“No,” Thing agrees, his voice like gravel. “No forgive.”
“I said I don’t care!” I’m fighting back tears that want to turn into full-blown sobs, and I bite the inside of my cheek hard enough to taste blood rather than let either of these monsters see me cry.
Abaddon returns way too quickly with a ring of keys that look like they belong in a medieval torture museum. The clanking sound they make feels obscene in this horrible place.
“Please take them from him,” I tell Thing, still refusing to look at the male who just proved that everything good I thought about him was wishful thinking. “I’ll free you, and we can find you a better place upstairs. Somewhere with actual light and fresh air, like a civilized being deserves.”
Thing rumbles his agreement, and I watch Romulus’s tail whip forward with surprising grace. The keys dangle from the leathery tip like some twisted Christmas ornament.
“Thank you,” I whisper to Romulus, hating how shaky my voice sounds. I hate that Abaddon gets to see how much he’s broken me.
The locks are absolute monsters: huge, brutal things that look like they were designed to break spirits as much as contain bodies. It takes both my hands and all my strength to work the first key, my fingers clumsy with anger and shock.
Pregnant. I’m pregnant.
The thought keeps hitting me in waves as I work. Each lock that clicks open feels like a small victory against the nightmare my life has become.
Thing shakes each freed limb, testing his range of motion like he can’t quite believe it’s real. When I finally kneel at his feet to unlock the last shackles, I look up into those red eyes and whisper, “Please don’t attack him once you’re free.”
I’m probably being just as stupid trusting Thing as I was trusting Abaddon. Maybe he’s just playing me to get loose. But you know what? I’m done judging people by what they look like on the outside, because the pretty monster behind me just showed me that appearances mean exactly nothing.
Usually, I pride myself on reading people. I sensed Abaddon’s trauma and volatility from day one, but I thought?—
God, I’m such an idiot.
I thought I could help him heal. I thought what we had was special. I thought he wasdifferent.
But Thing? Despite everything he’s been through, despite being chained in this hellhole for who knows how long, I sense something genuine in him. Something protective and kind that hasn’t been tortured out of him yet.
My hand drifts to my stomach again as the last shackle falls to the dungeon floor with a sound like breaking chains.
A baby. I’m going to have a baby.
And I have absolutely no idea what the hell I’m going to do about any of this.
Before I can spiral further into panic mode, I’m suddenly swept off my feet. My eyes snap open, ready to tell Abaddon exactly where he can shove his apologies?—
But it’s Thing. His middle arms lift me easily while his powerful legs carry us toward the door and freedom. For the first time since this nightmare started, I feel genuinely safe.
“Thing!” Abaddon calls out, and I feel Thing’s whole body tense as he turns to face his brother.
“What?” Thing barks, and I can hear centuries of pain in that single word.
There’s a pause that stretches like a held breath. Then: “Thank you, brother.”
Thing makes a sound that might be an acknowledgment or might be a dismissal. Either way, he carries me out of that dungeon and up toward the light, and for the first time since I arrived in this cursed place, I let myself hope that maybe, just maybe, I might survive this after all.
Even if I have to do it without the monster I thought I was falling in love with.
FORTY
HANNAH
Thing claimsthe entire second floor, and honestly? Good for him. Watching him bounce from room to room like a kid in a candy store after God knows how many years chained in that nightmare dungeon is the only thing keeping me from having a complete mental breakdown right now.
He doesn’t just want one bedroom. He wantsallthe bedrooms.
Remus has been following us around like some creepy shadow, hanging back with that serial killer grin that kinda makes my skin crawl. He head-swapped with Romulus a couple of hours after we unlocked their chains. Abaddon is nowhere to be seen, and thank God for that because I might actually lose it if I have to look at his face right now.
