Page 81 of Blood Curse

“He warned me before it happened,” Lenora said. “The locks slowed him. They couldn’t make him stop.”

“How long were you gone?” Bryony asked.

“A few minutes.”

“Did you fight it?”

I wanted to give her an answer that would let us both breathe.

“At first,” I said. “I held the mattress. I tried to grip the stair rail. I made myself miss the lock twice.”

“And after that?”

“After that, walking was easy.”

She stared at me.

“I knew what I was doing,” I continued. “I knew I was carrying the dagger back to you. My body simply treated obedience as the quickest way to finish.”

“You didn’t choose that.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“Part of me wanted to leave out how easy it became.”

“Why?”

“Because you asked me to name every command. I was afraid you would hear that as me hiding one.”

“You just told me.”

“After I put a dagger in your hand.”

I glanced at Lenora. “And after someone else saw the whole thing.”

Bryony’s voice softened. “Would you have told me if she hadn’t?”

“I want to say yes.”

“But?”

“I don’t know. I might have said the Crown forced me and left out the part where I stopped fighting. That frightens me more than the walk.”

“Then say the ugly part while it’s fresh. Don’t polish it for me.”

“I obeyed. After the first minute, I obeyed without struggling.”

“And you hated it.”

“Yes.”

“Both things can be true.”

Bryony reached for me, then paused. “May I?”

I put my hand into hers. “Yes.”