Page 76 of Ruthless Riches
I sat up again, chest heaving. “Help,” I choked out. “Make it stop.”
Sascha lowered her flashlight to the floor, along with her bag. “I’m so sorry,” she said, crouching to unzip the main pocket. “I didn’t know the candle was so close to burning out.”
She pulled out another candle from the bag and set it on a sconce a few yards away. I heard a clicking sound as she flicked a lighter, and then a faint glow bathed the tunnel.
Warmth radiated through my chest as I watched the new shadows dancing on the walls. I never thought I’d be so happy to see something so mundane.
Then the memory of the ghost returned to me, and the happiness evaporated. I knew ghosts weren’t real—what I saw was just a hallucination borne of my terror—but that didn’t change the fact that Nate could be dead. After all, I had no idea what Sascha had done in the last twenty-four hours.
“Did you kill him?” I asked in a small voice.
Sascha was crouching by the bag again. When she heard me, she glanced upward. “Did I kill who?”
“Nate.”
“No. Not yet.” She smiled thinly and pulled out the handcuffs she always used on me. Then she slid them through the bars. “You know the drill. Cuff yourself to the bars.”
I knew better than to argue with her by now. I wouldn’t get any food or water until she knew I couldn’t lash out at her or escape, and I desperately needed a drink. My mouth was dry as cotton, and my throat felt like it had been scraped with hundreds of nails.
I attached my right wrist to the bars in front of me. Sascha dipped her head in a satisfied nod and unlocked my cell door. “I brought your favorite,” she said in a sing-song voice, pulling a plastic container out of the bag. “Tiramisu.”
She stepped into my cell and put the container on the floor. Then she went back over to the bag to get me some water. She had to open the bag up wider to reach it, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw the collection of knives glinting beside the bottles. One of them had flecks of dried blood on it.
All the oxygen in the air seemed to vanish, and my breaths began to come out in short, sharp gasps.
“What’s wrong?” Sascha asked, staring up at me.
“You said you didn’t hurt him,” I said in a ragged whisper.
“I didn’t.”
“What’s that, then?”
She followed my gaze to the knife. Then she rolled her eyes. “That’s old blood. I forgot to clean it,” she said. “Don’t worry. I haven’t done anything to Nate. But like I said yesterday, I might have to if he takes things too far.”
“Please don’t hurt him,” I replied, widening my eyes. “Please.”
Sascha’s lips curved in a tight smile. “Honestly, Lexie, I’d be doing you a favor if I got rid of him. He’s really not the guy you think he is.”
My brows dipped in a confused frown. “What are you talking about?”
“He’s already trying to replace you,” she said. “What an asshole, right?”
“There’s no way that’s true.”
“It is. I swear.”
I shook my head. “The other day you told me he’s been out looking for me every day. That doesn’t really square with what you’re saying now.”
“He has been looking for you. But over the last couple of days… well, let’s just say he’s become a little obsessive over something else.” She lifted her palms. “Me.”
I let out a sigh. “You’re delusional, Sascha,” I muttered. “I keep telling you, you need help.”
“I’m notdelusional. Nate wants me, and I can prove it.” A smug gleam lit her eyes as she pulled out her cell phone. “Look at this.”
She held up the screen so I could see it through the bars. Her recent call log was on display, and I could see Nate’s name and number listed nine times.
“See? He won’t stop calling me,” Sascha said. “He’s always texting me, too.”
