The tip presses in slowly. The surface gives under the pressure, bowing inward before it finally breaks with a soft, wet pop.
Miles screams.
The sound tears out of him, loud enough to scrape along the walls. Elliot keeps pushing. The needle slides farther in, forcing its way deeper as blood spills instantly, running hot and fast down Miles’s cheek. Clear fluid follows, dripping and streaking as his eye shifts helplessly around the metal.
Miles thrashes harder, legs buckling as his scream cracks into choking sobs. His voice fails him, breaking down into breathless, animal sounds as Elliot continues unbothered and unhurried.
When the needle finally comes free, it is slick and dark.
Elliot steps back and hands it off without comment.
The guards release him.
Miles collapses immediately, curling onto his side. He clutches his face, fingers pressing uselessly against an eye that leaks and bleeds between them. His body shakes in sharp, uncontrollable spasms while small, broken noises slip out of him.
Elliot looks down at him for a moment.
Then he lifts his gaze.
“Next.”
Then he smiles at me.
“Brooke.”
My legs feel boneless, but I force them forward.
My card flips over.
Blue water. Lungs. 120 seconds.
Sophie actually bounces on her heels.
“Ohhhh,” she croons. “This is going to be fun.”
Elliot gestures to the pool.
“Let’s see how long you can keep that pretty head under.”
The water ripples like it knows exactly what it is about to take from me.
Chapter 21
Seth
Istand close behind Brooke, one arm around her waist, the other hovering near her chest as she holds our daughter. I am careful not to crowd them, careful not to break whatever fragile calm has settled over the room.
Our daughter is warm and small against Brooke’s chest. Her breath moves in faint puffs. Short dark curls rest against her scalp. One tiny hand flexes in her sleep before relaxing again.
Brooke presses her lips to the baby’s forehead and stays there. When she looks up at me, she leans back just enough to kiss me too. Her smile is tired, but content. I can't look away.
They are real.
They are alive.
They are here.
They are everything I have never been allowed to keep.
