Tatiana POV

“Pain isn’t punishment, it's proof you’re still dangerous.”

The pain hit in waves.

It wasn’t just from the bullet wound in my thigh it was from the slow drag of consciousness returning, the sting of disinfectant poured carelessly, and the sound of men talking like I wasn’t even human.

“She’s awake,” one of them muttered.

“Good,” said the other. “He wants her alive.”

Alive.

That word was worse than dead.

I blinked against the light, my vision blurry, the ...