The Other Fate (The Other World Book 3) by C. A. Varian

Author:C. A. Varian [Varian, C. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-02-08T00:00:00+00:00

In the living area of the human quarters, anxiety permeated the air as Raven joined the other women, the click of the lock chilling her blood. With Zoe and Elianna missing, the room felt heavy with uncertainty. All eighteen of them had been locked inside the human section of the manor with guards posted outside the doors. For some reason, the lockdown seemed so much more permanent than the captivity they’d already been in. If they’d ever had a chance at escaping, it was gone.

“Did anyone speak to Zoe or Elianna at the ball?” Jenny asked as she dropped onto the sofa next to Raven, pulling her black heels off and rubbing her feet. “Anyone see who they left with?”

Raven watched the faces of the other women for a few silent moments, so many of whom she had not yet met. With at least half of them being forced to work at Lord Argall’s brothels, their schedules often had them coming and going at odd hours, rarely crossing paths with those heading for the auction block.

Setting one of the throw pillows onto her lap and holding it against her chest, Raven shrugged. “I saw them when they were getting ready,” she said, shifting to pull her feet up under her. She still wore the gown that was beginning to itch in some places. None of them had taken the time to change into something more comfortable. “They left the vanities when I was still getting ready, but I didn’t notice anything unusual.”

If Raven were being honest, she realized she had been too distracted since the beating she received the night before to notice if something was amiss with her friends.

“Zoe’s probably scaling a wall right now,” Jenny said, her voice tentative in the quiet. “And Elianna, she’s clever—could be they’ve found a hidden passageway we’ve never noticed.”

Raven turned to Jenny, appreciating the solidarity. “They are survivors, like us,” she said, her words a quiet beacon of hope, at least she meant them to be.

“We can’t give up either, not when they’re out there fighting for us,” said Lauren, a veteran among the captives, as she pulled pins from her rich brown hair.

“They’ll come back for us,” Sarah said, leaning against the wall. “If they’re out there and they’re free, they’ll find a way to do the same for us.”

The room lingered in silence for a moment until someone whispered, “freedom.“ The word hung in the air, fragile yet pregnant with the potential for fulfillment.

Chest tightening uncomfortably, Raven cycled a deep breath, hating how her anxiety reminded her of the disease she’d only just gotten rid of.

The beam of a flashlight cut across the darkness outside the window, sending their silent room into a busy shuffle of feet across the carpet. All eighteen women moved across the room to gaze out of the few small windows dotting the only wall that separated them from the outside.

The back of the property was barely visible under the sliver of moonlight, the guards and the forest beyond enveloped in shadows.

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