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"Yes," he laughs. "I actually really enjoy that type of thing," he explains.

"You're right. I'm going to be excited all day and all night and looking forward to it," I grin.

"Good. I'm glad I told you then. I was thinking we might find some pretty dresses for you there. Something unique andspecial that suits you." He throws the blankets off. "But for now, I have to get going."

I snuggle deeper into the bed. "I think I'll stay here a little while longer," I say, my voice muffled against the pillow.

"Sure, rub it in, you lazy little rabbit," he laughs.

***

I only climb out of bed an hour later. My stomach wasn't too happy with me earlier, but I managed to sleep a bit more and skip over today's morning sickness. Thank goodness it hasn't been anywhere near as those first two days. I don't know how I would've been able to hide that from him.

Walking lazily through the house, I wander out onto the patio with a cup of tea to sit and watch the ocean.

On the patio table, I catch sight of a walkie-talkie and a cell phone.

It must belong to one of the guards.

My heart skips two full beats as I reach out and touch the phone.

There is a tag attached to the walkie-talkie. "Brenton," I mutter.

He went off shift about twenty minutes ago when they rotated teams. He must have left this behind.

My heart leaps.Aphone.

And he won't be looking for it until tomorrow.

I grab the items and run back into the house, forgetting about my tea.

In my room, I sit on my bed and hold the phone with shaking hands. It's not even locked. The guards use it on their shifts, and it's essentially a throwaway phone with nothing on it but the ability to send and receive calls.

And I know exactly who I want to call.

But what if each call is logged on a system somewhere? What if Bardil is notified the moment I press dial?

It's a risk I'm going to have to take. I won't have this phone for long, and I have to grab this opportunity.

My heart races as I dial her number.

Each digit lights up on the screen until they are all neatly lined up and waiting for me to press send.

I press it.

It starts ringing, and I sit in disbelief. I almost thought it wouldn't work.

"Hello?"

Her voice comes through the line, and I almost drop the phone. My beautiful sister. It feels like forever since I spoke to her.

"Valery?" I say, my throat tight.

"Who is this?"

I swallow hard and try again.

"Val, it's Kit. It's me," I say.