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“No!” I shout, my hands going to the table, ready to lunge at him if he so much as extends his hand towards the phone.
The man I'd forgotten about behind me grips my shoulders so tightly, I'm sure it'll leave marks before he forces me back into my seat.
The president gives me a sickening smile. “So, what is your decision?”
“I'll be sacrificed.”
“I'm glad you came to your senses. I would have hated to see such pretty women thrown in with the wolves in our prisons.”
“Aren't you just throwing me to a different wolf?” I ask, the question blurting out.
He laughs. A snicker, really. “In a way.” Then, he leans over and presses a button on his phone. “Bring her in.”
Me and the president stare at each as we wait in silence.
Don't do anything stupid. Don't do anything that will affect Leah.
I repeat those words to myself over and over because everything inside of me wants to reach across this table and bash his face into the smooth top until it's nothing but bone and disfigured tissue. Bastard. Keeping control of myself becomes a lot harder when the door opens and they bring in Leah with a bag still over her head and her hands behind her back as the man harshly pushes her into the room. I clutch the arms of the chair not to get up and murder him with my bare hands.
Leah's harsh breaths fill the room as she’s shoved into the chair beside me.
“Where is my sister?” she asks, her voice sounding much more demanding than her trembling body should allow.
I almost smile with pride at it.
“I'm right here, Leah,” I say.
She goes still. “Keri? Is it really you?”
“Can you take the hood off her head?” I grit out to the president.
He nods at the man behind Leah, and he takes the hood off before cutting her hands free. Her eyes find mine and the relief is evident. Then, she's looking around the room, at the president across from us, at the TV screen behind him. Her eyes widen at the camera feeds from the prison. When her gaze comes back to mine, its filled with panic now.
“What is going on?” she shakily questions.
“Your sister and I have come to an agreement,” the president answers.
Leah slowly turns her attention to him, and her eyes narrow. “What does that mean?”
“I'm being sacrificed, and you're going free,” I say.
Her head whips around, her eyes clashing with mine again. “What? No. Keri, you can't. I can't…I can't…”
I lean over and take both her hands in mine. “Leah, I need you to listen to me. This is what has to happen. There's no other choice. It's this or we both go to prison, to the worst part of it. I cannot let that happen to you. I have to protect you, no matter what.”
“I won't let you die for me, Keri.”
Tears well in her eyes, and her hands clutch tighter to mine now, her grip painfully fierce.
“And I won't let you suffer so I don't get sacrificed. You would do the same for me and you know it. This is the only option we have. The president has agreed.” I look at him to confirm. “That you will go free, and you will receive the money for me being sacrificed.”
“What good does any of that do for me if I'm alone, Keri?”
I look back at her and bring my hands up to grip her face. “Leah, I love you. I will protect you against anything, even if it means I have to die in the process. I will not let you go to prison because I'm afraid to die and because you're afraid to be alone. I won't. You will be alone, but you will be alive. No father there to hurt you, and no poverty to hold you back from all the things we couldn't do before. My death is all I can do for you now, so let me do this.”
“What will I do without you?” she whispers.
“You will live.” I give her a weak smile, but it's all I can muster. “So, make it a good life, Leah.”
