My body froze. I went back to the day I tried escaping, when he kept calling me a doe—a deer—and seemed to enjoy hunting me through the dark halls. I laid back on the bed and continued watching the movie without saying another word.
“So no Bambi?” he asked, after a few minutes.
“Leave me alone,” I said.
“Oh, how the tables have turned, but I’ll happily take your quietness,” he said.
Voices outside the room startled me awake. I hadn’t realized I’d fallen back to sleep, but it was the norm these days, watching television and sleeping. My eyes struggled to open. Batman had just gone off, and the credits were playing on the screen.
“Why are you—No, how are you down here?” Quinnlyn said, his voice lowered, but not low enough.
“They can’t watch me every second of every day, and why can’t I see her?” a voice I knew said—Daxyn.
I jumped up, ran to the door, and wrapped my hands around the bars.
“Daxyn?” I asked.
“Zay!”he said.
“Your father has me locked in here—”
“I know,” he said, and he sighed heavily. “Please let me in there, I won’t tell him or anyone that you did. No one should be coming anyway, since the midwife already came, and I have Zay’s lunch.”
“Fine,” Quinnlyn said, “but I swear to fucking God, Dax, I’m not going down for any more of your bullshit.”
The door handle jangled, and then he pushed it open. As soon as our eyes met, his eyes dropped, his brow furrowed. He pushed the door closed behind him. I stared at him, unsure what to say or do, before he pulled me into his arms and squeezed me tightly. He let go, his hands clasped around my upper arms, before pulling his upper body back, looking my whole body over.
“Let’s go sit—”
“No, help me get out of here!” I said.
“I can’t—”
“You can’t? Or you won’t?” I cut him off.
“Both. I can’t defy an order—”
“Yet it sounded like you did, to be in here right now,” I said.
“This won’t get me killed.Thatwould,” he said.
“I don’t understand…” I said softly.
“Let’s sit down,” he said, then grabbed my hand and pulled me to the mattress.
I was trying to hold back the sobs that threatened to come. I’d done a lot of that since being locked away.
“I never wanted any of this to happen. I never thought my father would resort to any of this.”
“Why is he keeping me here?” I asked, tears rolling down my cheeks.
“Because of what I’m—”
“Dax!” Quinnlyn said sternly.
“What are you?” I whispered.
“It’s complicated, and it may sound a little too crazy,” he said.
