“Emma, please… I’m sorry…”
“Damien, you are fucking losing it! Get it together!”
A different voice booms right in front of me, and when I force my eyes again, the only person I see in front of me is Victoria. Her dark blue eyes bore into mine like she’s trying to figure out a puzzle. I jerk my head away from her hands, and as it falls to the side, I scour the room in a disoriented panic. There’s no trace of her. My sister is gone. She’s dead, once again, and I broke her heart before she disappeared.
Please, come back… I need to make it right…
The look on her face was everything I knew it would be. It contained every ounce of disgust and disappointment that I knew she would feel for me. I didn’t deserve to see her. I’m not worthy of her voice. Just like I’m not worthy of seeing my wife. I’ve just barely felt her, smelled her, and I’ve heard her, but nomatter how far I let myself fall into the delusion, I still don’t see her.
It’s because I don’t deserve to.
A harsh slap explodes on the side of my face, and Victoria directs my attention back to her. I’m not sure that I’m actuallyseeingher, though. It’s almost as ifshe’sthe apparition, and I’m staring right through her. Perhaps she’s also an illusion. I’ve studied her father enough and have seen her picture enough times.
“Come on, snap out of it, Hartley! You can’t do this yet!”
“Leave me alone…” I groan out. She taps the side of my face with her hand, and then she shakes my head a little.
“You cannot give up, you hear me? We’rebothgoing to get out of here, but I need you to keep it together a little longer.”
“How long have I been here?” I ask, and she hesitates—almost as if she doesn’t want to tell me. Her face softens just enough to be concerning. So, I ask again. “How fucking long?”
“Twenty-two days…” she reveals regrettably. “You can’t think about that right now. I came to warn you. They’re going to test you again tonight.”
“I can’t…”
“Youhaveto,” she insists. “They don’t fucking care how much it hurts, and they don’t care if they’ve literally pushed you to the edge. Theywillexpect you to complete this target, do you understand?” she seethes, and I just shake my head in defeat.
I don’t know how the hell I’m supposed to do this. My neck isn’t even strong enough to hold my head for longer than five seconds, and I’m seeing ghosts. Do they really expect me to be able to kill someone?
“Do you want them to kill your wife?” she warns, and I shake my head another time. My heart painfully beats against my ribs, and I can feel myself trying to come back to life. The thought of them getting anywhere near Ashia terrifies me. My father wasgone in the blink of an eye, and I heard my mother’s scream from Sette’s post.
I can’t let them touch her.
“Here…” Victoria lets go of my head, letting it fall back painfully before she pulls out a needle. I shake my head back and forth again, not wanting whatever is in that syringe, but she just shakes her head in return—almost hectically. “No, no. It’s okay. This will help clear your head. It won’t help with the pain much, but it’ll at least help you get through tonight. Alright?” She brings the needle to the inside of my elbow and injects me before I can refuse.
“Where do you all get this shit?” I force my head forward again, and she glances at me before looking back down to the needle.
“My father owns a pharmaceutical company. He gets DeLuca and Saconne whatever they want.”
My mind may be shit right now, but I definitely remember her name being listed as the company’s owner when we did our digging. She thinks her dad owns it?
“You meanyouown a pharmaceutical company…”
Her eyes snap back up to mine as she pockets the needle. There’s a flash of shock in her gaze, and her entire face hardens—almostconfirming that she really isn’t willingly involved.
“What do you mean? I don’t own it.”
She jerks around as the door creaks open again, and I lock eyes with Saconne as he steps inside. He looks just as menacing as ever. Today, he wears an all-black suit and shoes, like he’s just come back from an expensive Gala. I’d love nothing more than to hang him by his pretentious tie.
“What are you doing in here, Victoria?” he asks teasingly, almost like he expected to find her doing something wrong. Her hand barely twitches at her side, making it clear that his presence affects her negatively.
“Just playing with my toy,Preside.”
“It doesn’t look like you’re having much fun.” He steps up to her until he’s towering over her form. There’s a cocky grin that creeps onto his lips, and my spine rattles. In a flash, his hand darts out and swipes across her face, knocking her to the ground. When she hits harshly, I clench my fists behind my back and try like hell not to react. I may not completely trust Victoria, but she’s still a woman, and that type of violence always affects me. “What were you really doing in here, Victoria? You know you can’t breed with him until his training is complete.”
Breed? He can’t be fucking serious. She’s never said anything like that, and if that is part of their intentions, then this situation just got even worse.
I think I’m going to be sick.
