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The harsh sound of his breaths slowed. I was giving in, like I always gave in. Worn down,worn away,until I was nothing.
“Damon Zakharov,” my father answered.“Heis why you’re there.”
I closed my eyes and ground my teeth.
The monster came out to play now, as my father’s uncontrolled anger slipped away. “You are, after all, his right of passage.”
A tiny sound escaped my lips.
One I hated.
One he loved.
Silence came from the other end of the phone, until finally, “You know what you are to me, Katerina, don’t you? You’re my little princess. My perfect, golden child. You hold the keys to the kingdom, sweetheart.My kingdom.We all have a part to play here, and that is yours.”
“No.” The word slipped free before I knew it.
“No?”
I squeezed met eyes shut. “No,” I forced through my teeth. “I’mnotyour fucking princess. I’mnotyour goddamn toy. You come near me again…you and anyone else, and I’ll…”
“You’ll…” he urged, baiting me. “What will you do, Katerina? Confide in a servant, like you did before you left?”
Confide?
“Did you think I wouldn’t question when she started asking about your welfare? Did you think it wouldn’t get back to me when she started to make demands on where you were and what ‘condition’ you were in? What conditions are you in, Katerina?”
Condition.
My mind raced, trying to piece it all together. The events of the last few weeks were a blur. My missed period, the panic…the terror and pain. My mind went to that night, the one when I'd pressed the knife's edge to my wrist, the night that had shattered my life and forced me to make a choice. But I hadn’t spoken to any servant. I hadn’t said a thing,unless…
“No condition,” I lied, praying he swallowed it. “She must’ve seen how excited I was to get to go the island.”
My mind narrowed in on the wrapped test at the back of my drawer, the one hidden and secret, the one no one should’ve found, unless they were snooping.Oh no…
“Don’t worry,” my father murmured. “She’s gone. She’s gone and you are alone. Damon Zakharov will be a very powerful man.”
Cold plunged deep inside me. How many times had I heard those words? How many times had they ended with me locked in a room…with a strangerwearing a white mask.They thought they were secret, thought they could hide their depravity from the world.
My shoulders curled, that life inside me urging me to fight.Because, what if it was a girl?
“Damon Zakharov, Katerina. Youwillobey him. You will do whatever he wants…or I’ll bring you home…and never let you go.”
My pulse roared in my ears as he disconnected the call.
The wind was still screaming outside the window, but I didn't hear a thing. It couldn’t compete with the baying for blood inside my head. My hands trembled, gripping the phone.Beep.
I jerked my gaze to the screen.
Unknown: I’m thinking of you, Katerina.
I closed my eyes. Hale…it was Hale.
No matter how many times I blocked his number, he still got through. I let out a scream and threw my phone. It hit the edge of the sofa, bounced, and smashed against the floor with acrack.Harsh breaths consumed me. I didn’t care…not about the phone, not about them.
I slammed my eyes shut as the walls closed in. I was going crazy…unraveling, out of control. Panic pushed in, slamming me with images I didn’t want.Images of my own desire.Hungry, savage. My own cries of release resounding in my head.
Acid rose in the back of my throat. I stumbled forward, falling to my knees as I sobbed. I hated my body, hated the way it heated at their touches, hated the way I felt so out control. So used…so dirty.
