More Than Life (Arcane Crossbreeds) Read Online Free PDF Page A

trusting, and those qualities didn’t last in here. Katya could barely remember that stupid girl. She couldn’t recall what her face looked like in the mirror. All she could see now was what reflected back at her in the silver walls of her cells, a hideous distortion of what she’d once thought herself to be. A true reflection of what she was now.
    Distorted.
    Katya would like to believe that he had no hold on her anymore. She wanted to hate him. Hate was an emotion that could make her strong against him; one that would work nicely as a scapegoat for the true feelings that twisted her insides – feelings she was afraid to examine too closely. Fear… That little bitch of an emotion only made things miserable because it made her accept reality, and reality was Raife Merrick would be a weakness.
    A too tall, too broad, too potent type of weakness that had fear rising bitter and sharp in her mouth, because something else had happened that night. Even before Raife had knocked her out cold and carted her off to this hellhole, she’d tasted something on his lips, heard it calling from his blood pounding through his veins. It was a ravenous blackness that threatened to roil over her head, consuming her. Even now, the memory drew a fierce hunger to the surface. One she wasn’t sure she could resist.
    Raife could break her, and she feared being broken more than anything else.
    A hiss emanated from her chest, sliding past her dry, cracked lips as the men advanced another step. It sounded unnatural, even to her ears. Her vision flickered into shades of indigo, the contrast unsettling. Katya shook her head and blinked it away. Her vision cleared, but her heart was still beating too fast.
    “What the fuck – ”
    Swallowing hard to control the sudden surge of adrenaline, she drew one burning breath deep into her chest and pushed it out. One by one, she had to force her muscles to unclench and carry her body away from the wall. Dropping her head, she let the long tendrils of hair conceal her.
    One of the men closed the remaining distance and wrapped a polished strip of thin metal over her wrist. She dropped her gaze to it. Silver.
    They took her up by her arms and almost gently maneuvered her from the room. The panels of lights that lined the ceiling of the hall cast a harsh glare over her, making the cement walls and floor gleam. Blinking against that sudden brightness, she curled her chin closer to her chest and stumbled.
    The men didn’t slow; they just supported her weight between them, careful to keep distance between their bodies. As though she were diseased. If they only knew a couple of inches distance wouldn’t protect them if she wished them harm. It couldn’t. She was a dangerous anomaly. Even she was unsure of the damage she could wreak.
    As they moved through the maze of halls and security doors, she tried to slow the frantic beat of her heart. What if she couldn’t control her reaction to him? What if she begged? Cried?
    She didn’t want to become that destroyed little girl.
    Nausea churned in her belly as they led her into a plain room that boasted a narrow gurney right in the center. Gleaming restraints dangled from the sides.
    A chill settled over her skin, and she balked, pulling back a little at the sight. She’d been restrained before. She was almost always restrained. Yet the knowledge that Raife was near made the thought of being strapped down intolerable. Unease crawled over her flesh, raising the fine hairs on her arms. Her breath was coming faster, hissing in and out of her lungs with increasing panic.
    Oh God, she couldn’t do this.
    The two men tightened their grips and pulled her forward. They were strong. They easily lifted her and held her down to the black vinyl of the gurney as they secured her with the thick restraints. They worked up her body until the final strap was tightened across her forehead.
    They stepped away from her, hovering just beyond her sight, but they weren’t the ones that