Forsake My Broken Hart

Chapter 1

Two weeks. It has only been two weeks since I was rescued from the basement of one fake priest. We had moved from the parking lot down the road to a park. The guys had wanted someplace safe for me to heal before we were on the move again.

The blanket that Ethan, or Thomas, had wrapped around me had hidden most of the wounds and scars from my time in captivity. I still hadn't shown them to anyone. Thank gosh for the cold weather. I cloaked myself in baggy warm clothing. In fact, I hadn't told anyone the details of that period. No one asked either. I wondered who was putting on the pressure to everyone else to leave me be. Especially Carlos. That boy was always in everyone's business.

I'd been avoiding all of the guys. Especially Ryder. I hadn't talked to the new comers. There were three of them and the van that had been parked by the bus was theirs. Ryder spent a lot of time with the girl, but I avoided looking in their direction. In fact, I rarely left the bus. I was shocked Rowan wasn't nagging me about it.

Right now though, I was sitting at a park bench drinking dandelion tea with honey. The last supply run had been very fruitful. Sam was sitting diagonally from me. Since she had learned of Angel's death, she too avoided everyone else. Everyone except me. I had told her of Angel's dying words, and when she pressed for more information, I told her I wasn't ready to talk about it.

"Then I'll be here and ready when you are." She had told me the second day I had been back. We had formed some sort of companionable silence since then.

I sipped at my tea and grimaced. Dandelion was supposed to be really good for you, but this stuff tasted awful. There was a bite to the air. I huddled further into my jacket and warmed my hands with the cup. I'd rather have coffee.

Sam drank from her own glass and stared off into the distance. She had been doing that a lot lately. She also cried at night. Everyone always pretended to be sleeping. I didn't know how to help her. Sometimes I caught her looking at me, and I wondered if she wish I were the one dead and Angel the one who came back. I wasn't sure I wanted the answer. I wouldn't blame her either way.

A breeze blew through the park, making me lift the warm drink to my mouth again. My lips had been fully restored despite the severe cracks and bleeding from dehydration. There was no saving my voice. I'd asked Doc. He'd told me maybe surgery could have helped some of it, but we weren't living in that type of world anymore. It's one of the reasons I barely talked to anyone in the weeks since I'd been back. I could see the pity looks every time I opened my mouth to speak.

I gazed over at the empty playground. It was probably once full of children running around and playing. Now it say empty. The wind that blew down caused the swings to rock slightly, giving the play area a slightly haunted feel.

Then there was a brunette girl running into view and jumping onto one of the swings, laughing as she swung. Ryder strode over smiling at her. My gut clenched in anger and jealousy. No. Nope. I won't be that toxic girl. I have four other men waiting on me to make the first move. I definitely don't need a fifth.

Ryder's betrayal was far worse than cutting off Xavier had been. Was it betrayal, though? He didn't exactly owe me anything. Hell, I was sleeping with four other dudes. It would be unfair of me to tell them they couldn't have someone else as well.

"If you keep looking like that in their direction, it's going to start problems." Sam muttered.

Shit. I had been glowering at them. I quickly wiped the expression off my face, but it was too late. The girl met my stare with one of her own. She narrowed her eyes at me and jumped off the swing, walking towards me.

Ryder glanced to see where she was going. When he noticed me, he reached over and grabbed her arm, shaking his head and saying something. She pushed his arm off of her and shook her finger at him. He rubbed his hands over his face then threw them up in the air and walked off. The girl proceeded to stalk towards me.