Still, the presence of someone elsebesidesMax is vaguely interesting. Enough so that I don’t get lost in nothingness, and I give her the faintest sliver of my attention.
“Hey,” she says gently. “It’s good to see you.” A pause. “You look like a bucket o’ fuck, girl.”
Ialmostsmile at her candor. It’s somewhat refreshing.
“I’ve dissociated hard in the past, too. Sometimes, life just gets to be too much, you know? It can be easier to just…” she pauses. “Disappear.” Another pause. “I’ve never beenthisfar gone, though.”
We sit in silence for a while after that, but it’s not the tense sort of silence that makes me completely disconnect whenever Max is around. He expects me to respond and to engage—it doesn’t feel like Scarlett has that expectation. She’s just content to sit with me in silence.
“I nearly killed Greyson when I found out what he did.” She pauses. “Again. I got a lot closer the first time around. I hope you know, neither him, Max, or Toby wanted anything to do with that. But… Cain’s a tyrant. Honestly, I didn’t think he had the ability to actually care about people until he started losing his mind over that girl.” She saysthat girlwith a note of derision, as if she hates her on the principle of Cain liking her. “It’s kind of weird, seeing him actually give a fuck about something aside from power. I sort of feel bad for the girl. Maybe it’d be best if she doesn’t make it here. Cain…” she trails off, and I feel the bed shake with her shiver. “I don’t thinksadisticis a strong enough word for him. He’s…inhuman. I can’t imagine he’d be any kinder to her than her captors are.Ifshe has captors. I suppose Dagon could’ve already had her killed—”
“He didn’t.” My words are barely a mumble.
Scarlett’s inhale is quiet, but sharp enough to let me know her surprise. She’s silent for a beat. I think she’s composing herself.
“You sound very sure.”
I swallow. My throat feels dry—my mouth, like it’s stuffed full of cotton. There’s a fuzzy feeling in my headasidefrom the one of my own making. I vaguely recall Max feeding me pills—some of them were probably for pain.
“That’s not his style.” I let out a cough. “Azalea was a resource to Dagon. He’s never been one to waste resources.”
Scarlett’s soft hand lands on my leg, over the blanket. The gesture is casual, but the fact that she’s touching me feels unaccountably intimate. It makes reality sharpen around the edges. “Ember—”
“He wouldn’t have ordered her killed upon his death, either. Cain was a suitable rival to him. Dagon would’ve wanted Cain to live his life knowing his obsession was being tortured. Horribly.”
“Ember,” Scarlett says, a bit harsher. “If you know where she is, you should tell me. Or Max, or Greyson. Cain—” she cuts off with a harsh breath. “He’s… unwell. He’s always been a psychopath, but I think he might be having a psychotic break. If you don’t cooperate, he’ll—”
“Kill me? Hurt me?” I laugh. “Let him.”
“Ember,please. If you think Dagon is bad—”
“Don’t youdaresay Cain’s worse.” My eyes snap up, meeting hers. Cold anger chills me to the bone. “You don’t know Dagon, and you’re lucky you never will. Nobody’s worse than him.”
She blinks. “Nobody’s morecreativethan Cain,” she says softly. “He comes up with things that most people can’t even imagine. Besides, he wouldn’t have to hurtyou, would he?”
The subtext cuts me straight through skin, muscle, and sinew, and lodges deep between my ribs.Alina.
I failed in killing Tobias—I might’ve hurt himbadly,but he’s not dead. I thought him claiming her might be the worst thing imaginable, butCaindeciding to take her would be much, much worse.
I have an immensely high pain tolerance. I can take just about any torture Cain could think up. Alina, however… my sweet little sister…
She wouldn’t.
And of all the horrible sins I’ve committed, giving her to a monster could never be one of them.
She’s gone from being Dagon’s leverage on me to Cain’s.
But maybe if I get my shit together, just for a little while, I’ll be able to kill two birds with one stone.
“I’ll talk to Cain,” I say, blinking again and again. I’m still a bit fuzzy—I think it’s from the pain meds, not my decision to check out from the world. Becoming aware of the threat hanging over Alina’s head is enough to snap back into it.
Fuck, is there never going to be an end to my responsibilities?
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Scarlett bites her lip. “He’ll probably torture you.”
“I’m not asking.”
She lets out a long breath. “Ember…” she sighs again. “Talk to Max first, at least.”
