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“Do youreally? You’ve been here what, a couple of months, and suddenly you’re our mistress? I think not,” she exclaims, grabbing a bottle of water and downing half of it.
“I don’t want to be anyone’s mistress, One. That was Five’s choice to refer to me that way, not mine.”
“And it’s not their choice either. The Masks do not have a mistress,theyare the masters.”
“If that’s the case then why do you look at Jakub the way you do? Likeyouown him.”
“Because I do!” she snaps, spittle flying out of her mouth in anger.
“No,” I shake my head. “You don’t.”
“I was here first! I left my old life behind to become One. I endured those first few months with his father. I fuckingsurvivedthem. I shaped Jakub from a boy into the man he is.Me, not you. So despite what they call you now, you’re still Zero. You’re still Nought, fucking Nothing!”
“Shaped him?” I laugh, shaking my head at the absurdity of it all. “Youabuseda child. You hurt him over and over again in some twisted, fucked-up mind game alongside his sick father.”
One’s eyes narrow at me. “I gave him what he needed. I still give him what he needs and don’t you fucking forget it!” ”
“Needed?” I snarl, taking a few steps towards her. “What he needed was someone to protect him. Someone to get him, Leon and Konrad away from here, and out of that evil bastard’s clutches. You perpetuated abuse. You helped tomakehim into a monster!”
“No. I did what I had to do to survive!” she screams back, panting now.
Our breaths fall in angry puffs but her outburst reminds me that no matter how much I dislike her, she was a victim of the Collector’s too, and for a moment it tempers my anger.
“I understand that,” I say with a heavy sigh, hating that I have to concede that point. “I can see the damage that man has done to you all, but perpetuating it? He’s been dead for two years, One.”
“You don’t know anything,” she spits, taking my olive branch and crushing it beneath her foot. “You haven’t been through what we have together. Jakub and I have a connection, a bond, and no one else can break that.”
“Perhaps that was once true, but not anymore.”
“Oh, you think you can break it? Only I can give him what he needs,” she argues.
“It’s already broken, One. He doesn’t need pain. Heneverdid.”
“Bullshit. It wasn’t that long ago that he came to me begging me to whip him, and why do you think that was, Christy?”
“Because he was hurting. Because he was twisted-up inside, confused,scared—”
“Exactly,” she cuts in. “Youdid that to him. Not me. I just helped him to find peace.”
“No!” I snap. “You only added to his pain. You reinforced everything that bastard taught him to believe. You made him think that pain is the only thing he deserves. That affection, kindness, compassion is a sin, is weak. Do you have any idea of the damage you’ve caused?”
One narrows her eyes at me, folding her arms across her chest. “I am well aware of what and who I am. I am also acutely aware of what you are.”
“And that is?” I ask, wishing I wasn’t so easily baited.
“You’re a phase, an infatuation, a new piece of arse, and a fucking ugly one at that. You’re nothing but a damaged piece of pussy that they’ll tire of in a few weeks.Thatis all you are,” she replies, sneering, her beauty twisted into an ugly mask.
“You’re so wrong,” I say, feeling nothing but pity for her.
“It won’t be long until you’re yesterday’s news,” she continues, “And we’ll be back to how we were before you came here and screwed it all up!”
“I didn’t come here. I was brought here against my will and now—”
“And now you think you can save them, I suppose? Perhaps you’ve even convinced yourself that you love them? God you’re so transparent. Ever heard of Stockholm Syndrome? You’re the perfect example. Fucking textbook case.”
“You don't know what you’re talking about,” I argue.
“Don’t I? What do you think will happen when you leave here?”
