Chapter 18: Amri

I usually wake up after a night of nightmares with my head hurting and dried tears staining my face; but this morning, I wake up refreshed and smiling. Sore but smiling all the same.

I don't understand how this dream magic works, but I've realized if something happens in the dream, I awake to the effects of it. If I get kissed in the dream, my lips are swollen when I wake up. If I get stripped, bound to the bed and fucked within an inch of my life, I wake up naked, soaked between the thighs, and rope marks on my wrists. Not to mention the various cuts lining my body that aren't even old enough to scab over.

Jyl probably had a field day watching me in my sleep. If she even still does that with me and her brother not speaking.

Instead of waiting on Damion to come get me for breakfast, I decide to make my way to the cafeteria by myself. I quickly get dressed and braid my hair across my shoulder before walking out the door. None of the other patients are out right now, which is not that unusual. Sometimes I see Meth-head Molly in the woman's hallway at this time, or Sassy Susan, but most of the time they're already gone by the time I get up for breakfast. Probably because doors open at seven and I don't even wake up until eight. Most people aren't even in the cafeteria at this point.

Sure enough, when I walk in the only people I see are Crazy Ace, Magic Mike, and Tacky Tess.

I get me a light breakfast, so I don't throw any of it up during training – been there and done that – and find my normal seat in the back corner. I love this seat. The sun hits it just right at this time and warms my back as I people watch.

I bite into my apple and scan the cafeteria for anything interesting happening this morning. Everything looks normal, though. Or, as normal as Melford can be.

Tacky Tess sits with Crazy Ace, fidgeting with her hair that she has tied in a hundred different knots. Her clothes are messed up, as per usual, but today she has put an extra hole in her shirt somehow and has her arm stuck in the self-made one instead of the one it's supposed to be in.

Magic Mike sits muttering to himself across the room. Around him lays a few different items that I can't make out, but no doubt they're for the spell he keeps saying he has to perform to break out of here and get his love back. His story is one of the saddest to me. I've only had one conversation with him, but he is convinced he's a born witch, trapped without his powers in Melford because they know who he truly is, and all he wants is to get back to the woman he loves. Day in and day out, he searches Melford and its inhabitants for materials he could use to try another spell to finally break Melford's hold on him.

I tilt my head, watching him and trying to read his lips while I finish up my apple. He keeps saying the name Nick, I think, and he's starting to look really frustrated. He picks one of the items up and I see a baby pinecone from outside. What's a pinecone going to do? I have no idea.

I finish up my apple and reach to grab my fork, but it's snatched from the table before I have the chance to. I narrow my eyes, looking up to the fork thief standing in front of me with a smirk on his face.

"Good morning, Royce. What can I do for you?" I sit back in my chair and cross my arms, watching Royce as he stabs the fork through a grape and pops it in his mouth.

"Well, Amri, I walked through the door, looking for something to eat, and low and behold – there you were."

"Haha, very funny. Now give me back my fork." I reach my hand out toward him but snatch it back when I remember the bruising on my wrists. It doesn't take a genius to realize what those marks are, and the last thing I need is staff asking questions or thinking that Damion did it.

"Woah there." Royce walks around the table and grabs my arm, yanking it above his head and smiling when he sees my wrist. "Now what are these, huh, Amri?"

I snatch my arm back and tuck my hands under my thighs. "None of your damn business."

"You like it rough, do you?" He steps closer to me, leaning down and releasing a heavy breath on my face. "I can give it to you rough."

"Thanks, but no thanks. If I wanted a charity case, I'd sleep with Neil."

His face gets red as his fists clench at his sides. "Want to say that again, slut?"

I stand up, looking up at Royce with my eyes full of fire. "Did you call me a slut? "

He takes another step forward, backing me into the wall behind me. My eyes widen as I realize he's got me cornered. Fucking stupid, stupid Amri. One of the first things Zain taught me was to never let myself get cornered.

"I did. Or should I call you a whore? You've clearly already got those other two pussy whipped. Why don't you let me have a turn to see what all the fuss is about?"

I hear a soft laugh behind him, "Damion, did I hear what I think I heard?"

Royce turns around, snarling when he sees Callyx and Damion behind him. "Hello boys."

"Do you want to repeat what you said to my woman?" Callyx cracks his knuckles, and his smile turns deadly.

"Are you threatening me, pretty boy?" Royce leaves me behind as he approaches Callyx.

"We're threatening you, you fucking ogre. Now, do you want to repeat what you just said to Amri, or should we skip ahead to us kicking your ass?" Damion steps forward, making it known to Royce and me both that he stands with Callyx.

What does this mean? Is he accepting Callyx and Zain? Is he accepting me? His eyes dart over to where I stand, scanning down my body, widening when he sees the shallow cuts on my arms and the bruises on my wrists. Well, fuck.

"Surely sharing her with one more person won't make a difference. I promise not to hurt her…much."

Callyx laughs again, snapping his neck to the side and cracking it. He cocks his fist back, but before he can get the chance to throw his punch, the guards yell at him to stop.

"Mr. Vaviri! Would you like to go back to solitary?"

Callyx sighs, rolling his eyes. "No. "

"Mr. Blide, get a handle on your patient." A guard walks up and stares at Damion, disapproval heavy in his glare.

"Yes, sir. Mr. Odin here is harassing my patient. Could you please get someone to escort him back to his room?"

