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It rolls out without my permission. “You … you’re related to that girl, aren’t you?”
Everyone stops walking, and Jules frowns at me.
Ella cocks her head and her lips part, but no sound comes out except for a slight groan.
“What girl?” Cage asks.
Jules’s eyes widen, and she slaps her hand over her mouth. “No …”
“Yes,” I say. “It’s her. It has to be.”
Ella makes a few symbols in the air and freezes when I try to approach her. Cage blocks my path.
“Yes,” he says for her. “That girl was her sister.”
I lick my lips and let the information sink in. Jules sits down on a ledge next to me and closes her eyes, sighing. “I can’t believe it. Is this real?”
Cage nods. “But we already knew.”
Both of us look up at the same time. “What?” Jules mutters.
Ella appears from behind Cage and starts to make those motions again. Cage translates for her. “She knew when she saw your picture in the compound. She remembered you. Chased you through the woods. Saw her own sister in your hands.”
I shudder and forget to breathe.
Once again, I’m coming face to face with my mortal sins.
“She saw her die,” Cage adds.
It feels like a stab to the heart.
But Ella still approaches me, her steps soft but deliberate, and she leans down in front of me. Grabs my hand. Squeezes.
For the first time in a long time, my eyes tear up.
I sink to my knees and fall to the ground in front of her, holding my head low.
“I’m sorry. When I escaped, I was so lonely. I didn’t know how to talk to people, how to get them to like me. Everyone was frightened. No one understood me. But your sister … she talked to me. She wasn’t afraid of me. And I just wanted someone to talk to,” I ramble. “I didn’t want her to die. But she fell when she ran away from me, and then you came. I still remember the look on your face.” My hands form fists. I’m that angry with myself. “I’m sorry… I wish I could bring her back.”
People around us are looking at us. At me.
Let them look.
The only thing I care about right now is making things right.
“It’s been a long time,” Cage says. “But she hasn’t forgotten. She loved her sister very much.”
“I will do anything you ask me to. Tell me,” I say, still not looking up. I don’t dare look at them. I took away something she called family. Something I can never replace.
Suddenly, two hands wrap around my face and lift me up.
It’s her … Ella. The girl with the pearly blond hair and the smile of an angel.
She nods.
“But she forgives you,” Cage says.
I stare in disbelief.
Just like that, the load I’ve been carrying for so long falls off my shoulder. Releases me from the chains that have kept me down for so long. And my sins drift away in the wind.
There are only two words I can say. “Thank you.”
It’s quiet for some time. Like a pause in time, but no less important.
A hand on my shoulder follows, squeezes too … It’s Jules. I can smell it.
“You’ve punished yourself enough,” Jules bends over and whispers into my ear. “Forgive yourself.”
I nod a few times, but before I can get up, Cage offers me a hand with a smile.
I take it and smile back.
And together we walk.
Finally united.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Accompanying Song: “Believer” by Imagine Dragons
Lock
I stare in awe at my brother fighting off his opponents in the ring.
He invited me to come watch. I didn’t know what he meant by opponents until I saw him step into the ring with a roar. People around us are cheering … not just for the fight, but also for him.
It makes him more pumped, and his strikes are harder than before the people started chanting his name. And the moment his opponent goes down, it erupts.
I hold my hands over my ears to block the noise.
I don’t know how he does it.
Why he likes listening to them … and why he puts himself out there like that.
People make him feel wanted and strong …
Me? I just want to run away whenever I come in contact with another person.
I sigh and watch the match in silence, wishing I’d feel different about it all, but something still nags at me.
Father made us fight for rewards, and we both hated it, which is why I’m so surprised Cage is still doing this. It’s like he somehow still enjoys it.
Or maybe because now he won’t have to kill anyone.
Me? I want no part of this.
And the moment it’s over, I try to quietly slip out the back.
However, a hand on my shoulder stops me. “Hey, where you going?”
It’s Cage. I turn and clear my throat. “Just … wanted to catch a breath.” It’s both a lie and the truth.
