38. Mistakes

Chapter thirty-eight

Mistakes

*AZURITE*

I can see the dark wrath in Night's eyes; his whole body is tense, and his teeth gritted. He exudes so much power and uncontrolled anger that I find myself cowering in the corner of the room. "What did you do?" he yells.

He pushes past me, towards the two men, PJ and his friend Sky. Between them, equally terrified like I am, with a cut on her forehead and her hands tied in silver, is a young woman. She is trembling in fear.

"Why did you bring this whore into my house!?" Night yells.

"She has the correct blood group," Sky says.

Night pauses, a malicious sneer on his face, and then, without any warning, he backhands Sky so hard the man flies against the wall and then drops to the ground. "She is a marked she-wolf!"

I stare at the scene in front of me, noticing how Night is screaming; furious, more so than ever. He is always an angry and dangerous man. Junior comes running into the room, too, probably to soothe the situation or do something . My eyes wander through the room, noticing the small bag PJ usually carries around is on the floor. He must have dropped it during the commotion.

It's like my body suddenly switches to autopilot.

I can't save myself anymore. I am not even sure anymore who I am or what I want, but Opal—I mean Annette—is so young and so sad, and maybe she can have a chance. I quietly crawl towards the bag, opening it with shaky fingers.

Footsteps and loud voices reverberate around me. Someone tosses something, and I flinch in fear, but when I gaze back at the scene, it's still the men fighting. The new woman Sky brought along has been knocked out and is lying on the ground.

I shift my attention back to the bag, and without thinking any further, I grab the key. It's like an out-of-body experience, like it's not me doing it, but someone has taken over my body. The guys sometimes talk about their wolf spirits, and I wonder if I have one too, and if I ever will meet her or if I'm truly going insane and all I've seen is a dream—a nightmare.

Used to sneaking around, I silently crawl out of the room and down the corridor. I don't dare to get up and walk, too scared they will notice me. If they do, I can only hope that Night kills me.

"Annette," I whisper when I find her room. Through the bars, I hand her the keys. "The small one locks your room," I whisper. "The rusty one is the front door. Leave your room, go down the corridor, through the kitchen, and then out!"

"No," Annette whispers, shocked. "I can't… I…"

"I can't remember my name anymore," I mutter. "I don't know who I am. Everything is so blurred."

Annette stares at me.

"There have been many girls like you here," I whisper. "They were brought away. Sometimes men come to look at them. I've never seen one again."

Annette swallows thickly.

Looking at her in the eyes, I say, "I was a bit younger than you were when he found me. I can't remember my old life anymore. Opal, Annette… I can't remember. You need to be brave now."

Annette takes a shaky breath, grabbing the keys. "I'm scared."

"I know, but nothing is worse than what will happen if you stay," I say. I don't exactly know what Night does with his gems; there have been whispers about it, but deep inside, I know it isn't good. I know none of them are with us anymore. "Run," I whisper. "Don't hesitate. I will try to keep Night occupied, and if you manage to get back home—"

"I will get help," Annette whispers, sudden resolution in her eyes. She grabs the bars. "You told me your name. It's Meg. Meg!"

"Meg," I whisper. It sounds foreign to my ears.

I turn away from Opal and start crawling back to the room where Night is still going crazy. The slight click of the door behind me indicates Opal is truly leaving. I don't turn around. I need to use my whole willpower to return to Night.

Something in my head tells me to leave with Opal, but I can't. There are still gemstones here. I can't leave when they are in danger. And no matter what, Night's going to notice my disappearance fast. I can just hope he hasn't already.

I make it back to the room, returning to my corner and cowering there. Night is still screaming while Junior tries to protect PJ and Sky from his wrath. I don't know how long they fight, but eventually, they calm down.

"I have had enough," Night huffs, gesturing towards the she-wolf Sky brought along. "Lock her in somewhere until I know how we'll get rid of her. Then, bring me the other gemstones. We will prepare them for the auction."

I stay in my position, not moving. Night turns around to me shortly, nodding when he sees me. "Good girl," he sneers.

Junior and PJ don't take long, both of them terrified of Night's wrath. I notice the three gems they bring along. It's the one I saw last time, the beta male with them. Night looks at them. "Have they not eaten? They are too skinny!"