The guard nods and motions for a male nurse across the cafeteria, one I've seen following Royce around ever since he arrived. Royce is escorted out by the nurse, but before he leaves, he turns around, "I'm not done with you yet, Amri!"

I shiver at his words. "Please take me outside and teach me how to kick his ass if I need to."

"Sure thing, kitten. Let's go." Callyx takes my hand and leads us out of the cafeteria. I can feel Damion's eye boring into my back, but he stays silent the whole way. Even when Callyx brings my wrist up to his lips and kisses it, Damion never says a word.

"I like seeing my marks on you, kitty. From here on out, there's always going to be something on your body marking you as mine."

I feel my face heat up, "Yes, sir."

Callyx groans beside me, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. "You do things to me, Amri Glass."

We get to the courtyard, and I head to the center, Damion staying at the edge as per normal now. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"We'll start with a few warmups, like we did the first day. And then we're going to move on to self-defense. You want to learn how to kick ass, I'll teach you, but you better prepare for exhaustion."

"I don't know how much more exhausted I can be after last night." I stick my tongue out, teasing him .

"Since you want to be smart about it, double the warmups today."

"What? I was joking." I stare at him, realizing I'm no longer talking to Callyx, but Zain. "Zain, come on, please. I was joking and the longer I take on warmups, the less ass kicking practice I have."

He shakes his head. "Nope, I'm frustrated and you're the perfect outlet."

"Why are you frustrated?"

He laughs, stepping close to me and placing his hands on my cheeks. "Bunny. We got to fuck you last night, but Callyx got to feel you first. I will always be in competition with my brother, and he won last night. But don't you worry, you'll be screaming my name next."

I clench my thighs together, biting my bottom lip at his words. Fuck. I've never been as turned on as I have been these past two days, and this is only with Callyx and Zain, not even including Vincent. Or Damion.

"Now, fifteen laps around the courtyard, then I want twenty-five pushups and forty crunches. Then you'll do it all over again."

"You can't be serious."

"Should I make it three times?"

"You suck, Zain!" I take off running from my position, worried about the repercussions for my smart mouth, but all I get in response is him yelling back at me, "You bet I do!"

Thirty laps, fifty pushups and eighty crunches later, I'm lying down on the ground trying to get my lungs to return to normal capacity. Zain is off to the side talking to Damion, as he has been for the last fifty crunches I've done, but I feel eyes on me.

I sit up, looking around the courtyard until the sight of gray scrubs at the corner of the building catches my eye. Royce. How long has he been watching me?

I look over to Damion and Zain deep in conversation, debating whether or not I should tell them. If I do, Zain will no doubt go confront him, which will lead to a fight, which will lead to Zain being in solitary again. Damion may even jump in, and he would lose his job for attacking a patient. Telling them isn't a good idea. Besides, he's only watching.

I continue to stare at him as he stares at me, neither one of us willing to look away first.

"Amri!"

I look over to see Damion now looking at me, his eyes shining as he waves me over. Oh, God. Here it is, the conversation that's going to break my heart into a million pieces. He was warning Zain, so he can be there to pick up every broken shard of me. He's been ignoring me to prepare himself and me for the inevitable distance that will grow between us. I don't think I'm ready for this.

I reach Damion, and he takes my hand, not saying a word as he pulls me into the trees beside the courtyard. I turn to see Zain running laps, and Royce is nowhere to be found.

"Where are we going, Damion?"

He turns and smiles at me, leading me further into the woods until we get to the spot we stopped at when I told him I loved him. When he told me he couldn't be what I was asking him to be .

He turns toward me, taking both of my hands in his. "Amri, I know I told you already that I couldn't do this. In my head, I couldn't imagine having to share you. I couldn't imagine having to watch someone touch you that wasn't me. But then I realized, just because you would be theirs doesn't mean you wouldn't be mine, too. Just because you love them doesn't mean you would love me any less. I would rather share you with them than give you up forever, because Ree baby, I don't see myself being able to live without you. Every waking minute I'm thinking of you. I miss sneaking into your room. I miss kissing your lips. I miss the feeling of your hand in mine."

He takes a deep breath, reaching up to run his fingers through my hair and pushing it back behind my ears. My body thrums in anticipation as he leans forward, his lips skimming across my ear as he whispers, "I love you, too, Amri."

My eyes fill with tears as a smile breaks my face. "Are you saying…?"

He nods. "Yes. I want to be with you."

"You understand what that means, don't you? You'll have to…come with us. Me and Zain and Callyx. You'll have to go with us to Vincent."

"I know, Amri. And I will. I'll follow you into hell because if you're there, it can't be that bad."

I squeal, jumping up into his arms as he wraps them around my waist and pulls me in for a kiss.

I slide my tongue along his bottom lip before slamming my mouth to his. He turns around, pressing my back up against a tree as he kisses down my neck, gripping my hips tightly as I rest my head back against the hard bark of the tree. I moan from the combination of the roughness of the bark against my head and the smoothness of his lips against my collarbone.

His kisses move up the other side of my neck, sucking my earlobe into his mouth for a moment before he continues his journey back to my lips. He presses a few gentle kisses against my chin, forehead, and nose before pulling away.

"There is one condition, though."

Fear shoots through my body, worrying I won't be able to grant him his wish and he'll decide to leave me for good. "What is it?"

"I want to meet Reaper."