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April

In the dark of night, I’ed out of my bed

It takes es to come to my senses, my mind still enraptured by the dream I cannot escape I’rass surrounding the huts at the Holy Land, every step feeling like I’ farther and farther away from home

Home … that tiny house in a rural town, a place I once knew before I was taken

Before I became a prisoner to a cult

My eyes spring open, and I’m here, in the flesh, back in the present, but this new roohtmare And a man’s hand is clutched firht out of my bed

“What are you doing?” Ifro torn away from me

It’s only when I’ve blinked a couple of ti

Soren

One of the three odforsaken house

The quiet, beefy one with the blond beard who rarely speaks has coain

Where will I go this time? Another cult?

Have I disappointed yet another group of men?

Snide remarks come to mind, and in a rip and say, “No”

He stops in his tracks, but it is only when he raises his shoulders, straightens his posture, and arches his back that I realize just how huge and muscular he really is And how tiny I am in comparison

Slowly, he spins on his heels, every inch of his thick, veinyWhen his piercing blue eyes bore into mine, I’m momentarily at a loss of words … and breath

One step of his giant feet is all it takes to make me back down, to make me want to cower, but my mind tells me not to be swayed by his attempt to intimidate me

What is he going to do?

Hurt me?

He’s not allowed

After all, he isn’t the one in charge

One of the other two men who runs this place is Eli

And when Eli tells hioods, he’ll definitely take that to heart

These men aren’t like the men from the Holy Land They’re not here to satisfy their own needs They’re here to punish me for mine

But I refuse to let uilty for what happened to me

Not even as Soren stares atdo I waver in ht

“Lettoa beast of a man

The only response I get is a brief bear-like grunt His nostrils flare, and he holds out his hand “Come”

My eyes narrow, and so do his

His voice lowers “Now”

It’s not a question

And I don’t know if I want to find out what happens if I don’t listen

It’s the ht There’s no reason this can’t wait untilis about to happen

“Tellon,” I say

His eyes widen, and his face becoswith him “Follow”