoric.





                             Chapter Sixteen

                             Mae



                             Blankness washes over me like a calm wave rinsing the sand. The wave soon turns into an enraged fury, colliding with my psyche like crashing into a rocky shore.

                             It isn’t enough to smother the fire inside me.

                             It hurts. Breathing hurts. The soft material underneath me hurts. The air on my skin hurts. The guttural sound of my sobs hurts. My chaotic mind hurts. But my chest, my chest hurts the worst. It’s breaking brick by brick.

                             I can scarcely register the raw, strangled cries as my own. Their sheer force constricts my throat and trembles my body. I tighten my arms around my anchor, face nuzzling further into the soft material. My tears and a cedar scent saturate my face, and I cling to them with all my might. They’re fragments of a much-needed reality.

                             A strong arm wraps around me. Warmth erupts in my chest. It’s not burning. No. It’s more... soothing. It allows me to breathe between my gasps.

                             My mind is so warped to analyse the identity of who holds me. So I cling to him with no thoughts.

                             I don’t know how long I sob into his chest. He sits there, one unmoving arm around my waist in a tight hold.

                             “Sleep, little bird.” His soft, deep voice rings in my ear. “Just sleep.”

                             Slowly, my gasps turn into sighs and my hiccoughs fade to the background. My lids flutter close.

                             As if he’s cast a spell over me, sleep whisks me away.



                             . . . . .



                             A pounding in my skull wakes me up. I groan as my hands fly to the side of my head in a fruitless attempt to stop the assault.

                             No covers. I sit up in bed and glance at my lap. Cotton underwear. I wince. Who undressed me, again?

                             I shake my head, which makes the headache worse. My hand moves to the night table.

                             Please let there be painkillers.

                             My arm is suspended mid-air when a shadow appears at the corner of the room. Before I can identify the shape, it dashes towards me. Its speed sends slicing razors to my heart.

                             God. Please no, no, no...

                             I propel my legs to move but they’re frozen as if shackled to the bed. The shadow hovers over me. I scream. No sound comes out.

                             “Aaron!” I feel my mouth forming his name, but there’s no sound. There’s nothing. The room is a bottomless black. There’s nothing. The face of the man over me is lines of grey. There’s nothing but disgusting cigar smell gagging my nostrils.

                             I scream again. This time, the sound is so loud, I jolt into a sitting position. My tortured breaths are the only sound in the room. Not my room. A black-and-grey-decorated room. My booming heart rate slows down a little when my brain catches up with reality.