No.
No, no, no.
I scramble, fighting to get up while two massive palms push me back down and gather my arms behind me.
“No! Wait!” There’s no way this is real. I must’ve misunderstood. You can’t sell people … you can’t …
There has to be another explanation because he’s my father. However he may feel about me now, he should protect me, shouldn’t he? Instead, he what? Sold me off to the highest bidder.
“You sold me? You can’t do that.” I can’t breathe. My chest feels like it’s caving in, and out of instinct, I pull against the hands restraining me, despite the agonizing burn that pinches in my shoulders.
Limbs heavy, I want to scream. I tug and pull, the prickle in the back of my eyes turning into pleading wails. “Please,” I beg. “Please, don’t do this. Don’t let them take me.”
Nausea burns at the back of my throat. How do you survive something like this? How do I?—
“Put her down,” Senator Graves barks at them. “We’ve been here long enough.” He moves to the ashtray nestled between the newly opened glass bottles next to the couch and snuffs out hiscigar. He looks to Phil. “Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Harmon.”
The fabric hits my face before I have time to recognize what’s happening. I scream, sucking the rough, damp cloth in with each panicky breath. “No. Phil!”
I scream through the gamut of words. Shuffling between “no,” “help,” “Phil,” “help”—none of them are useful. Instead, a sharp, sickly sweet scent floods my nose, thick with a chemical I can only imagine is all wrong.
Thrashing, my arms lash out as my lungs search for air. I catch sight of Phil’s expression, and his gaze sinks. There’s a flicker; it’s barely there, but it cracks through along the lines etched into his worn-down face. His brows draw close, then lift enough to betray the doubt creeping in. His jaw tightens, and I think … I think he may change his mind.
“Please! Dad! Please!” I scream it as loudly as I can. Using the name I haven’t called him in years.
He freezes but doesn’t meet my frantic gaze. He doesn’t speak, only lifts a bottle to his lips likeit’sthe only thing worth saving.
I squeeze my eyelids shut, fighting the pull as everything around me spins. My knees buckle, and the world tilts sideways. Once more, I scream for him, but it comes out dying and too soft. My fingers scratch and dig into the hand holding the cloth to my mouth and nose, but everything swirls, my fight draining faster than I can hold on.
Darkness splinters through at the edges of my vision, and I swallow slowly, working the knot in my throat down while light pulses in waves around me. My body finally gives out, and I tumble down, but not before two hands catch and cradle me. Through the slits in my eyes, Phil turns away, palming his open beer.
And then?—
Nothing.
CHAPTER FIVE
THEA
“Shh. You’ll wake her.”
“Oh, screw you, Beth. She’ll wake once the drugs wear off anyway, or when her body finally realizes she’s on the damn floor.”
Voices around me, loud and disorienting at first, drag me from oblivion. I come to with an ugly gasp, trying to gulp air in abundance.
“She’s awake!” someone yells, and I wince. My head throbs, like something is drilling my skull, and it radiates throughout my whole face and jaw.
I slowly blink, focusing on several faces hovering over me. My eyes flutter as I try to make sense of what I’m seeing. Four beautiful girls who can’t be much older than I am grimace as they take me in.
The floor beneath me is cold and unyielding—concrete. I grapple with my limbs. They’re heavy and disconnected from my brain as I try to move. Try to sit up.
“Here. Let me help you.” One of the girls with dark brown hair and warm, earthy eyes reaches for me, and I clasp her hand. She pulls me into a sitting position, then crouches down beside me with a water cup in her hand. “This should help.”
Shaking, I take it and bring it to my lips. “W-where am I?” I croak, then take a shallow sip.
“Hell. You’re in hell.”
“Oh my god, Mercy. Seriously, don’t scare her.” A blonde glares at the girl named Mercy, but she flips her long black hair over her shoulder and waves a hand in dismissal.
