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Just the memory of the bullshit coming out of her mouth makes my body go hot before a sick feeling spreads through me. Like a drop of ink in a glass of water.
That must be why I laid down. She started with that bullshit and made my head hurt. It hurts now and only gets worse the harder I try to concentrate and figure things out. I should be worrying about how to get us out of here and whether Q took me seriously when I called him. For once, I need him to listen tosomebody other than himself. I can’t believe there was a time I used to laugh at his bullshit.
This filthy mattress barely deserves the name. I’m pretty sure I feel every inch of the ground underneath me as I roll over, looking around in the grimy, dark room. No, it’s more like a cell. We’re both in prison. It doesn’t take long for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, and I can identify Scarlet huddled and shaking in the opposite corner. “Do yourself a favor,” I mutter. “Pull the back of your sweat shirt away from your skin if you haven’t lately.”
“Why would—” She stops herself before finishing the question, probably because she’s not dumb. She’s just not as used to this kind of thing as I am. This is her first time being held like this. Being beaten and whipped.
She does as she’s told, for once. I still don’t know how to feel about her or any of the things she said, but that doesn’t mean I don’t wince when I recognize the way she hisses through her teeth as the material that was stuck to her skin gets pulled free. “Good thinking,” she finally whispers once she’s finished, shaky but strong. She’s always been strong.
“How many times did they hit you?”
Her head snaps up and her eyes seek me out. Once they land on me, she sighs. “I don’t know. I lost count. It felt like a hundred, but maybe eight or ten.”
“Even one is more than enough.”
She nods, groaning, then pulls her knees up to her chest. “How are you feeling now?”
“Like I got the shit kicked out of me. But my head…” I squeeze my eyes shut when the room spins. All I tried to do was sit up, but it’s like my body has other ideas. I can barely move. Completely wiped out. How am I supposed to help either of us when I’m like this? Then again, what else is there for me to do?
“Can I ask you something?” Her voice is soft, barely a whisper, and it seems like she’s forcing it out. It must be pretty important, so I nod as much as I can with my head pounding. “Do you remember what happened before you went to sleep?”
My teeth grind together before I can help it. “Why would you throw that in my face?”
“I’m not trying to.” She sure as hell sounds defensive, though. “I’m asking a simple question. Do you remember?”
“Yeah, I remember you trying to defend yourself by making shit up.” A pain in my head takes away anything else I’m about to say. It’s like somebody’s driving an ice pick into my brain and fishing around. I don’t like showing pain—I never have—but I can’t help gripping my head in both hands like I’m afraid it will crack open otherwise.
“You’re in pain.” Dammit, even now, I hear the heavy sympathy in her voice. I don’t want to. I don’t want to think of her caring, because then that leads to a bunch of questions. How could she care and still do what she did?
“It’ll be fine,” I tell her, and maybe I’m trying to convince myself. I have to believe it will be better, or else I might totally lose it. I mean, who wants to imagine the rest of their life in agony?
“You can’t let yourself get too upset. Your blood pressure goes up and it makes your head hurt worse. Try to stay calm.”
Even through the pain, that makes me laugh. “Oh, thanks. I’ll stay calm. You just reminded me of the fight we were having and why we were having it, but sure. I’ll stay calm.”
“I know you don’t want to believe me.” Fuck, why does she have to sound so patronizing? “But it’s true. It was Luke who cleared up the mystery.”
“What mystery?”
“What happened to River.”
This again. “I told you—” I start with a growl.
“And I told you to stay calm.” If I didn’t know better, I would think it was Xander in this cell with me. She knows how to snap at a person in the right way and shut their mouth. “Luke confirmed it. I’m sorry, but it’s true. River died at Safe Haven. I know he’s very real for you, and I’m so sorry for everything you went through, but that doesn’t change the truth. You lost your brother in the worst possible way, and… I don’t know, your poor mind was trying to make sense out of it. You were so young.”
“Don’t talk like you know anything about it.”
“I know a little bit,” she whispers. I hate that. The pity, the way she tries to make it sound like she knows what this is all about just because she got whipped a few times.
“Congratulations. I wish I could say I had a prize for you.” I’m finally able to sit up without everything turning on its side, and I settle in with my back to the wall, resting my head against the cool stone. It doesn’t help much.
“I only want to help you,” Scarlet insists, because she never knows when to leave things alone. “That’s all I want. Can you remember what happened earlier? What’s the last thing you remember about the fight we were having?”
“I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“We have to,” she insists. Stubborn brat. She hasn’t changed. “It’s important. I need to know how much you remember.”
“I’m pretty sure we were having a conversation sort of like this one.”
