Read Into the Ashes [The Arcadians 2] for Free Online Page A

was
    wrong. I do not want to change you,
    Raven. You are no slave to us. You
    are beloved in every way. You will
    see how much you mean to us.”
    She looked away and waited until
    she heard the sound of the door to the
    bedroom shutting before she could
    breathe again. She had felt their
    remorse through whatever fucked up
    bond they had created with her. Hell,
    she still felt them, but she was too
    angry to care. They had seen her ugly
    past and it sickened her that they
    knew what had happened to her. She
    had been a victim once, and swore it
    would never happen again.
    Unfortunately for her, it was.
    She was stuck here and now
    essentially belonged to three men she
    didn’t know. They had overwhelmed
    her, and part of that shame was hers.
    She had felt their hunger for her and
    it had fueled her own. Truthfully, she
    had wanted them with a passion that
    shocked her to the core. Until Tristan
    had grabbed her hands like that and
    held her down.
    Confusion filled her mind. She
    knew that she should be grateful that
    they had stopped when they had.
    Raven understood that another set of
    men might not have. She was in a
    strange world, with strange customs,
    and could be forced into a number of
    horrifying scenarios. But the true
    reason she was so upset was that she
    had felt a connection with them. A
    part of her had believed Kadan when
    he had said they wouldn’t hurt her.
    But they had betrayed that trust, not
    matter that it had been unknowingly.
    She felt their self-loathing and their
    desire to make it up to her, but it was
    too hard to just let it go. She’d been
    hurt by too many people in the past
    for her to trust easily and now that
    they had betrayed her she wasn’t sure
    what to do.
    Hearing the door open, Raven
    slowly slid off the large bed, wanting
    to be on her feet when she confronted
    Kadan and Tristan again. She had
    officially reached her limits for today
    and couldn’t deal with anymore
    bullshit. She turned around prepared
    to blast them, only to freeze in shock.
    Holy fucking shit…
    Raven stared at the large lion-like
    creature as it butted its head against
    the door, slowly opening it so it
    could enter the room. It padded into
    the room, looking around then locked
    eyes on her. It let out a soft growl that
    had Raven backing away slowly. Her
    heart pounded so hard it felt like it
    was going to jump out of her chest.
    The large creature followed her
    every move, tracking her as she
    slowly pulled the thin blanket from
    the bed and backed away, out to the
    balcony.
    Fuck!
    After all that she had been through,
    she was damned if she was going to
    let herself be eaten by a frickin’ hell-
    cat. Part of her wanted to call out, to
    scream for Tristan and Kadan to
    come save her, but she had depended
    on herself for far too long to leave
    her survival to someone she barely
    knew.
    Without taking her eyes off the
    large animal stalking her she quickly
    looped the blanket around one of the
    stone columns of the balcony then
    tied the two ends together, praying
    that the damn creature wouldn’t
    follow her outside. She risked a
    quick glance over the edge and
    gulped at the sight of the long drop
    below. Of course they would have to
    be as high as the heavens. The castle
    had been built into the side of a
    mountain overlooking a large pink
    sea and the balcony seemed to be
    carved out of the mountain itself. If
    she fell into the water from this
    height, it would surely kill her. She
    hoped with everything in her that she
    wouldn’t have to use her make-shift
    escape route.
    Her heart dropped as the large
    creature slowly continued to track
    her. It let out a loud roar that had her
    scrambling over the side of the
    balcony in terror.
    Shit! She really was going to have
    to this.
    When the animal lunged forward
    Raven wound her hands into the
    material in a firm grip and slid down
    so she was sitting in the makeshift
    sling she had created. The good thing
    was that she was now out of the
    creature’s