Page 12 of Darkness

“Is Eva here?” she asks again.

I roll my eyes. “Fucking relentless. You’re made from the same mold. For fuck’s sake, yes, she’s here—‍”

“Can I see her?” She sits up on her knees, her eyes pleading as her hands come together in a begging gesture.

“I can’t do that, Ivy.”

“What? Why?”

“She doesn’t know you’re here.”

Lines crease her forehead as she sits back on her legs. “I-I don’t understand.”

“Honestly, I don’t either.”

“You’re not making sense.”

Running a hand through my hair, I try to think of how best to explain. “I want to spend time getting to know Eva. I won’t be able to do that if she knows you’re here. She’ll want to protect you, to leave with you. I’m a selfish prick, but I’m not sure how to do this any other way.”

She lets out a shocked laugh. “You’re holding me down here so you can woo my sister?”

Void snickers.

I shoot him a glare. He stops immediately. Then I turn back to Ivy.

“You’ll be comfortable down here. You can have anything you want. Tell Void… he’ll bring it to you.”

“The fuck, Nycto?” Void blurts out. I ignore the cunt.

Ivy makes herself comfortable on the sofa. “And I’m to be what, chained to a pole until she falls for you? She’ll never love you, you know. Not if you’re keeping her here against her will.”

I shrug. “It’s not a trick, Ivy. There’s something about her—”

“Is that why you took us? And those other women?”

“Fuck, no. I didn’t take you. Someone else did that shit. He was gonna sell you all off to be turned out, or worse. You and Eva would have been separated and never would have seen each other again. I could have kept just Eva. She took my interest, but I knew if I didn’t keep you, too, she would never forgive me.”

Ivy mellows a little. “Turned out as in... prostitution? Sex trafficking?”

I nod.

She blinks a few times. “Why us? Why were we taken in the first place?”

“Can’t be sure. I don’t know why Andrés chooses the women he does, but you, Ivy, you are exactly Andrés’s type. He sells a lot of women like you. I believe you were the target. That’s my guess, anyway.”

Her bottom lip trembles. “We’re both in this mess because of me?”

I shuffle closer, but she doesn’t flinch away as I rest my hand on her knee, which surprises me. “It’s not your fault. You met some damn criteria… your looks. Your personality. Your age, maybe. Where you’re from. You checked all the boxes. There are assholes out there who will do evil things, and you happened to catch their attention.”

“And Eva?”

“Eva doesn’t. That’s why she caught my attention. She’s unlike anyone else who has come here in your position. Eva saved you, Ivy. If it wasn’t for her, if you had been taken on your own, you’d be on your way to somewhere far worse than here right now.”

“I guess I should be grateful, then,” she mocks, fire in her eyes.

“Yeah, you should.”

She scoffs. “Will I be down here long?”

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