I opened my mouth to call for her but no sound came out.Fuck!I hadn’t opened my mouth for four fucking weeks—not even to talk to Niko. He was still bringing me reports, but I was worried that if I talked to him, everything would come pouring out. Every thought, every fear, and I swore to myself I wasn’t going to shed a single more tear in this place.
The two guards threw Amber to the ground and left, slamming the door behind them. She ran over after them and pounded on the steel.
“Let me out, you fucking freaks!” she screamed.
I sat in my corner, not making a sound—hoping this was just a nightmare. I’d been having a lot of them lately because of the witch.
It took her two minutes before she gave up and surveyed the room. Her eyes scanned the black stone, the two metal doors with keypads, the torches lining the walls, and finally me. Her eyes went wide and she ran to me.
“Oh my god! Violet? Jesus Christ! What have they done to you?”
She took my face in her hands and studied me—every bruise, every mark, every cut. I said nothing.
“V, you have no idea what’s going on out there. Your villains have been tearing apart the city to find you. They burned down the whole of City Core last week. Oh my god!” She cried. “What are these people doing to you? What do they want?” She dropped her hands from my face. “V, talk to me. Please, I’m terrified.”
I just stared at her.
She looked just like the last time a saw her. Makeup done—a perfect neutral look—wavy blonde hair falling over her shoulder, not a single strand out of place. She was dressed in her light-bluehospital scrubs—even that was in perfect condition. She didn’t look anything like a girl who was taken off the street against her will.
My mind flashed back to the night before I was taken.
“Hey, bitch. What’s up?”
“What’s up with me? Well, I’m calling to see where the fuck my best friend is. I went by your place a couple times and you haven’t been home each time.”
“Can you keep a secret?”
She scoffed. “Girl, who are you talking to. Of course I can.”
“I’m up at the cottage. I… I met someone, and I decided to do a bit of a getaway.”
“Oh my god! Tell me everything!”
I spent a couple minutes telling her about Austin without going into too much detail. Still, I found myself smiling uncontrollably. She was gasping, digging for more, asking when she could meet him. I’d tried to avoid but Amber was a persistent person.
“I’ll be back Sunday night. I promise we can go out then, okay?”
“Will you bring him? I want to meet this man that got you over Avalanche.”
I laughed, if only she knew. “Not yet. Soon.”
“Oh come on,” she whined.
I looked up to find Austin standing in the door way with three giant bowls of popcorn, chips, and chocolates. God, I fucking loved this man.
“I have to go. Sunday night, I promise.”
“Is he there? Send me a picture, I need to know if he’s as pretty as Avalanche.”
I sighed. “Bye, Amber.”
She readthe look of betrayal on my face immediately. She sighed, the act vanished just like that.
“You always were too smart for your own good. I tried to tell Chris it wouldn’t work, but he never listens to me.”
“It might have worked, if you let me rough you up a bit,” Shitface said from the door. “Tell me, Violet, would you have put the pieces together if she had committed to the role a little more?”
I dropped my eyes to my hands. I wasn’t going to give them anything else. I was going to bury myself deep in my mind and disassociate like I always did when they questioned me.
