But I couldn’t.
My jaw clenches even harder as I try to force myself into that cold, lethal void of detachment I know all too well—the place in my mind I retreat to when things needtaking care of.
I wanted this.I wanted her helpless. I wanted her chained. I wanted her to feel a mere fraction of the betrayal she’d carved into me. But now, seeing her like this, she looks so thin, so vulnerable, with tear-stained cheeks… my anger sits differently. It’s heavier. I thought I’d feel satisfaction seeing her at my mercy,but I just feel pain.
She did this,I tell myself, and steel myself for what comes next.
Briar shifts again, fighting her way to consciousness. Her eyes flutter open, connecting with mine, and I smile.
“Hi,little traitor.”
She jerks back violently, screaming through the gag in her mouth. Losing her footing, her sneakers claw for purchase on the slippery cement floor below.
Fully conscious now, her eyes dart around the space. It’s dark; the room itself is lit by only a single bulb overhead. She’s in what used to be an old freezer that we’ve converted and soundproofed for the Devils’ interrogation needs.
She tugs on her hands that are bound over her head, but it’s no use; she’s properly restrained.
Briar steadies herself on the balls of her feet, chest heaving, when her eyes come back to meet mine. I hear my name—a muffled version of it anyway—through the gag as she looks up at me, searching my face—my eyes—for any shred of humanity I might have left in me.
I click my tongue at the look in her eyes. “Ah, ah, ah, none of that, darling. You think those puppy-dog eyes will save you?” My eyes narrow into a glare. “Tell me, little Rose, do you know what the Devils do to traitors?”
The way her entire body shudders tells me she at least has an idea.
“It’s okay if you don’t,” I say, bringing the knife up. “I’ll show you.” The blade is the same one I held to her throat earlier, andwhile I don’t touch her with it, she flinches away violently when I bring it closer.The movement knocks her off the precarious position she’s in atop her toes, and she has to scramble to get her feet back under her again.
I circle her, and she trembles, another terrified whimper escaping her.
Maybe I should have gone with duct tape…The sound slices through me, fracturing something deep within my chest.
I shove the feeling away, reaching for that void again.
“I want to play a game. Do you want to play a game with me, baby?”
She murmurs something incoherent, her eyes pleading with me.
“Truth or dare, little Rose?”
Briar stares into my eyes for another second before she looks away, turning her gaze to the ground, refusing to even humor me.
I click my tongue in disappointment. “Fine. I’ll choose.“
She doesn’t react, staring hard at the floor below.
Annoyed, I slip the tip of my blade under her chin and lift. Her head tilts up, but she keeps her eyes down, refusing to look at me.
Something inside me snaps.
“Look. At. Me,” I growl, my tone lethal.
She won’t.
I step closer, and she closes her eyes. Her body tenses, as if she’s bracing to take a blow.
My hand snaps out, and I grab her jaw, jerking her face closer to me.
“Briar,” I snarl. “Look at me.”
Her eyes slowly lift, and I regret my words.
