Vanished Sisters The Lycan King's Slave Island novel Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Davelina’s POV

林家72%

Lucy didn’t answer. Because there was no answer. No reason that would make sense.

We sat in silence for a while, the only sounds Nathan’s labored breathing and the distant drip of water somewhere in the walls.

“Tell me about yourself,” I finally said, desperate for distraction. “How long have you been here? On this island?”

Lucy’s expression closed off slightly. “Six months,” she said quietly.

“Six months.” I tried to imagine enduring this nightmare for half a year. “That’s… that’s a long time.”

“It feels longer.” Lucy’s hands moved mechanically, cleaning and re-cleaning the same patch of Nathan’s arm. “Sometimes it feels like I’ve been

here forever. Like my life before was just a dream.”

“Where did they take you from?”

“London.” A ghost of a smile crossed her face. “Well, the outskirts. I was working at a hospital. Just a nurse’s aide-nothing important. But I

loved it. Loved helping people. Making them feel better.”

“A hospital worker?” I leaned forward, suddenly interested. “Is that why you know how to do all this?” I gestured at the bandages, the careful

way she was cleaning Nathan’s wounds.

“Partly.” Lucy shrugged. “Though what we’re dealing with here is… beyond anything I learned at the hospital.” She paused, her eyes distant. “I grew up in an orphanage. St. Catherine’s Home for Girls. It was run by nuns-strict ones. They taught us basic first aid, how to care for the sick.

Said it was a woman’s duty to nurture and heal.”

“Sounds like a lonely childhood,” I said softly.

“It was.” Lucy’s voice was flat. Matter-of-fact. “I never had friends. Never fit in with the other girls. They thought I was strange. Too quiet. Too serious.” She smiled bitterly. “They weren’t wrong. I spent most of my time in the infirmary, helping Sister Margaret with the sick children. It

was the only place I felt… useful.”

“And after? When you left the orphanage?”

“I got work at St. Thomas’s Hospital. Just cleaning at first. Emptying bedpans, washing sheets. But I watched the nurses. Learned everything I could. Eventually they let me help with minor tasks-changing bandages, taking temperatures.” Her expression softened slightly. “I wanted to be a real nurse. Maybe even a doctor someday. I know that’s impossible-women aren’t allowed to be doctors, aren’t allowed to touch surgical

instruments-but I still dreamed about it.”

I heard the longing in her voice. The desperate desire for a future that would never come.

None of us will have futures now. Not anymore.

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly. “That they took that from you.”

Lucy shrugged again, but I could see the pain in her eyes. “We all lost somthing when we came here. Dreams. Families. Futures.” She looked at

111

1/3

19:34 Mon, Feb 16 GG.

Chapter 40

Everything.

My home. My parents. My freedom. My innocence.

And nearly my sister.

72%

“I miss my family,” I said, my voice thick with unshed tears. “My father-he’s a fisherman. Good man. Works hard every day to provide for us. My mother-” I had to stop, swallow hard against the lump in my throat. My mother is kind. Gentle. She used to sing while she worked. Old songs her grandmother taught her.”

“Do you think they re looking for you?” Lucy asked gently.

“I don’t know.” The uncertainty was agonizing. “Natasha and I-we went out that morning. The Lycans took us right off the shore.” My voice cracked. ‘Our parents don’t even know what happened to us. They probably think we just… disappeared. Or worse-that we ran away.

Abandoned them.”

The thought of my mother’s face-wondering where her daughters had gone, waiting by the window for us to come home-was almost

unbearable.

Lucy reached over and squeezed my hand. Her fingers were cold but steady.

“They know you didn’t abandon them,” she said quietly. “Parents always know.”

And your sister?” she asked. “What was she like? Before all this?”

I couldn’t help but smile, despite everything. “Stubborn. Reckless. Too brane for her own good.” I looked at Natasha’s unconscious face. “She was always getting into trouble. Climbing too high in the rigging. Swimming too far from shore. Picking fights with boys twice her size when they said something she didn’t like.

‘Sounds like she hasn’t changed much, Lucy said dryly.

“No.” I laughed-a broken, painful sound. “No, she hasn’t.”

We fell silent again. Lucy went back to her cleaning, and I watched Natham breathe.

In. Out. In. Out.

Keep breathing. Please keep breathing.

“Can I ask you something?” I said after a while.

“Of course.”

“You said you’ve been here six months. You’re young. Female. I hesitated, not sure how to phrase it delicately. “Haven’t they… I mean, weren’t

you sent to-

“To the King?” Lucy finished for me. Her voice was carefully neutral. “No. wasn’t.”

“But why? You said yourself that Endurers are rare. If you’re here, if you’re a woman, why wouldn’t they-”

“Because this island doesn’t just have the King,” Lucy interrupted, her ton hardening. There are other Lycans here. Hundreds of them. Lords

<

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify