*Two Weeks Later*

*Natalia*

I sat at the vanity in the room Tallon had given me in the compound and brushed my hair. I was glad to see that the bruising around my neck had finally faded. I felt horrible every time I saw Tallon noticing my bruises, and I could tell that he felt responsible for them.

I suspected that he would be spending a lot of time trying to make it up to me, even though I had told him that none of it was his fault. He had no way ...