Ifollow Pierce’s red-headed minion out of the room and into a long, sterile-looking hallway. The walls are the same glaring white as the room Teagan and I were just in, and the floor is the same hideous slate grey tile.
Clearly, someone with poor taste designed this.
Is this another one of Pierce’s underground bunkers, or are we in another strange part of Windermere that Pierce only uses to intimidate us?
“This way,” the minion says, ushering me through a set of double doors. I stare daggers at the back of her head. I could totally take her down if I needed to. She’s thinner than I am. From the timid glances she keeps daring to give me, I know she’s more scared of me than I could ever be of her.
There’s nothing I won’t do to get out of here and back to Teagan. So for now, I’ll pretend to play this game, at least until I know where everyone is, including myself.
The new room we enter is nothing like the one we just left. We are definitely back at Windermere because there is no other place decorated this ostentatiously. I think I’d take the sci-fi hall of doom and gloom over thismonstrosity of a castle.
Heavy maroon velvet drapes line the windows, their thick golden cords hanging limp on the sides. We pass dozens of closed rooms lining the long hallway before the minion stops at the base of a long spiral staircase.
“If you go up, you’ll find your new quarters waiting for you. Mr. Pierce has requested that you shower and change into the dress he has left for you. You have one hour before I come back to collect you,” she instructs rather loudly.
I roll my eyes at her and start up the stairs. No need to speak to the help, right? What am I supposed to do? Thank her for forcing me to play the puppet to her puppeteer? Absolutely not going to happen. Besides, I can’t wait to take a shower and wash all this death off of me.
A hand grabs my wrist before I take my next step, and I look down to see the red-headed minion. She’s giving me a look of panic, which is the only reason I don’t jerk away from her touch.
“Please, do as he says. I can’t stress that enough.” She glances behind her, her expression full of fear.
I lower my voice. “What do you mean? Who are you? Are you trapped here like the rest of us?”
Her green eyes widen momentarily before she gives me a barely perceptible nod. She straightens and pulls back from me. “Just follow the rules. I beg you,” she reiterates, turning on her heel and strolling back down the corridor we just came from.
I watch her until she disappears from my sight, wishing I could chase her down and beg her for more information. There’s something she’s not telling me. She’s trapped here like the rest of us, but why is she doing what Pierce demands?
Is there anyone in this place who actually wants to be here? Or does Mr. Control Freak author have everyone here as unwilling participants in our torture?
Taking the steps up to my new room, I ponder this and wonder if I should have told Teagan that Josh is somehow twisted up in this, too. I was too scared to break the bubble of trust she extended, though, to speak of him.
What if I’ve just put her in more danger now that they’ve separated us again?
I get to my room and slam the door behind me. It’s almost loud enough to muffle the sound of my heart pounding heavily with regret.
Without a second glance, I take off into the adjoining bathroom and tear my filthy clothing off, flinging it at my reflection in the mirror before hopping into an ice-cold shower.
I scrub myself raw as my teeth chatter hard enough to draw blood when they snap down on my tongue.
I don’t deserve happiness.
I don’t deserve forgiveness.
I don’t deserve Teagan.
I should have told her the moment I saw her sitting on the opposite side of the glass wall, our friendship be damned. Shedeservedto know that Josh is a monster just like the rest of them.
I should have told her thathe’sthe Axeman.
My entire world shattered when Josh stepped out of the woods and smiled at me right after I was tricked into pushing Lochlan to his death. He was the one who kissed me before I ended up at the bottom of the hillside. I should have known it was him. He was all I dreamed about for years, and then when he finally deigned to give me the time of day, I consumed everything about him.
How could I be so stupid? I can’t believe I ever fell for him. I was ready to throw my friendship with Teagan away for nothing but lies and deceit.
He’s a disgusting, pathetic excuse for a man, and I was stupid enough to fall for his trap. I should have known. If I had paid more attention, I could have saved everyone. Kristi, Sammy, and Lochlan.
Josh tricked me into murdering Lochlan.
My heart constricts painfully as I step out of the shower and dry off. I choke back my emotions. I have to. I can’t let myself think of Lochlan, or I’ll fall apart entirely. I don’t have time to stitch myself together when I have more friends who need saving.
