AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes!” The syllable flies out of me quicker than I can think. “Your friend is a fucking pain in the ass. I don’t want to be locked up here with him, especially since he did this all because he can’t take no for an answer!”
Vance’s eyebrows draw together. “Aren’t you here because you broke the Treaty and they kicked you off Hemlock House for it?”
“Yes,” I spit. “And who the fuck do you think ratted me out?”
He looks genuinely confused.
“Your fucking friend,” I say. Then, to make sure there’s no misunderstanding, “Alexander.”
“You think Alexander did this to you?”
I roll my eyes. “What part of what I just said didn’t you understand?” My secret is already out, so I can speak about the whole situation freely. “He was the only person I told. I broke up with him on the trip andhoursafter the trip my secret gets leaked? How fucking convenient.”
“So, you honestly believe that he would kill you.”
There’s too much humor in his voice for such a serious situation. I regret even bringing it up now. Why did I think his friends would be able to see reason? They arehisfriends after all. I’m sure he’s going to try to gaslight me too.
“Look, I know Alexander is an angry asshole,” he begins. I listen to him reluctantly. “It takesa lotof getting used to. I can’t vouch for half the shit he does because I’m pretty sure he’s a psychopath, but loyalty is important to him.”
“He threatened to do it,” I say, simply. “He reminded me how much I needed him because of my secret. Said I couldn’t break up with him because of it.” I walk past him. “I don’t think you know him as well as you think.”
“Well, I’m not here to change your mind.” Vance shrugs. “Alexander is a lot of things. But a snitch is not one of them. He absolutely lost his mind after you broke up with him, but not inthatway.”
I stop at the end of the hallway.
“Uh huh, right.” I’m already tired of this conversation.
My stomach growls again, and this time there’s a throbbing pain too. I almost double over, but I can’t let Vance see me suffering from this decision.
He levels me with an unamused glare. “I won’t tell him you’ve eaten.”
“What?”
He closes the distance between us, leaning in conspiratorially. “If he asks me, I won’t tell him you’ve eaten. I’ll get Ezra in on it too.” He grins. “You can go back to starving yourself when he gets back. I really don’t want to deal with this shit.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’m doing it for you. Seriously, you should hear your stomach.” My cheeks heat up. “You tried to fucking stab me because you thought I was Alexander. I don’t know what you two have going on, but I don’t want to be in the middle of it.”
He seems earnest. Is he actually telling the truth or does he just have an honest-looking face? I can’t tell, but my stomach doesn’t seem to care. I’m pretty sure if it could agree to his proposition without me, it would.
“What about the guards at the door?”
Vance swats his hand in the direction of the exit. “Don’t worry about them. They’ll let you leave with me.” He straightens. “Have you forgotten that I’m on the Kingmaker Council?”
I let out a breath. Will I regret this?
You haven’t eaten in more than twenty-four hours. Can you really regret a meal right now?
“Okay,” I say, mustering up my most serious face. “But if I find out you’ve told him that I’ve broken my hunger strike, I’m going to stab you for real.”
Vance laughs, but nods all the same. “I’m starting to see why Alexander is so crazy about you. You’re almost scarier than he is.”
Alexanderiscrazy of course, but not about me. At least, not the way he thinks. The only person he truly cares about is himself—whathewants, whathethinks should happen.
Vance was being honest about taking me to breakfast though. The guards let us through without a hitch. When we’re out on the breezeway, the crisp morning breeze hits my cheeks. I almost want to cry tears of joy.
Being locked up made the last day feel like it was weeks long. It reminded me too much of my childhood—of the very thing, I risked so much to escape. If I had to stay there any longer, I’m certain I would have started losing my mind.
