Enthralled: Tainted Book Four

17. Stay

Josef

I carried Yara up the stairs, her small, trembling body cradled against my chest. Every step felt heavier than the last, as if the weight of the crisis outside was pressing down on me, but it wasn't that which made my heart clench.

It was her.

Yeah, the werewolves and the Huskarls needed me, but right now, Yara needed me more.

The soft creak of the wooden door announced our arrival to the small, quieter room. I placed her carefully on the bed, as if she might shatter under my touch. Her eyes—dark, wide, and wary—followed me, tracking every movement as if she were a deer that hadn't decided if she should run. Her chest rose and fell in rapid, shallow breaths, like she was bracing for something, like she expected this moment to be a trick, or worse, a trap.

I knelt beside her, feeling the air between us hum with tension.

"Yara," I said softly, my voice barely a whisper. "You're safe now. I swear it."

Her gaze shifted away, fixing on a point somewhere on the floor. It was like she was searching for something familiar, something solid. I reached for her hand, careful, slow, letting my fingertips brush against hers. The contact sent a spark through me and I gloried in the sensation, but this wasn't about me.

Especially when it made her flinch.

"I'm sorry," I whispered, the words falling awkwardly between us as I pulled back, my heart tightening in my chest.

"It's fine," she mumbled, her voice so small it barely reached me. She curled in on herself, shrinking back into the pillows. "You can touch me. I'm... yours now. To use as you please."

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. My blood surged, hot and angry—not at her, but at the man who had broken her, who had made her think this was all she was worth. I fought to keep my voice calm, even though every instinct in me screamed to go help Chime Karma kill Khan Jasper Nanda.

"No, Yara. That's not what this is. I don't want to use you. I just want to help you."

Her eyes were glassy, distant, like she wasn't really here with me. She didn't believe me, not yet, so I sat back on my heels, giving her space, but staying close enough so she knew I wasn't leaving.

"You don't have to trust me right away," I said, my voice steady, even though I felt like I was balancing on a knife's edge. "I know what he did to you. I know it's left scars. I'm not pretending I understand all of it, but you're not a prisoner here. You're free."

She let out a shaky breath, her lip trembling as she let my words hang in the air between us.

"Free?" Her voice cracked on the word, and her lips twisted into a bitter, hollow smile. "I wouldn't even know what that means anymore."

The room felt colder all of a sudden, the quiet suffocating. I rubbed my hands together, trying to find the right words, anything that might reach her.

"Yara, if you want space, I can leave. But if you need me to stay, just to be here, I will. I'd like to be near you even if you don't want to talk to me."

She didn't move at first, and for a moment, I thought maybe I'd pushed her too far, but then she nodded, a small, barely-there nod.

"Stay."

Relief washed over me, but I kept my breathing steady.

"Okay."

We sat in silence, the only sounds the faint ticking of the clock. I couldn't stop thinking about the chaos waiting for me outside these four walls, but I wasn't ready to leave her. Not yet. She was fragile at the moment, but I could feel the strength in her. The kind of strength that kept her alive, kept her fighting.