Jesus Christ.
“This is all a misunderstanding,” I say to Meridei, ignoring her idiot mother.
Meridei shifts on her heels, considering my appeal. At first glance, she seems so level-headed, so well-balanced, but deep down—I know she feasts on our desperation like the manipulative, sadistic psychopath she really is.
My attempt was a losing battle. But I had to try, for Sapphire’s sake.
“Let’s begin.” Meridei grins.
Apple May takes a seat in the corner of the room as Meridei holds out a photograph with one hand and feels Sapphire’s pulse with the other.
Sapphire becomes a statue, lowering her eyes to the photograph without showing any kind of physical response.
Come on, Spitfire. You’ve got this.
“Pulse went up,” Meridei comments, then swiftly sticks her fingers in Sapphire’s mouth, index finger jabbing under her tongue. “Salivating.”
Sapphire squeezes her eyes shut in defeat and my heart twists in my chest.
“What an unreliable method,” I growl.
Meridei shoots her dark eyes to me. “Reliable enough.”
Well-rehearsed fingers inject a syringe into the IV tube, and I have to hold my breath. She said there will be unpleasant consequences. I’ve seen Sapphire suffer during our time with Absinthe and Albatross. I really don’t want to bear witness to this again. I don’t have the strength to see her cry.
“Oh god.” Sapphire doubles over in her chair, hands clutching her stomach as she winces in pain. Her whimpers are all I hear as they flow freely from her lips. “Make it stop.Please!”
“I want you to associate those intense stomach cramps with—”
Meridei is cut off as she rushes to place the metal pail in front of Sapphire as she heaves into it, emptying her stomach of the only meal she’s had. Raw eggs.
I look away and grind my teeth so hard, I almost crack into my enamel.
Two splashes hit the bottom of the bucket.
“There it is.” Meridei coos, holding Sapphire’s hair out of her face. “Get it out.”
Sapphire whines through a tearless sob.
“Wormwood concentrate. It’s not fun, is it, Mrs. Valdawell?” Meridei adds.
I’ll fucking slit her throat for this.
Apple May claps her hands from the corner of the room, bouncing off her seat. “Now for my favorite part!”
My rage eats through the sedatives coursing through my veins.
“Patient Three, you may please your wife now, and the pain will stop.” Meridei readies another syringe.
I blink three times with my mouth open. “What?”
“Finger her.Now.”
An orderly shoves me to my feet. I whip my head to look at him, shocked that I was unaware any men were in this room. He extends my shackles like an elongated leash for a dog.
I look down at Sapphire who is wincing in agony, possibly unaware that this command is even being made of me.
“No,” I respond, balling my fists in front of me. “She isn’t well.”
