Page 406 of Coal Hearts

And the thought of being the cause of any more pain filled me with absolute horror.

“Let’s talk about it another day—”

“Gotta talk about that bite on your neck and the way you looked at your Master too,” Rachel muttered. “Don’t you remember anything Peter told you? Guard yourself. Don’t let them into your heart, new girl. That’s just asking for trouble. Pregnant trouble.”

I cupped the small scabs left by Henri’s teeth.

I had no idea how to explain what’d come over me that night or why I couldn’t seem to stop this...this addiction.

Looking at a chicken pecking in the grass, I sighed. “I’m doing my best—”

“Get over here.” A guard waiting by a table with three pots of paint waved a paint-brush in our direction. “Time to mark you.”

With a sharp nod, Rachel whispered, “I’ll help you with whatever you’re feeling. I’ve been Victor’s fave for three years, and I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t say at least once in that time I’ve had feelings for him. But...whatever you think you’re feeling is just survival. Your heart is trying to make this easier on you. Your body is doing the only thing it can to endure.”

Squeezing my hand, she stepped closer. “If I survive today and don’t miscarry, I flatly refuse to have this kid in here. You’re getting us out before then.” Her eyes narrowed. “We’ll do whatever you think will work. But...we’re doing it. We’re at least gonna try. Our countdown has officially started because we can’t stay here. None of us can.”

My heart thundered as she guided me toward the guards and their paint. We held eye contact as red dots were painted right on our sternum and spine, then rings of white and black feathered outward.

On the last circle, a twanging noise rang out across the gardens.

A gong.

Every jewel froze.

The guards smiled.

Peter glittered in sweat, his body beyond abuse and most likely going into shock.

What if he dies today?

What if he died because his heart went into cardiac arrest from running on burned feet?

More tears glossed.

Agony pierced my chest.

I choked on terror as the guards rounded us up at gunpoint then marched us in a neat line away from the service area of the castle and toward the open drawbridge in the far, far distance.

Chapter Twenty

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Henri

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I COULDN’T FUCKING MOVE AS thirty jewels appeared in the distance around the back of the castle. Some hobbled, some shuffled, some cried, some glowered, but all of them were marked with a target.

White and black circles with red marking the spot.

The gun in my hand weighed a million tonnes.

The top canister screwed into place was full of tiny balls containing paint.

I had no idea what colour had been assigned to me.

Didn’t want to know.