I think his heart’s stopped.
All because I saidwe, like we’re a team.
Well, we are. Andweare going to make it out of here. Together.
“They want to watch you break.” His expression is back to neutral. Harsh and calculating. “Want to crush you emotionally, as a test for me. To see if you’ve softened me. If I step in to protect you from these sights.”
Sadly, it makes sense that they’d suspect us. That they’d want this test.
We’ve been reckless, staying here, isolated from the world for too long. He hasn’t invited any of them to mock me, to torture me.
We’re going to pay for our mistakes.
“They’re going to make me be there.” The more I think about it, as I remember the axe, I start losing it for real. My lips go numb. Blood pressure plummets. “When they torture her, right?”
Before I collapse to the floor, I manage to cling to Knox’s shirt. He already has an arm hooked around my back.
“Yes.” The word lands like a surgeon saying “scalpel.” Emotionless. Precise. He’s bracing me for what’s coming, forcingme to be as cold as he is. “You’ll get to see her die. Get the revenge you wanted, even if you won’t be the one killing her.”
“Excuse me?” My cheeks burn. My heart pounds. Is this his way of telling me he knows I’m a monster? How he’s breaking up with me? “I never said I wanted to kill her.”
“Skylar.” He presses a kiss to my forehead, and I shudder. “It’s okay to want that. Bad people deserve to die.”
“Oh…” I squeeze my eyes shut. “You’re really okay with me wanting it?”
“Of course. She was going to kill you.” His words steady me, and when my eyes open, his are soft. “I wish I could let you get your revenge, but this is all we have. The only caveat is watching her be tortured, which no one should have to endure. It’ll be a lot for you. Just remember I’m there, that I’ve got you. Okay?”
Thoughts of gore, suffering, and the axe are jammed in the back of my mind.
What fills me instead is Knox. He’s seen the darkest part of me and hasn’t turned away. He isn’t disgusted. He isn’t gone.
He’s still here, caressing me, steadying me with his thumb.
His eyes talk to me.
Say yes.
“Okay.” I swallow around the lump in my throat. What will go down there might haunt me for the rest of my life, but I’m not doing it for them. I’m going to be there for Knox. “Okay.”
After letting out a satisfied hum, he scoops me up, cradling me until we get to the table, where he puts me down.
With his gaze sealed on mine, he reaches behind me, grabbing something.
I see what he has there when he holds it up to my face.
His mask.
“They won’t get to see your face.” He loosens the cords, his hand sliding to the side of my neck. He holds my gaze for a long second before leaning in to retie them around my neck. “Themask will stand between you and them. All you have to do is promise me not to make a sound, even if you cry.”
My heart expands at the gesture. It feels so good, so right, to let him put his mask on me.
Despite the violence simmering just beneath his skin, he doesn’t yank on the cords. Doesn’t pull a single strand of my hair.
“Thank you,” I whisper.
He shrugs, then returns to adjusting the mask, which lies askew on my face.
That’s when it hits me. This mask isn’t just a shield. It’s a badge of honor. His way of binding himself to me.
