“Teagan?” Lexi chokes out, jumping up and rushing toward me. I can’t contain my emotions long enough to tell her about the walls before she smashes face-first into them.
Lexi grabs her nose and looks to the sky. “Well, shit. So much for saving you.”
My heart swells. I’m so unbelievably happy to see her that I can’t even be bothered to care about anything that happened before. If anything, Pierce’s twisted sense of humor has done nothing but light a burning fire of camaraderie for her and Capri both. Our friendship can conquer anything if it means we all get out of here alive, together.
Lexi slides to the white tiled floor on her side of the glass and gives me a wobbly smile. She looks like she’s been through the wringer. Her face is scratched and matted with dried blood, while her normally sleek blonde hair is frizzy and tangled into a messy bun.
I wonder what horrors she’s been through. Hopefully, they don’t match my own. I stare down at the blood on my hands and shudder. What will she think of me when she learns about my own fight for survival?
“I’d never judge you,” Lexi says. I open my mouth to respond, but she holds up a hand to stop me. “I can see it written all over your face. You’re already knee deep in judging yourself. There’s no room for that here.” She sighs, placing her hand against the wall keeping us apart. “We did what we needed to do to make it out alive,” she pauses, “I’m glad you’re here.”
I slide up next to her and put my hand on the glass over hers, wishing it would shatter so I could wrap her in a hug instead. “I’m glad you’re here, too. Even if we are still locked in a cage for Pierce’s amusement.”
Lexi lets out a strained laugh. “Oh, he’ll get what’s coming to him. I promise you that. I’ll make sure he pays for what he made me—” she pauses, her eyes avoiding mine as she gnaws at her lip.
I’ve always been able to read Lexi like a book, or at least I thought I could. She hid a lot from me over the last few months, but I know this isn’t the time to bring that up. That’s a conversation for a different time.
She looks up at me again, tears welling up in those gorgeous eyes of hers.
“Whatever you had to do, just know you’re not alone in these feelings. Pierce turned me into a monster out there in those woods,” I tell her, my own voice cracking heavily with unshed tears and guilt. “I’m sure the two of us can schedule some much-needed group therapy sessions when we get home,” I tease, trying to lighten the mood before we both break entirely.
Lexi scoffs, then rubs her hands through her messy hair. “It better be the four of us, or I’m not going.”
I furrow my brow at her. “Four of us?”
She shakes her head. “Yes, all four of us. You, me, Capri, and Lee. He’s invited too. He helped me in more ways than one during our trial or whatever you want to call that horrific nonsense.”
I sit up straighter against the cold glass. “Was Capri with you, too?”
“I freaking wish,” Lexi replies. “She would have figured out how to get us out of that mess without anyone having to die.” Her eyes drift to her fingers as she picks at her nails.
I wish more than anything I could reach out and comfort her with more than just my words, because I know there are no words to ease the burning hole in my own chest.
Before I can think of anything else to help her through this, a loud, blaring buzzer goes off above our heads. We both cover our ears and look at each other. Without having to ask, I know her heart is pounding in terror just like my own.
“Hello, ladies,” Pierce’s voice coos from a speaker mounted on the wall. “It’s almost time for your next challenge. But first, we have to make sure you’re presentable. You two are quite the fright to look upon.”
My flannel is covered in blood and dirt. I glance over at Lexi and notice her purple crop top is torn and bloodied as well. I guess we both missed that in the chaos of being reunited. Or we both chose to ignore it because asking questions will only lead to more heartbreak for each of us.
I want to scream, yell, shout at the speaker, and the man perched somewhere on the other side like a coward. One look at Lexi tells me she’s feeling the same way. She shakes her head in warning before I can open my mouth.
We have to play his game to survive. While this might just be a game to him, it’s life and death for the rest of us still standing. Hopefully, that includes Capri and Lee, too.
The door in my room opens at the same time as the door on Lexi’s side of the divider does. A red-haired woman enters Lexi’s room as a dark-haired woman enters mine. They’re both wearing the same attire as the servers wore during dinner.
“You will follow them, and do exactly what you’re told,” Pierce says over the speaker. “You disobey, and you will be punished. Nod your head if you understand.”
I look at Lexi just as her eyes meet mine.
“Listen to everything they say, okay?” She urges me. “I love you, Teagan.”
“I love you, too, Lex.”
We both nod our heads and follow the servants out, going opposite ways.
I just pray whatever Pierce has planned next leaves us both breathing by the end of it.
Chapter thirty-two
