I slipped up.
23
EMERY
The building shakeswith another explosion. It’s closer this time, but I’m in too much pain and my mind is too heavy to give it much thought. The only thing I have room for in my head and heart is the horrible realization that everything I thought I knew is a fucking lie.
My knees sink to the ground and I quickly find the knife my father left on the floor after the lights cut out.
“How would you know to tell him about that, Cam? How long have you known him?” I clutch the knife desperately, feeling my mind dip into hysteria. I don’t know what to believe anymore.
Cameron winces as he hobbles toward me, crouching down to my level.
“Emery, please listen. It’s not what you think.” He reaches for me, but I smack his hand away.
“It’s exactly what I think. You’ve been using me this entire time, spinning me along like a thread on a spool, haven’t you? How doyou know Reed?” My legs tremble as I lean against the wall for support.
Two days of absolute hell and Reed didn’t tell me anything. That makes it hurt worse.
His expression dampens into grief. The sadness in his gaze is almost enough to be my undoing.
“I’ll explain everything once we’re out of here, I promise, but you need to trust me,” he says calmly, opening his hand for me to give him the knife.
It’s laughable that he thinks I would give it to him so freely.
“Trusting you is the last thing I need. Do you have any idea what Reed made me go through these past few days?” I throw my free hand into the air with rage. “He put me in the basement and watched silently as a guard beat me senseless until I could actually feel it, then until I couldn’t stop screaming. He cut my hair to ruin the image of mehehelped build.” My raspy voice is scathing.
I know Reed said to trust him and he wouldn’t enjoy what Greg wanted him to do, but part of me doesn’t know how much truth lies with those words.
Cameron’s eyes break, but he remains firm. “Please, Em. You need to listen to me.” He wraps his arms around me and pulls me tightly against his chest. I’m consumed by his warmth, sinking farther into his hold as his heartbeats become all I know.
“All we seem to do is hurt one another,” I murmur in a hushed tone.
Gunshots pop off and echo down the hallway as another rumbling passes through the building. It feels like a grenade several floors below. The sound rolls between us. Almost as if to remind us that we’re on borrowed time right now.
Another moment passes before footsteps thunder across the hall and something crashes into the door. Wood splinters everywhere and pelts around us. I have to lift my arm to shield my eyesbut manage to see Gage’s sandy blond hair as he rights himself. His mask is hanging loosely around his neck and his face is streaked with paint.
Gage quickly sweeps the room for any guards before patting dust from his pants and giving us a manic smile. His pupils are blown wide with adrenaline.
“Nice to see you assholes again,” Gage mutters smugly, looking us up and down. “Jesus, they really fucked you guys up, didn’t they? Morphine, isn’t Mavestelli your dad?”
Trust me, I’m as mortified as you are.
I scowl at him, even though I’m beyond relieved that he’s here. “Nice to see you too, jackass.” A weak chuckle escapes my lips.
“Hey.”Gage laughs as he easily evades my attempt to shove his shoulder back. I wince as a flash of pain ripples up my throat and I cough out more blood.Crap.Gage’s eyes widen as he looks at Cameron.
Cam glowers at us. “We need to get to Reed. He should be on the first sub-floor. Emery needs the next injection soon or she’ll continue getting worse to the point where we can’t save her.”
If I was still impervious to pain, I would dismiss what he’s saying, but the agony that spreads in my bones is nearly unbearable. It’s a wonder that we can operate when under the influence of death pills.
I think that’s what made Cameron finally lose himself in the Under Trials. Nolan gave him another injection right before. I remember seeing the small puncture on his jugular artery as he was bringing the stone down.
“It’s not the same one that caused you to lose control in the last trial, right?” My voice is pleading. If he’s going to start telling the truth, then it needs to be now.
Gage raises a brow at me.“Cam?”he asks sarcastically. I ignore him.
“No. There’s one more after this in a few weeks that you’ll need to take. But there isn’t choice in the matter even if it was, Em. You have to take it or your body will give out.” Cameron’s brows knit with anguish, he looks like he’s been dragged through hell and back. I probably don’t look much better.
