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Oscar loosens his hold on me, and I instantly gulp in mouthfuls of air. He doesn’t let me go, though.
“Just take her away.” Saint nods that it’ll be all right, but nothing ever will.
“You don’t want her to watch?” Oscar mocks, squeezing me against him. I try to kick him, but his hold on me doesn’t allow me to move.
“You can do with me as you please. All I ask is that no harm comes of her.”
“You won’t fight me?” Oscar questions incredulously.
“No, but only on one condition.” I beg he doesn’t do this. But it’s too late. “Send her back home. To America,” he says while I shake my head in horror, every part of me weeping.
Oscar isn’t touched. “This is all about trust. If you’re lying, I’ll be forced to break your other hand.”
I snarl at his revelation, attempting to injure him in any way I can, but he simply laughs at my feeble attempts.
“I promise,” Saint says with nothing but sincerity. “I won’t fight you. But you have to give me your word that she leaves here unharmed. You will grant her safe passage back to America as originally agreed.”
Oscar hums in satisfaction. “Very well. You have my word.”
“NO!” I roar. Fighting against Oscar, I’m determined to kill this bastard myself. “You can’t!” I’m beseeching Saint not to do this again. I refuse to accept my freedom on these terms. It didn’t work the first time he bargained with them, and it won’t happen this time either.
But his mind is made up. Once again, my well-being is more important to him than his own. “Get her out of here.”
“You fucking asshole! Let me go!” I thrash wildly, kicking and clawing, desperate to break free. But Oscar’s hold on me never falters.
“I was going to give you this,” he says to Saint as I feel him dig around into his pocket, and when he produces a syringe filled with a honey-colored liquid, my rage turns deadly. “But seeing as you’ll comply, it seems a shame for it to go to waste.”
“You are going to pay, you motherfucker!” The fury inside me is inexplicable. But the harder I fight him, the more amused he becomes.
“Besides, I want you to be awake for what we’re about to do,” he adds, ignoring my threat.
Saint keeps a brave face, but I can’t even imagine how he’s feeling right now. What he’s offering Oscar is beyond perverse, and if he goes through with it, he will be lost to me forever.
And Oscar knows it.
“This could all be over with,” he whispers into my ear. Saint struggles against the restraints. “Just tell me where Alek is. If you’d just done what I asked, I wouldn’t be forced to play the bad guy.”
“No one is forcing you,” I spit, recoiling away from him. “Youarethe bad guy.”
“Sticks and stones,” he flippantly replies. “Tell me where Alek is, and I will let you both go.”
He’s spoken loud enough for Saint to hear him, and he’s done so with intent. He wants me to hurt Saint yet again by denying I know Alek’s whereabouts. Everything is so muddled, but I am certain of one thing…I can’t protect him any longer.
I promised Pavel, but if there is a sliver of hope in setting Saint free, I’m going to take it. I have to trust Oscar, which, in light of everything, cements how desperate I am. I know he won’t let Saint go, but I have to try. I can’t leave here knowing I haven’t done all that I could have.
Sighing deeply, I can only hope I’m doing the right thing. “Okay,” I confess in a small, defeated voice.
Saint shakes his head fiercely, eyes wide, warning me not to divulge what I know. I don’t understand why. Why the sudden change of heart? But I suppose he is aware that by telling Oscar what I know won’t make a difference.
Once a snake, always a snake.
Before I have a chance to acknowledge it all, Saint declares, “You’ve got what you want. Come on then.”
Oscar isn’t an idiot; he is weighing the truth behind Saint’s words. But Saint’s promise seals our fate forever.
“I’m yours.”
“No!” A guttural cry leaves me, and adrenaline animates me in a way it never has before. I break free from Oscar’s hold and run toward Saint, throwing my arms around him. “I won’t allow you to do this.”
