The next morning, I woke up with Anna nestled against me, her body warm and soft in my arms. She was still sleeping soundly, her head resting on my shoulder like she belonged there. She looked almost angelic, her golden hair splayed out, with one stray strand stuck in her mouth. I reached out slowly, carefully lifting her head and setting it down on the bed as I slid out.
As I moved, she mumbled in her sleep, her voice soft and sweet. "Mmmm... I love you, Darling..."
I chuckled quietly, unable to resist running my fingers through her hair one last time before I got dressed. After pulling on my clothes, I stepped outside. Erick was already there, stirring something over a fire, and the smell of food hit me immediately.
"Oh? So, did you have a good night?" he asked with that shit-eating grin plastered on his face. He knew I'd spent the night with Anna, and he was enjoying it far too much.
"Yeah," I said with a small smirk. "Slept pretty well, actually."
And it was true. Anna's body had a way of making everything feel easy—warm, soft, comforting. Of course, I'd had plenty of "pleasant" nights with my other women, but it wasn't like I was about to start comparing. That'd be rude as hell.
"Haha, yeah? That's good to hear! Well, how about we grab some lunch? Can you wake her up for me?" he asked, still grinning like an idiot.
I shrugged. No reason to say no, but there was something I needed to handle first.
"I'll check on the woman," I told him.
His grin dropped instantly, his face tightening. "That woman..." he muttered darkly. "She's tougher than she looks. She tried biting through the power dampener, and she even went as far as twisting her limbs, trying to break free."
That sounded insane, no doubt about it. But knowing what the Eclipse was capable of and the lengths they'd go to achieve their goals, it wasn't surprising. That woman seemed to be cut from the same cloth.
"Can I get some food? I want to feed her."
"Why would I tell you that?" she spat, venom dripping from her words.
"Because you don't have a choice."
She laughed—low, bitter, full of venom. "I'm dead either way. So go ahead. Do it. I'd rather die loyal to my Lord than betray him. You want to kill me?
Do your worst."
Her words cut, but I wasn't fazed. She wasn't backing down, even in the face of death. I had to admit, there was something impressive about her stubborn defiance, the way she stared down her own demise without a single flinch. It was almost admirable. Almost.
But that didn't stop the frustration boiling up inside me. She had the kind of strength and grit I could respect, and yet here she was, wasted on an organization like the Eclipse. That loyalty, that fierce will, all chained to their twisted goals. It pissed me off. The fact that a woman like her belonged to them made me sick.
"I'm still wondering how the fuck you ended up with the Eclipse," I said. "Doesn't it bother you? Women being raped, kidnapped, taken to God knows where? Especially as a woman yourself?"
She met my gaze with a cold, dead expression, her eyes devoid of any empathy. "I don't feel anything," she said, her voice as hollow as her stare. "As far as I'm concerned, those who don't serve our Lord or our cause are nothing but scraps. Tools. Their only worth is to help bring our dreams to life. That's all they are." She spoke without a flicker of hesitation.
"A woman is worthless unless the Lord has tasted her. I was nothing before Him. But now? Now I've been blessed by Him, chosen to serve Him. I'm His warrior, tasked with slaying those who have strayed from His vision. You're one of them—you deserve to die."
Her twisted logic hit like a punch to the gut. I couldn't wrap my head around how warped she was. It was like she had drowned in her own insanity, fully embracing this fucked-up doctrine.
I leaned forward, my eyes narrowing, trying to find some crack in her devotion. "Who is this Lord of yours?" I asked, more curious now about the depth of her madness.
For the first time, her gaze snapped to mine, and something dark and fierce flickered behind her eyes. "The Great Darkness," she whispered, her voice dripping with a kind of fanatical reverence that sent a chill down my spine.