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I haven’t heard a girl say my name since we came here. Rebecca doesn’t count, of course. It shouldn’t affect me the way it does, but for the first time in a long time, the tightness that’s always in my chest loosens a little bit. I can breathe. I can remember what life was like before we came here. Before Dad reached rock bottom. That’s where she found him, at rock bottom, trying to pawn the last few valuables we had so he could buy a bottle of vodka. He considered her our salvation, our lucky break. What a sick joke.
“You really don’t know anything?”
“They don’t tell us things. You know that.” She swipes her hands under her eyes—a quick, fierce gesture. “Why aren’t we allowed to leave if we want to? What is really happening here? You can’t tell me you don’t know.”
What harm could it do? If anything, she deserves to know what’s about to happen to her.
I take a seat on the foot of the bed, elbows resting on my thighs and my eyes trained on the floor. I can’t look at her. I can’t see the light leave her dark eyes when she hears.
“This place isn’t what it seems.”
“I figured that much out myself. Why do you think I was trying to leave?”
“But it’s worse than you think. Trust me.” When all she does is snicker like she doesn’t believe me, I snap, “It’s a trafficking ring. That’s what it really is. That’s how Rebecca gets the money for this place. She sells people.”
She’s silent for so long, not even breathing, that I finally have to look at her. Is it possible to drop dead from shock?
She isn’t dead. She’s staring at me with her mouth hanging open and her brows drawn together like she’s in pain. “Trafficking? But how… I mean, why…”
“She and William and some of the other elders go out on the street hunting for kids—teenagers—like you. The ones who come in on their own, without families, end up getting picked up in the deliveries. These people come in a truck every few months and take away all the kids who are getting sold.”
“I don’t believe it.”
“Think,” I urge in a whisper. “Haven’t you ever noticed? Sometimes, people just… go away. One day they’re here, and the next day they’re not. You’ve been here long enough that you should have seen it by now.”
“Yeah, but I figured they…” She holds her head in her hands, her face falling. “I thought they left. Oh, god, of course not. Nobody’s allowed to leave. Why didn’t I see it?”
“Because you’re not sick and twisted. It wouldn’t occur to you.”
“So I’m going to be sold and taken away?”
“Tomorrow.” I hold a finger to my lips when she gasps, and her mouth snaps shut, but the dazed look on her face says more than words ever could.
There’s one last thing. The worst part of all. “She’s excited about you. She can’t afford to lose you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re a virgin.”
Her eyes pop open wide. The color of black coffee. “How would you even know that?”
“You told Rebecca, didn’t you?”
Her mouth works, but at first, no sound comes out. Finally, she croaks, “We did talk about that.”
The clock is ticking. Any minute, Dad could come stumbling in here. “You need to get back on the bed,” I decide, standing. “I have to tie you back up. I don’t want to, but I have to.”
“Forget it. I’m not—”
“This isn’t an invitation, Leona. You need to get on the bed, and I need to tie you up, or else this is going to get much worse for both of us. And I hate to tell you, but you’re not the only person who’s completely screwed right now.”
“I am so sorry if I don’t feel bad for you. But if you think I’m going to let you tie me up after everything you just told me, you’re out of your mind.”
I know. But I have to think about Tristan.
That’s why lifting her off the floor and throwing her onto the bed doesn’t bother me, even when she fights like a wildcat, kicking and scratching. I don’t feel it. I’m too busy worrying about my brother, who’s completely innocent in all of this. Everything I’m doing, I’m doing for him. And Rebecca needs to think I’m on her side if there’s any hope of getting past her.
Even though I’m clearly in control, she keeps fighting, her small body struggling against mine, refusing to let me wrap the rope around her wrist.
