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“But Iamnow,” he says, cutting her off. “Tell. Me!”
She flinches at his anger. “I was eight. The fire took my mother’s life and gave me third degree burns, some sections of my back were classified as fourth degree.”
“Where did it happen?”
“What difference does that make?” she counters.
“Answer the damn question!”
“My childhood home in Ilfracombe, Devon.”
Leon’s fingers momentarily grip me tighter. I glance at him. “Brother?”
Ignoring me, he keeps his gaze fixed on Nothing. “How come you didn’t die?”
“What kind of question is that?” she asks.
“Your mother died. Why didn’t you?”
She swallows hard, her eyes filling with tears. “I don’t know. I don’t remember getting out of the house. When the fire brigade found me I was passed out, lying on the wet grass at the bottom of my garden by our pond. They thought I’d run there to soothe my burns. My nightie had melted into the skin of my back from the heat of the fire.”
Leon’s jaw grits so hard I can hear his teeth grinding.
“Your scars are some of the worst I’ve seen,” I say, drawing Nothing’s attention away from Leon. She may not know it, but he’s acting stranger than usual. I don’t understand why he’s so interested in her story. He couldn’t give a fuck before.
“Over the years I’ve had extensive skin grafts from donors to aid healing. But this is as good as it gets.”
“Is that why your pain tolerance is so high?” Leon cuts in, “Because of what you’ve endured?” He keeps his fingers wrapped firmly around my shoulders, holding on tight, but this time I’m not sure if it’s for my benefit or his.
“I don’t know.”
“But youcantolerate high levels of pain, yes?”
She swallows hard, taking another step back, sensing that the monster prowling beneath his skin is close to revealing itself. Now I understand his sudden interest. Earlier, Nothing hadn’t reacted to the lashes Konrad gave her. She somehow managed to detach herself from the pain. That intrigues him.
“Why do you want to know?” she asks.
He smirks, letting go of my shoulder and stepping towards her. “Because, Nought, you haven’t deterred me or my brothers. If anything, revealing your true self makes us want youmore, not less.”
“No,” she shakes her head, tears cascading down her cheeks as she stumbles backwards, her knees giving way. “All the Numbers are beautiful…”
“I don’t give a fuck about the Numbers. You, Nought, have suddenly become a very,veryfucking interesting toy indeed.”
