Page 37 of Break Me
I quiver all over as the guard approaches. But as he closes in, I realize it’s not just any guard or trainer. It’s the brute. The one with the long scar down his face. I feel his energy like a threat of violence waiting to be unleashed, hanging thick in the air.
A shaking sensation settles deep in my bones, and I can’t help the fearful whimper that escapes me as he stops in front of me.
“What the hell are you doing here?” Digging his fingers into my jaw, he lifts my face and studies it. Then recognition seems to strike as he watches the muzzle. “You’re Dax’s girl.” He stabs a finger through the air toward the cell, his voice rising with fury. “Is he in there?”
I give a quick shake of my head.
“Then why the hell are you here?” Pulling my head forward, he tugs at the buckle, then pushes my head back when he finds it locked. He glances toward the cell, and the furrow between his brows deepens into a terrifying expression. “Have you bothered her? Have you opened the hatch?”
Ripping his hand from my chin, he grips the door handle, pressing his finger to the scanner to unlock the door. Lavinia must have still been leaning against the door because she shuffles, almost losing her balance as he yanks the door open. He catches her, wrapping an arm around her back as he grips her jaw to study her face. I take the chance to step away, to the other side of the hall.
As I watch him lower her to the padded floor with gentle care, I realize I should run. But before the impulse can reach my legs, Dorin turns to me with a deep, feral growl, and I’m like a deer in headlights as he accuses, “You made her cry.” He unclips a baton from his belt and lifts it into the air. “You’ll fucking pay for that.”
Heart racing in my chest, I back up toward the wall and sink down against it. Huddled in a defensive position, I lift my arms to shield my face and brace for the impending blow.
“No, Dorin, stop,” Lavinia begs as she rushes forward and shoots between us, shielding me with her body. “She comforted me.”
I’m about to try and scream as I think he’s going to hit her, but he merely shoves her aside. “Get back to your cell.”
But Lavinia is not giving up. She steps back between us, and panic kicks into my furious heart as I consider shoving her aside to avoid provoking the beast further and getting us both beaten up. But I’m not as brave as her. I don’t dare to go against Dorin. I just sit there, shaking as I try not to look at them.
“She helped me,” Lavinia says with a deep plea in her voice. “Please, just leave her be.”
Grabbing her arm, he hauls her toward the opposite wall. Taking a carabiner hook from his pocket, he snaps it onto the back of the straitjacket. With a hard yank, he pulls her up against the wall and snaps it onto a hook. “Don’tfucking bang your head against the wall, or I’ll shoot you up with so many drugs that all you can do is drool out your fucking mouth.”
She gives a quick nod, and then he turns toward me again.
I should run, I should run, I should run,is all I can think as he approaches. But all I can do is sit there, frozen in place by his brutal stare.
“No one hurts what’s mine.” Leaning down, he grabs my hair so hard it smarts at the roots and lifts the baton into the air.
I cry out behind the muzzle and squeeze my eyes shut.
“Stop!” a sharp, authoritative voice demands from down the hall. It cuts through the silence and echoes off the walls.
And makes Dorin stop.
I pant hard as I glance to the side to see Mikhail approaching with firm strides, his fancy oxfords making a quick succession of clicks that ring out through the barren corridor.
“Don’t. Touch her,” he warns with a coldness that could freeze an ocean. He lifts his phone to his ear and seems to wait for someone to pick up.
“She made my girl cry,” Dorin says as he tightens his grip on my hair. I whimper as I feel a tuft loosen from the roots.
“She didn’t. She didn’t make me cry,” Lavinia tries to explain, jerking against the straitjacket, but neither man listens to her, and nothing gives as she keeps jerking.
“Cell one, now. It’s your girl,” Mikhail demands into the phone, then pockets it and holds a finger up to Dorin. “You’d better not put a single scratch on her. She’s Dax’s girl, and you know the deal.”
Dorin makes a feral snarl, loosening and tightening his grip on my hair.
“Get the fuck off her!” a new voice barks.
Turning my attention to the end of the hall, I see a furious Dax hurrying toward us. He’s teeming with murderous energy, his thick biceps bulging with impending violence as he clenches his fist. His eyes are like burning coals as he goes straight for Dorin, ready to rip his throat.
Dax lifts his fist, and I curl up on myself, praying I won’t get caught in the crossfire when the two men go at each other. But just before Dax strikes, Dorin releases me and steps back, hands in the air.
In an instant, Dax is at my side, pulling me into his arms, turning and checking me. “Are you okay?” he asks as he searches my head for bruises or other signs of damage. “Did he hurt you?”
Shaking my head, I decide not to tell him about the hair Dorin ripped loose, afraid he’ll go straight back into attack mode.