Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve

The scent of salt water and sea breeze assaulted Saffron’s nose as she trailed behind Kiera’s mother, her hands full of crisp white, freshly laundered, pressed sheets meant for the guest cabin.

She half-listened to the instructions the woman was spouting, her mind and eyes more interested in the revelry and scenery before them, cataloging the open space and tree covers, filing them away for later when she was alone to dissect and map out her escape point.

There was a celebration of some sort on the island tomorrow night, and Saffron knew it was as good a night as any she would get to be able to escape the island undetected while her captors were busy with their party to notice her disappearance.

By the time they realized she was gone, it would be too late.

This celebration offered her an opportunity of a lifetime, and she would be foolish to waste it.

Where she went from here, Saffron had no idea. But she knew that she needed to get as far away from the island, and her childhood home, as she could if she wanted to survive.

“Saffron!” The sharp bark of her name had her inhaling harshly, as she returned her attention to the fuming woman before her. “Are you even listening to me?”

No, I definitely am not, Saffron thought but kept her lips pressed together tightly.

With a sigh, Lydia turned her head and resumed her walk, muttering about how inattentive Saffron was and how that would get her in more trouble with the Alpha than she was already in.

“Where would you like me to place these?” Saffron asked when they stepped into the artfully yet sparsely decorated cabin.

The guest cabin held a slew of seven bedrooms and a large sitting area in the middle, which connected to a fully stocked kitchen.

“Just leave them here,” Lydia instructed, as she pointed at one of the sofas, which was thankfully free of dust. “You can start with the kitchen and then get around to the bedrooms when you are done. I will send Becca here to help you with the job while I return to the main kitchen. There are a lot of preparations to be done.

‘Becca?’ the voice sneered the name, as an involuntary shudder passed through Saffron’s body. ‘Why not Kiera? We hate Becca.’

“Correction,” Saffron whispered, as she gripped the counter tightly. “Becca hates me. She doesn’t know you exist.”

Why she needed to point that out was beyond her. But Saffron was still sulky about three nights ago when the voice had mocked her less than stellar face plant in front of her crush and made her look like she was crazy.

“Did you say something, dear?” Lydia asked, her voice taking on that maternal tinge that always made warmth bloom in Saffron’s chest.

“No,” Saffron shook her head, bending down to pick up the cleaning equipment that Lydia had asked Kiera to send over earlier. “I will get started on cleaning now.”

“Good,” Lydia nodded as she headed for the door without another word. She had just placed her hand on the knob when she stopped abruptly and turned towards Saffron, her eyes sharpening with intensity as if she had just remembered something.

“And do hurry up, please, Saffron. The guests are set to arrive in an hour or so. I need you gone before they arrive.”

‘I need you gone before the Alpha arrives with his entourage and decides to use you to set an example to the slaves.’

Though Lydia hadn’t said all that, the warning had been clear; the quiver of her voice and the slight tremor in her hands were an indirect reaction to what the consequences would be for Saffron if she were to have an encounter with the Alpha.

Lydia was scared for Saffron’s life, more than she did her own. And this unconditional affection was one of the reasons why Saffron had taken to the older woman and her daughter.

She was surely going to miss them when she made her escape tomorrow night.

But, there was no way she was going to stay on this island of horrors, no matter how much it pained her to leave the only two people who have shown love to her ever since she had turned up on the island a week ago.

‘Three, if you count the mysterious stranger,’ the voice supplied, but she ignored it in lieu of replying to Lydia’s unspoken request.

“Of course,” Saffron nodded and continued her task with extra vigor as Lydia stepped out of the cabin, leaving her alone with her thoughts.

An hour later, Saffron was almost done with cleaning up the cabin and making it hospitable for the guests, except for the fact that the linens she had brought were not enough to go around all the bedrooms.

Becca had not shown up, leaving her to work the cabin alone. And knowing her, Saffron was sure that Becca would be badmouthing her to Lydia and almost claiming all the work that Saffron had done today.

Washing her hands at the sink and cleaning them with a fresh towel, Saffron decided to venture to the laundry room to get more linens before the Alpha’s guests arrived.

If they were to find her here with half-made beds and half-cleaned rooms, it wouldn’t be good for her. Going to the laundry room could also spell out trouble for her because she had to walk into the main cabin before she could access it, and the Alpha and his men were likely to be at the main cabin.

She could send Kiera to get the linens for her, but Kiera was more likely to trip and fall, sullying the fresh linens and rendering them useless, or she could see something that would distract her and forget all about the linens.

But she didn’t want to risk sending Kiera to the main cabin and having her be at the Alpha’s crosshairs, who was trigger-happy and always found new ways to torture the slaves.

She could ask Lydia, but the older woman was swamped with work and was already worried about Saffron. She didn’t need to add to her already growing list of worries when it came to Saffron.

She could have sent Becca over, if she had even bothered to show. Now, Saffron had to face the big bad wolf herself.

If only she knew how literal her words were.

Resolved, she dropped the hand towel on a table and traipsed out of the cabin, steeling herself for what was to come.

All she could hope for was that she could get in and get out without encountering her ‘master’ or any of his subordinates, who never forgot to show her what her place was on the island.

It sucked.

But by this time tomorrow, she would be gone from the island and be far away from them before they knew it.

Her revenge plan could wait until she had established herself in the world and armed herself enough to take them down.

But for now, she was escaping.

And when she returned to the island, she was sure to make them all pay for what they had done to her.

She was going to rain hell on them. They had no idea who it was they had messed with.

And a time would come when she would be able to look them in the eye, smile, and carry out her vengeance.