The next morning, I woke up with Anna nestled against me, her body warm and soft in my arms. She was still sleeping soundly, her head resting on my shoulder like she belonged there. She looked almost angelic, her golden hair splayed out, with one stray strand stuck in her mouth. I reached out slowly, carefully lifting her head and setting it down on the bed as I slid out.
As I moved, she mumbled in her sleep, her voice soft and sweet. “Mmmm… I love you, Darling…”
I chuckled quietly, unable to resist running my fingers through her hair one last time before I got dressed. After pulling on my clothes, I stepped outside. Erick was already there, stirring something over a fire, and the smell of food hit me immediately.
“Oh? So, did you have a good night?” he asked with that shit-eating grin plastered on his face. He knew I’d spent the night with Anna, and he was enjoying it far too much.
“Yeah,” I said with a small smirk. “Slept pretty well, actually.”
And it was true. Anna’s body had a way of making everything feel easy—warm, soft, comforting. Of course, I’d had plenty of “pleasant” nights with my other women, but it wasn’t like I was about to start comparing. That’d be rude as hell.
“Haha, yeah? That’s good to hear! Well, how about we grab some lunch? Can you wake her up for me?” he asked, still grinning like an idiot.
I shrugged. No reason to say no, but there was something I needed to handle first.
“I’ll check on the woman,” I told him.
His grin dropped instantly, his face tightening. “That woman…” he muttered darkly. “She’s tougher than she looks. She tried biting through the power dampener, and she even went as far as twisting her limbs, trying to break free.”
That sounded insane, no doubt about it. But knowing what the Eclipse was capable of and the lengths they’d go to achieve their goals, it wasn’t surprising. That woman seemed to be cut from the same cloth.
“Can I get some food? I want to feed her.”
“Sure,” Erick said, handing me a plate of food.
“Be careful when you go in there,” he said, flashing me a grin. “Not that you can’t beat her ass again if she tries anything.”
I waved him off and headed toward the barn. The old wooden door creaked as I pushed it open, the smell of dust and hay filling the air as I stepped inside. There she was—slumped against the wall, wrists raw and bloody. She’d clearly been at it all night, trying to twist and tear herself free. I’d healed her bones before, after she’d blown them apart using her skill, but seeing her now, bloodied and broken, I had no intention of healing her again. She made her bed; now she could lie in it.
Her eyes snapped open as soon as she sensed me, the fury in her gaze sharp enough to cut. She glared at me with every ounce of hate she could muster.
“I brought you some food,” I said, kneeling down to her level, my voice steady. “You didn’t eat last night, so I’m guessing you’re starving by now.”
I scooped up some of the food with the spoon and held it near her lips. The steam rose between us, the warmth of it brushing against her face. “Careful, it’s hot.”
She turned her head away, stubborn as ever, like she had no interest in eating or letting me feed her. But then her stomach growled loudly.
“You might not want to eat, but your body’s betraying you,” I said. “So, what’s it gonna be? Take a bite? Or do you want me to eat it first to make sure I didn’t poison your food?”
She kept her silence, her eyes stubbornly avoiding mine, locking onto anything but me. It was obvious she didn’t want to talk. Had I really shattered her pride? Probably. I had just beaten her at what she held most dear—her skill, her confidence, her power. That had to sting.
With a sigh, I placed the spoon back on the plate and lowered it to the ground, watching her closely. She was tough, but she wasn’t invincible.
“If you don’t want to eat, fine. But you’re going to tell me… where’s your hideout?” I asked, my voice dropping low, adding weight to the question.
This was the one piece of intel that even the Shadows couldn’t crack. The Eclipse hideout. We didn’t know if there was just one or if there were multiple, but they were impossible to track down. Clues? Sure, we had those. But every lead we followed ended up at a dead end, over and over again.
“Why would I tell you that?” she spat, venom dripping from her words.
“Because you don’t have a choice.”
She laughed—low, bitter, full of venom. “I’m dead either way. So go ahead. Do it. I’d rather die loyal to my Lord than betray him. You want to kill me? Do your worst.”
Her words cut, but I wasn’t fazed. She wasn’t backing down, even in the face of death. I had to admit, there was something impressive about her stubborn defiance, the way she stared down her own demise without a single flinch. It was almost admirable. Almost.
But that didn’t stop the frustration boiling up inside me. She had the kind of strength and grit I could respect, and yet here she was, wasted on an organization like the Eclipse. That loyalty, that fierce will, all chained to their twisted goals. It pissed me off. The fact that a woman like her belonged to them made me sick.
“I’m still wondering how the fuck you ended up with the Eclipse,” I said. “Doesn’t it bother you? Women being raped, kidnapped, taken to God knows where? Especially as a woman yourself?”
She met my gaze with a cold, dead expression, her eyes devoid of any empathy. “I don’t feel anything,” she said, her voice as hollow as her stare. “As far as I’m concerned, those who don’t serve our Lord or our cause are nothing but scraps. Tools. Their only worth is to help bring our dreams to life. That’s all they are.” She spoke without a flicker of hesitation. “A woman is worthless unless the Lord has tasted her. I was nothing before Him. But now? Now I’ve been blessed by Him, chosen to serve Him. I’m His warrior, tasked with slaying those who have strayed from His vision. You’re one of them—you deserve to die.”
Her twisted logic hit like a punch to the gut. I couldn’t wrap my head around how warped she was. It was like she had drowned in her own insanity, fully embracing this fucked-up doctrine.
I leaned forward, my eyes narrowing, trying to find some crack in her devotion. “Who is this Lord of yours?” I asked, more curious now about the depth of her madness.
For the first time, her gaze snapped to mine, and something dark and fierce flickered behind her eyes. “The Great Darkness,” she whispered, her voice dripping with a kind of fanatical reverence that sent a chill down my spine.
