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It's not Mario holding me. He's at the end of the bed with the smuggest fucking look on his face. No, the arm around me belongs to a tall man with slicked-back dark hair that's more silver than black. His crinkled eyes sparkle slightly as a grin forms underneath his thick, gray beard.

"How is my little soldier?" he asks in a deep, rumbling voice.

I can't breathe.

Suddenly, I'm fifteen again, and that voice is rumbling in my ear as the world tips and my eyelids grow heavy. The arm around my waist becomes a lock I can't break free from and I'm trapped, staring up into the eyes of the man who raped me.

"It pleases me to see you two getting along," Leo says with a sickly charming smile. "It was touch and go for a while, wasn't it?" His arm squeezes my waist. "You gave us quite the scare when you decided surgery here was better for my daughter."

"Your… daughter," I repeat weakly.

"And now, because of you, she'll go on to live a good, healthy life. We have two chances at that, don't we?" His eyes grow dark and dangerous as the situation becomes clear. They want both my kidneys for her just in case.

I'm not leaving here alive.

My mind screams at me, begging me to move or speak or do anything, but I'm completely frozen in his arms.

"You two are friends?" Illyana asks.

"More than friends." Leo smirks. "Didn't she tell you?" He looks past me to Illyana. "Sabina is giving you her kidney."

"Really?" Illyana's delighted gasp finally injects life back into my limbs and I slam both my hands against Leo's chest, pushing him away with all my strength.

"You should tell her why," I snap, my voice wobbling as ferociously as my legs shake. "Tell her why she's getting my kidney."

"Because you're a good Samaritan," Mario cuts in quickly.

"No," I snarl. This is my chance. My only chance. It doesn't matter whether she believes me or not. I need to say it. I spin to face Illyana as Leo surges forward and grabs my wrist, but he can't silence me in time.

"I'm your mother, Illyana. I'm not dead. Your mother isn't dead. I am your mother!"

31

SABINA

Cold, empty silence follows my revelation and Illyana stares at me with wide eyes, open shock moving across her pale face.

"What?"

Leo's hold on my wrist jerks me toward him and as I turn, he raises his other hand and slaps me so hard across the face that my head snaps to the side and bright spots dance in front of my eyes.

"Daddy!" Illyana screams, causing Leo's grip on my wrist to slacken slightly. It's the chance I need and I rip myself free from him with a cry, then scramble onto Illyana's bed and over to the other side.

"You little bitch," Leo snarls. "You fucking cunt. I'd kill you if we didn't need you."

"Daddy!" Illyana screams again, her voice cracking. "What does she mean?"

"Don't listen to her," Leo says and he keeps his fury-filled gaze on me. "She's lying because she wants more money from us. Holding her kidney hostage because she's a horrible, horrible woman."

Mario advances around the bed toward me. I'm trapped between Illyana's bed and the wall with nowhere to go, so I snatch up the water jug and brandish it like a weapon, forcing Mario to stay back.

"I'm not lying!" I gasp. "Illyana, listen to me. I am your mother, okay? You were stolen from me when you were just a baby. Just a tiny baby because your dad is a monster. He's the scum of the earth like the rats from your book about the squirrel. Do you remember how they lied and tried to trick the squirrel into the sewer? That's what your dad did to me, only he drugged me and I didn't have a choice. I woke up, and you were gone, and I didn't know what to do. Hell, I was just a kid myself!"

"Lies," Leo snarls. "Lies after more lies."

"I didn't know you existed, Illyana. They convinced me that I was crazy or it was some terrible dream, and I grew up not knowing, but they came for me because you got sick. That's the reason I can give you my kidney. It's because we match. I'm your mother! And I've been trying to save you! Me and Cassian and Valentina, we've all been trying to save you and I just need you to know the truth, okay? I need you to know that your mother is alive and she loves you because I am her and I⁠—”

Leo has enough and launches himself around the bed, clattering into it and causing the bed to shunt into some of the machines which causes them to start beeping wildly. He charges into me, slamming his heavy body into mine so that we collide with the wall, and anything else I want to say dies on my tongue.