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“Thank you,” I said, knowing my beef wasn’t with her. “I… I really would prefer my own clothes. Can’t someone just go to my house and get them?”
“It’s better this way,” Rachel replied evasively.
“Right. So Ash can control me more,” I growled. “Keep me more under his thumb.”
Rachel’s brow shot up, her sooty eyes narrowing slightly. “Keep you more under his thumb?” she repeated. “By buying you new clothes?”
“And bringing me into his house.”
Her frown deepened. “Weren’t you attacked?” she asked bluntly.
I blushed and looked away. “Well… yes,” I admitted. “But…”
She stared at me, waiting for me to finish.
“I… I just find it hard to believe that the same demon who took me from my bed without warning in the middle of the night is trying to keep me safe.”
Rachel lowered the shirt she held and cocked her head. “Don’t you know why you’re here, Briar?” she asked, sounding confused. “Didn’t anyone explain it to you before or after you got here?”
I rolled my eyes and did a push-up to set myself back in a sitting position.
“I got some half-story about how I’m here for the next three weeks as long as someone does something. Blah, blah, blah.”
Rachel pursed her lips. “Are you purposely not taking this seriously, or do you not understand what’s happening?”
My heart twinged at her tone, the concern in her eyes growing. She was the first person I’d spoken to since arriving that had seemed… normal enough. Maybe it was because she was female, or because I didn’t feel like she wanted anything from me, but suddenly, I felt like Rachel might actually tell me the truth.
Even if she did work for Ash.
“Why am I here?”
“You’re here for exactly the reasons that Ash told you, Briar.”
“He didn’t tell me anything. He said my father had to do something, but I know that’s not true. Unless he’s threatened my father in some way. Is that what he did? Is he blackmailing my father?”
I hadn’t even considered that before, and yet another wave of dread overcame me. Oh, was there no end to this?
Rachel exhaled. “Maybe you weren’t listening properly,” she muttered, turning her attention back to the clothes.
“Well, it’s kind of hard when you’ve been kidnapped and dropped into a prison cell.”
“Touché,” she chuckled, pulling out another shirt. “Blue is definitely your color. Why don’t you go try some of these on, and I can take back what you don’t like.”
“I don’t know…”
Rachel sighed. “You did hear the part about being here for three weeks at least, right?” she pressed.
I nodded.
“Then I suggest you make the best of them, and part of that is enjoying these little perks. I’m sure Ash will let you take them with you when you go, too.”
I bit on the inside of my lip and gathered the garments, slipping into the bathroom as Rachel’s words resonated in my head.
She said that as if she believed Ash might really let me go after three weeks. Hope ballooned inside me as I shimmied into the white sundress and slipped outside to model it for Rachel.
“Oh, honey,” she sighed. “Doesn’t your daddy ever let you out in the sun?”
I stared down at my legs and balked, realizing how pale they were against the cream of the dress.