As if to prove his point, Night steps forward, tugging one of the girls forward and ripping the clothes off her body. He squeezes her breasts. "There is no meat on this girl. How will we sell her if she looks like that, huh?"

Junior lowers his head. "I will make sure she eats more."

Night grabs the girl, turning her around and pressing her back against his chest. His hand moves over her body. The girl whimpers in fear.

"Leave her alone!" the beta male suddenly yells, stepping forward. "Stop it, you fucking coward!"

"What did you say?" Night sneers, his eyes flashing. Fear fills me, yet I can't look away.

With one swift moment, Night pushes the girl to Junior, grabs the guy's head, and snaps his neck. Laughing when his lifeless body drops to the ground. Just like that, he has killed him. It's not the first time this has happened, but I can't get used to it. I feel sick to my stomach.

The other girl convulses, throwing up to the floor. "Take them away," Night huffs to Junior. "They are an eyesore. Make sure they look good tomorrow! And you," he turns to PJ "clean up."

PJ looks up, shocked, before gazing towards me. "Isn't that her job?"

"Listen, asshole," Night hisses. "Your life hangs on a thin thread. You and your friend there fucked up. Make sure he wakes up, so he can help you clean, get rid of that waste's body, and then you will think of a good plan about what to do with the whore you brought along."

PJ doesn't dare to oppose and lowers his head, while Night shifts his attention back to me. Opal is still on the run; she can't have gotten that far. I swallow thickly, trying to will down the bile I feel in my stomach before smiling shyly at Night.

It seems to work because he cocks his head. "Azurite," he whispers, walking towards me and grabbing me by my arm to tug me up. He takes me with him towards his private room. "Azurite, my most beautiful gem," he whispers while he pushes me towards the bed.

I look at him, anxiety spreading through me. He hates it when I don't look at him. He is rougher then angrier.

"You are my gem, aren't you?"

"Yes," I whisper.

"You know what I like?" he asks while he pulls the dress off my body. His eyes gaze over me. I'm not sure why he always looks at me like that. I'm dirty and scarred. Why does he think I'm a gem?

"You are exactly like Dad said you would be," he whispers. "You grew up to look like her."

Dad? It's the first time I hear about Night's father. "I didn't know," I mutter. "That he is… well…"

"He isn't alive anymore," Night says darkly, while settling between my legs. He gets rid of his shirt before hovering over me. "He was a loser. He let his woman get away, although she was his perfect gem."

My heart starts to beat faster. What is he talking about? It can't be… no way. In a far corner of my mind, I remember a photograph. I remember how I sat on a bed, and an older man pointed at the picture and said it was my mom. I can barely remember, though. All my memories from before Night took me are getting more and more blurred daily.

"A gem," I say in my daze. "I'm a gem."

"Yes, Azurite," he whispers. "You and your mother were rare gems. I'm not a loser like my father, not a weakling. I will make sure to keep you under my protection. No one will steal you or take you away." I turn my head to the side, trying to will down my disgust and fear, when I feel him push into me. It still hurts like the first time. I can't help but whimper in pain. Night, however, doesn't seem to notice; he is completely in his own haze. "You are mine. You belong to me. My father might have lost your mother, but I found you, and I made sure to take my favorite possession with me."

His breath feels too hot on my skin, like it's burning me, and I have to fight back not to throw up. My heart hurts so much. What did I do to deserve this? Hopefully, hopefully, it was worth it and Opal escaped.

"Night?" A voice comes closer, and someone knocks at the door.

Night stops his movement, glaring furiously at the door. "Junior, are you insane!?"

"She is gone," Junior yells in panic.

"Who?" Night growls when he climbs off the bed, and I feel both relieved and terrified. Relieved to have him off me, terrified of the news Junior brings.

Night opens the door to face the other man. Junior doesn't even pay attention to me; instead, he looks at Night in terror. "That young girl, Opal. When I went to bring her dinner, her cell was empty."

A growl erupts from the room, and I cower back into the bed. "WHAT!?" Night screams. "Turn every piece of this house around. And make sure to head out to search for that little bitch! And find out how she did it! Whoever helped her will wish to never have been born."