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Wood splinters somewhere beneath the coffin.
All at once, the support it was on gives way.
My scream rips free as the entire coffin plunges downward, the impact slamming through my body. Air punches out of my lungs.
Dirt rains down after, swallowing every sound I make.
Until it all stops.
My heart hammers in my chest.
Trust him.
I can’t tell how many minutes have passed. My body aches from holding still. Waiting is its own kind of torture.
A sound finally reaches me. A door opening. Footsteps approaching slowly.
The lid lifts, and dirt falls into the coffin around me.
Firelight spills over me from a torch on the wall. I can only blink up at it while my lungs continue working as if I’m still buried. Rough stone surrounds me, dirty and damp. Far above, the broken opening gapes overhead, the night sky framed by a jagged ring of soil.
A figure leans over me in dark green velvet, a silver mask hiding his face. But those blue eyes shine through.
I stare up at him, too drained to move.
Then he pushes back the hood and removes the mask.
Seeing Edwin’s face makes relief hit hard. Tears sting my eyes, but I won’t let them make more of a mess of me. Not while I’m still tied up and angry.
His hand rises to brush dirt-caked hair from my eyes with a tenderness I don’t know what to do with.
“You did so well, angel.”
My traitorous heart flutters at the praise, but I give him nothing back. He doesn’t deserve softness from me after that.
He lifts a knife, the blade flashing in the light, and gestures for me to turn. I roll stiffly onto my side. One clean slice, and the zip tie falls away.
When I bring my hands in front of me, my wrists ache, rubbed raw and red.
Edwin reaches out his hand. I smack it away and push myself to stand up. I don’t need his help. My legs almost fail me when I step onto the stone floor, but I steady them.
He takes a step back, giving me space.
“You can stop now.” His voice is gentle, but I can taste the warning underneath. “If you refuse to go on, you walk away. I tear up the contract. I let you go.”
His thumb brushes over my damaged wrist, and his gaze lifts to meet mine.
“But if you continue, then you don’t hesitate. You don’t get to say no. You give yourself to me completely.”
He pauses, trying to read my face as I do my best to keep every emotion blank.
“If you step forward,” he says with more conviction, “you’re mine.”
His.
It should scare me to belong to Edwin. It does. But as I stand here, filthy and shaken, dirt drying on my skin and my hair hanging in knots, I know I’ve already crossed a line tonight. Whatever this is, I’m in it now.
I came here for answers, knowing safety isn’t guaranteed. Asher joined these people. He believed in something here. There has to be meaning in that. Meaning in all of this beyond helping a man reach his goal of gaining power.
