Unholy

f i v e

i r i s eleanor f r e n c h

Every human was given a printed, laminated itinerary of where we needed to be and at what time. There was a color-coded map on the back of the itinerary, not giving us any reason to be late to any of the training courses or meals.

It made me want to be late to everything.

Instead of purposefully being late to breakfast, I kept Harley's warning in mind.

Keep your head down, Iris.

What the hell did she mean by that? Other than the obvious, you know, surrounded by Vampires thing, why did she feel the need to warn me when I already knew? What else could she be talking about?

I didn't know anything that had happened to her, or what she went through after she left. It had been almost ten years since we saw each other, and I knew how much shit could happen in ten years.

I had also seen her father on the news a lot during the ten years. He seemed colder, harsher, and definitely wasn't in the news for his charitable donations or his philanthropic activities. He was basically the muscle for President Covington. He was the one who ... disposed of humans that wouldn't get in line.

It wasn't an easy thing to watch. Mr. Michaels had never been super cold towards me, though he wasn't super warm or friendly when I'd speak to him. He truly just acted like a father of a wild teenage daughter. How many times had he wanted to fucking rip into my veins though? When I scraped my knee outside his house when Harley and I were seven, was I in danger? Were my parents in danger when we'd come over for dinner every Wednesday night?

My head was spinning as I stared into the tray of food I was given. I wasn't hungry, my appetite had been gone for days at this point. I had forced myself to eat in front of my mother, but now that I was painstakingly alone, I couldn't bring myself to eat any of the food. It smelled great, but I just wasn't hungry.

A hand landed on my shoulder, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked up to see the beautoful blond man, Wilder, with the grumpy but just as beautiful Elias behind him.

"Hi again, Strawberry," Wilder spoke with a panty-dropping grin, pulling a chair over to sit down next to me. Elias did the same, caging me between them again. "You need to eat, pretty girl. Gotta keep your strength up."

I leveled my gaze toward Georgia, whose spine was steeled as she stared at me with wide eyes. She was closest to Elias, the grumpy one, and that made me nervous. I didn't know these men, these Vampires. I didn't know if they had special clearance to sample the goods before choosing.

A warm hand closed around my chin, jerking my head toward my left, where Elias sat. "Wilder told you to eat, little one. I advise you to listen."

My eyes hardened. "Not hungry."

His grip on my chin tightened, causing the slightest amount of pain, but still eliciting a whimper out of me. He dropped his hand, choosing to use it to bring a fork full of food to my mouth, nudging my lips. I glared at him, hatred burning through my skin.

"Open up, Strawberry," Wilder whispered in my ear, causing a shiver to run down my back.

With anger simmering in my gaze, I kept my stare on Elias as I opened my mouth and allowed him to feed me a bite of food. I chewed slowly, my jaw tight.

"Want to make sure I'm wiping well enough, too?" I bit out after swallowing, causing Georgia to gasp.

"Tempting offer, little one, but we have other plans before that," Elias spoke, nudging another forkful of food into my mouth.