Sitting stiffly against my pillows, I jumped as the phone buzzed with an incoming call.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
How could I talk to him? How could I pretend I was still the same woman, when I’d faded into someone I didn’t recognise? How could I keep my voice steady and lie through my teeth?
I’ve always been a terrible liar.
The phone jumped and danced in my grip. It’s vibration repeating what I knew:Li-ar. Li-ar.
You have no choice.
Running a hand through my tangled hair, I pressed ‘accept.’ Taking a deep breath, I held the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Fuck.” The curse whispered its way into my heart, warming me, kick-starting happiness that I’d forgotten how to feel. “Nila...thank God, you picked up.”
Him.
My friend. My soul-mate.
Why was I scared of talking to him? Why had I waited so long?
Curling into a ball, I breathed, “Jethro...”
“Fuck, I miss you.”
My eyes closed, fighting a wash of sorrow. “I miss you, too.”So unbelievably much.
“Are you okay? Tell me the truth. I know you’re keeping things from me.”
Don’t do this to me, Kite....
I attempted diversion, deflecting the conversation to him. My heart flip-flopped with tragedy. “I’m fine. How are you? Have the doctors been good to you?”
“Don’t change the subject. Tell me, Nila. Don’t make me beg.” He sucked in a shaky breath. “Hearing you, knowing you’re there and I’m not—it’s fucking killing me. The least you can do is reassure me with the truth.”
Reassure him with the truth? I almost laughed. There would be no reassurance—only lies would do that. Lies and blatant dishonesty.
“Kite...honestly, I’m fine. Jasmine has done an amazing job. She made Cut amend the Debt Inheritance so she has full control.”
Liar.
Half control. And not over the debts.
I’d been lucky the past couple of weeks. Yes, I’d been hurt and tormented, but there’d been no mention of a debt. No extraction of the Third or hint of the Fourth.
Long may it last.
“What have they done to you?”
Everything.
“Nothing. Honestly, I’m alive and waiting for you. I’m just so happy you’re safe.”
“Nila...you’re lying.”
I swiped at a renegade tear. “What about Kes?” I kept my voice to a murmur. “Has he improved yet?” I asked daily in my messages, but there was never any change.
Jethro sighed. “Goddammit, you infuriate me.” He paused. “No, he’s still unconscious.”
