Page 81 of Echoes

I nod. "You like being alone."

"It's peaceful. I don't have to deal with people."

"How does it differ from our rooms?" I ask, wondering just how much more lonely it could get.

Theo pauses for a moment, lifting the needle. He wipes a stray bit of ink with his finger, leaning back.

"It's small, probably half the size of our rooms. There's no adjoining toilet though—it's next to the bed, which is on the floor, no base. Essentially just a thin mat with no blankets or pillow."

"Ew," I murmur, disgusted at the thought of sleeping next to a toilet.

Theo rubs his thumb in circles over a patch of unmarked skin. "It's also dark. There's no windows, just one tiny light on the wall. It flickers non-stop."

"They can't do that surely."

"Yet they do. And meals are only once a day. The only way to know what time it is comes from the pipes. It's behind the men's showers—so it's deathly quiet until the pipes start banging in the walls at shower time."

I stare at him in horror. "That sounds terrible."

"You wouldn't have liked it," Theo answers simply, twisting my arm to examine the drying ink. "It's fucked up that they were trying to take you there. I don't know what their fucking problem is."

Nodding, my eyes scan over the pretty, weaving lines on my skin. "I would have survived."

"What do you think?" he asks, ignoring me. We both know I probably wouldn't have survived. I'm thankful that Damon stepped in when he did, even if I now know things that haunt me.

I'm not sure what to think about everything. My tumultuous relationship with Dr. Smith has taken another turn—just as I was starting to like him again, I find out he's related to Damon.

Not to mention Alexander. I can't even begin to process that.

Damon wasn't kidding when he said this place was full of secrets. What else were the Lilydale staff hiding from us?

"I love it," I tell Theo happily, resting my arm in my lap. "Are you going to do your skin now?"

Theo nods, grabbing a fresh needle and starting the sterilizing process again. "We are."

"We?" I laugh.

He smiles, pushing the ink toward me. "I can't let that fucker get one up on me."

"What?"

Theo hands me the needle before gesturing to his body. "Pick your spot."

My eyes trail over his body, not because I'm trying to find a spot, but because he's drawn my attention to it. His muscular, toned physique might be hidden under the depressing gray uniform, but my body knows what lies beneath.

When my gaze accidentally stumbles and pauses over his hips, Theo takes that as a sign, pulling his shirt off.

My mouth dries as I stare at his torso, noticing more ink. Like Grey, he has some down the side of his ribs, but I'm pulled away from it when he pushes the waistband of his shorts down a few inches.

"What are you doing?" I mumble quickly, looking behind me to the open door. "People will see us."

"We're not having sex," he says with a small laugh. "You wantedhere."

I shake my head in confusion. "I'm lost."

"Write your name on me."

My head snaps up, then down at his hips—then back up again to stare at him wide-eyed. "You want me to write my goddamn name on your hips?"

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