“We all do, but there’s nothing.”
We sit in silence for a while until Rory digs in her coveralls pocket. “Brought you a sandwich,” she passes me the Quo classic. “You seem healthier.”
“I’m feeling stronger today.”
“Good.” She glances back at François as he picks up his book once more, then leans her shoulder against mine.
“You’re not the only one worrying over a kid. Sky broke today,” she sighs, her voice so low. “In the showers…that poor, poor girl.”
My jaw tightens. “Did something trigger her? That was supposed to be a safe time.”
“It was undressing. She has a number, Tally, etched right into her skin like a serial number on a piece of property. The traffickers did that to her. She was scared and ashamed for us to see it.”
I feel the animal in my gut let out a low howl.
I’ve dealt with gangs and killers, but human trafficking is a different kind of evil.
“I promised her she was safe with us. I promised no one would ever touch her again. But Dot…” She looks over her shoulder again and lowers her voice even further. “Dot thinks François is the kind of man who buys what that brand represents.”
I look past her at the Frenchman on the other side of the room. “I wish there was a way to make him feel even an ounce of the pain his kind have put people like Sky through.”
Rory nods. “Let me know if you come up with anything. I’d do anything to make him suffer.” Her fingers curl into the foam pad.
I lean closer, our faces almost touching. “You can have the first strike, Princess. I’ll hold him and you can extract your revenge in whatever way you like, understand?”
She meets my gaze with blazing eyes. “That might seem weird, but I think that’s the most romantic thing anyone could ever say.”
François looks up from his book, fixing us both in his gaze.
He doesn’t say a word, and after a minute returns to his reading.
Aurora lies back on the cot and after a second I squeeze next to her. After a while her breathing regulates and I know she’s asleep.
I want to stay awake forever, because this is the most peace I’ve ever known.
27.TALIESIN
Opening my eyes, my gaze is filled with the most beautiful frowning face in the world. Framed by a mess of blonde hair, her pale skin is slightly flushed in her sleep.
We’d gone to sleep crammed together on the cot.
The cot in the cage.
I’d give my life’s savings to experience this moment. Yet here I am, without paying anything except my heart.
Because, fuck it, I’m gone.
Gone. Done.
It’s over.
I love Aurora Drakeward.
And, on top of that, I no longer feel much of de Vaux’s poison in my body. This is a brand new day for Taliesin Bevan.
“Good morning, Tally.” Her eyes open, pulling me even deeper.
“Hey. Sleep OK?”
