I wanted so much to stay alive. To launch into Jethro’s arms and kiss myfather and touch my twin. But no one moved as I remained trapped by the guillotine.
Hope warred with defeat.
Cut could still kill me so easily and no one would be able to stop him. If they shot him and he held the rope in his hand, the guillotine would fall. If he decided to commit suicide and die right alongside me, no one could stop him from releasing the blade.
Only the final shred of decency left in Cut could stop him from doing the unthinkable and stripping me of a future I so desperately wanted.
Do something.
I didn’t know what. My mind was blank.
Play him...
Cut had welcomed me into his home, he’d had moments of civility, ofnormalness—he was human beneath his devilish ways. Perhaps...perhaps there was some way to cajole him into listening.
I whispered through the hood, “I forgive you.”
It sounded condescending and forced.
Try harder.
“I forgive you for everything you’ve done. What you did to Emma, me, your children. I forgive you. Let me live and break the indebted history.”
Jethro sucked in a breath.
No one else spoke.
Everything hinged on the bond between Cut and me.
I huddled beneath the blade...waiting for his decision. Over the past few months, we’d come to understand one another. I knew he loved his children in his twisted way. And he knew I wouldn’t give up without a fight.
There was hatred between us but respect, too.
If only that respect saved my life.
The whole room paused, watching history unfold.
Feet scuffled and weapons spewed rich-smelling smoke from used gunpowder, but no one moved.
My spine tickled with tears, fearing the worst.
I’d offered my forgiveness, going against everything I’d wanted to say. I’d traded my own morals for the right to keep my life. But what if it wasn’t enough? What if my only value to Cut was in pieces?
“Cut...” I breathed. “Don’t let her win.”
The pulley clanked as Cut flinched. I didn’t need to look into his eyes to know I’d hit home. Watching Bonnie die of her body’s own volition had taught me something. She had been the root of all psychotic and immoral behaviour in her family. She was the one who drove her children to the point of lunacy. She was the seed sprouting such demonic petals.
And now, she was dead.
“You don’t need to obey her anymore.” My voice came out half-prayer, half-beg. “Free me. End this.”
Once again, silence settled like a smothering pillow.
No one moved.
Cut’s body heat branded my thigh, standing, just standing.Deliberating.
Then...finally...the clinking of rope and mechanism sounded again, only this time I didn’t fear it. Cut’s leg nudged me as he secured the rope, staying the blade and my death.
