Unwilling (Book One of the Compelled Trilogy 1) Read Online Free Page B

agonize each second Elias didn’t come back.
    Elias walked stiffly toward their mother and she pushed him out of the room, slamming the door closed on Rowan. 91. 90. 89. Elias cried out and Rowan cringed, his voice carrying through the silent house. Rowan wanted to call out to him, to go to him, to free him but he wouldn’t want her to, a lesson she had learned the hard way, she carried the scars from it on her lower back, three paper-thin little scratches from razor-sharp fingernails. Promises, her mother called them, just three of many.
    Let someone hear. Let someone hear and come murder her where she stands. Rowan begged. She covered her ears, but that did little to drown out the sounds of her mother’s abuse. Someone will hear and take us away to father, who will love us and care for us, and we will never have to see her again. Please. Rowan prayed to any God that would listen. Of course no one ever heard, no one ever rescued them in the night, stealing them away under the cover of darkness and delivering them to father. If the God’s did hear her prayers, either they chose to ignore them or they did not care.
    Rowan counted down from one hundred 12 times before Elias returned to the room. Rowan could see he walked with a slight limp and as he passed by, she grabbed his hand and squeezed. He sucked in air, twinging with pain, and Rowan recoiled. She hadn’t meant to hurt him, only meant to say she was here for him.
    Hours later when Elias thought she was sleeping, she heard him whispering to himself, as he always did after their mother beat him. “I deserve this. I deserve this.” Over and over again, till the sun rose red in the sky. Rowan was never sure what they had done to deserve this, but if Elias thought they did then it must be true.
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    It had been three weeks since father had left. Rowan sat slumped on her bed, her eyes red from crying as the moon poured through the window abnormally bright and lighting up Rowan’s face as she waited. Elias tossed behind her, feverish. Elias had a broken arm, and his whole body was blue purple green yellow from bruises, his lips were split, and he had a gash on his forehead that leaked a sickly yellow color whenever Elias prodded at it.
    “I won’t let you Rowan.” He said to her in the dark, his voice firm, but every breath he took hitched in his throat, and Rowan hoped his lungs wouldn’t collapse.
    “She will kill you Elias.” Rowan said, her eyes large with fright. What kind of world could it be, without my brother in it? Rowan thought, and the idea of that reality scared her more than facing her mother. “I can’t live without you.”
    “You can’t Rowan. I won’t let you.” Elias said, ignoring her pleas, trying to stand, but crumpling in on himself, his bruised ribs sending a splintering pain through his chest.
    “Elias, please. Let me go this once for you.” Rowan pleaded, and she could see the hesitation on his face, the struggle as he warred within himself. Rowan saw finality flick across his eyes, and he slumped to the bed with a sob. Rowan grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I’ll be okay,” she told him lightly, trying to smile. “I’m brave.” I am brave, I can be brave, I can try to be brave. I might be…
    The door pushed open behind Rowan and Elias grasped her hand as if to keep her there by force, but a moment later, he relented and let her hand swing to her side. He hung his head in shame in anger in disappointment in pain as Rowan turned to face her mother. Rowan tried to walk bravely into the hall, holding her head high, and she hoped Elias couldn’t hear the pounding of her heart, or see her body shake as the door closed.
    I deserve this. Rowan repeated in her head as her mother grabbed her hair, forcing her to her knees. Rowan stifled a yelp as her mother kicked her in the side. She doubled