“Not unless you can’t even move by then.” I stood up from the chair, checking my wrists that still bore faint bruises from the ropes. Thrax had run his hands on them over and over yesterday, kissing them and wishing I didn’t go through it at all.
I wanted them to be gone already. I hated that what he felt whenever he looked at them was guilt.
“I didn’t even want to keep any secret from him anyway. By the way, did you see Winifred? Since, you know, you ratted him out.”
She glared up at me. “Who do you think got him help?”
I smiled, relief washing through me in an unexpected wave, loosening the tight knot in my chest. “Oh, that is so lovely of you.”
Then I walked out of the chair, turning towards the door, the faintest smile lifting the corners of my lips.
One.
Two—
“Sit down.” Her voice ground out behind me. I had anticipated getting to the door before I heard those words. She seemed more desperate to live than I expected. “Aren’t you here to make a deal? Sit down.”
Smiling, I turned and settled back in the chair with ease. “Now that we’re on the same page—”
“We’re not even in the same book.” Her tone was venom.
“You’re benefiting from this, and you know it. This is a rather small request for keeping your life.”
“So you didn’t tell him about Merton and I because you want to get info behind his back.”
I nodded, even knowing how wrong it was. “Yes, behind his back.”
She smirked, savouring my admission like it was a small victory. “Would he not be pissed if he found out what you’re doing?”
“Shall we find out what would piss him off more?”
Her jaw clenched.
I leaned forward, voice low, the question that had gnawed at me since the warehouse finally spilling free. “Tell me, Amelia. What were you planning on doing with me? Seeing how you’re scared of death, I don’t think you planned to send me back to Thrax aftergetting all the info you need from me. And I’m not going to even think you’re capable of killing me. So what was your plan? Just injecting me daily for a month before sending me home on the train?”
She sighed, shoulders shifting. Talking about her own failure was clearly not her favourite thing. “Firstly, I’m not scared of death. I just have a list of things I need to complete in this lifetime so I can face my ancestors with my chin up. Secondly, you’re right. We weren’t planning to get our hands dirty by killing you. Nimorran would kill us for that.”
“So what was the plan then?”
“Putting you to sleep,” she said simply. “After getting everything we could possibly get from you, we’d put you in a coma while still making sure your connection with him was severed. And then, we’d send you to the train on the last day, but you won’t have any recollection of what happened in the warehouse.” She shrugged casually. “Let’s say you won’t be normal. Merton is still trying to perfect his skills so whatever we give you might have a really huge side effect on your body and brain.”
What. The. Fuck.
I stared at her, brows pinched so hard they ached, and for the first time, she let loose that deranged smile.
She got off on my misery.
I guessed I’d have to thank Winifred the most after all. If he hadn’t dragged me out of that place, Thrax wouldn’t have known anything, and by the time I got to my mother, I’d have been half-mad already.
“You’re sick,” I spat.
And that only widened her grin. “Thank you,” she said sweetly. “Now ask me what you want to hear.”
Taking a deep breath, I leaned closer. “Can his curse be broken?”
She shook her head without hesitation. “I haven’t heard or read that in my life.”
I narrowed my eyes on her.
