Diana Hall - Branded Hearts

“I’ve heard stories about the place—”

“None of them could be as bad as the truth.” He unclasped his hands and stepped away from the stall, turning his back on her. “Twenty thousand men stuffed into a prison built to hold a few thousand. Disease, starvation, abuse were everywhere.”

“Did one of the guards do that?” The concern in her voice made him face her. Garret found himself hypnotized by the play of lantern light across the planes of her face and the shimmer in her hair.

“No.” He fought to find his voice. “A Union officer. He threw a rock, hit me in the head.”

Long, slender fingers lay over his hand, then withdrew, trembling. Kit bit her lower lip. “It must have been horrible.”

He stood with her in the glow of the lanterns, surrounded by darkness, and felt they were the only two people on Earth. Nervousness made him try to make light of his situation. “I came in with about twenty other Blues. Nineteen years old, brash, tough and cocksure.”

“Sort of like Cade.”

“Worse than Cade.” He smiled at her exaggerated shocked expression. Then the smile faded as he remembered the rest. “That lasted all of ten minutes. That’s when the rocks started flying. The prisoners were trying to stone us. Kill us for our boots, uniforms and share of food. I saw a captain aim for me and then everything went black.”

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