Page 124 of A Twisted Arrangement

Fuck.

She trails her fingers along her neck. “I guess they don’t think I need to be shackled to keep me in line.”

I bump her shoulder with mine, drawing her attention. “I’m glad they underestimated you.”

That earns me a smirk and a minuscule shake of her head. I want her attention back on me. I want to know everything about her, so I ask, “If you could choose, what would your future look like?”

Tears pool at the corner of her eyes. “If I got out, I wouldn’t even think about settling down until I’m twenty-five. No men, no expectations, no commitment. Complete freedom.”

My chest clenches because I want to give that to her. Rage boils in my stomach, knowing I won’t be able to see it happen. Knowing that even if I find a way to get her and my brothers out of here, there’s no escaping for me. If Damon does show up and all of us die, I swear I’ll get her out first. I’ll grant her wish before those bastards get to kill me. I’ve come to terms with dying. It’s enough to know she’ll be free.

“Oh yeah? Then what?” I want her to tell me everything so I can survive on the thoughts of her when she’s out of here.

She turns to me with a genuine smile. “Then I’ll find a guy, get married, and have a half dozen kids. Live in aneggshell-blue house with white trim and a wood shake roof. With a wraparound porch and a tire swing hanging from a tree. I want to be chased around my backyard by jelly-covered faces. Is that too much to ask?”

I can picture her, hair lifted by the wind, as kids that look just like her follow behind. I suck in a raspy breath and scrunch my nose to hide my thoughts. “That sounds awful.”

She throws her head back and laughs. “Maybe, but it sounds perfect to me.”

“I’ll get you out of here,” I promise.

A sad smile curves her lips. “No you won’t.” She starts to collect all her things, tossing them into her bag. “By the end, you won’t even want to.”

I hate the way she doesn’t meet my eyes. She doesn’t realize just how impossible her words are. “They won’t break me.”

“I know.” She tilts her head toward me and brushes her fingertips over her lips. “Kiss me.”

I swallow hard, not trusting my own ears. “What?”

“I don’t want my first kiss to be some gross old guy who’s willing to marry a fifteen-year-old girl.”

All I see is blue when she says, “I want it to be you.”

I twist so that I’m kneeling in front of her and lean forward until my forehead presses against hers. I inhale each of her breaths as I build up the nerve to speak. “I’ll be the one to marry you when you turn twenty-five.”

Her eyes shoot wide, but I kiss her before she can say anything. I know I won’t be alive by then. I know I’m going to die chained to this wall, but that doesn’t mean I can’t want it.

I deepen the kiss, running my tongue along hers. She’s inexperienced, and I hate the fact that I won’t be here to fix that, at the same time loving that she’ll be my last. I break the kiss and move to the side, ignoring the pounding of my heart. There’s a cruelty to letting me find her here.

“You should run along now, Little Sparrow. Don’t come back.”

Chapter 57

Matthias

It’s beentwo days since Scarlet’s visited me, and I try to convince myself it’s for the best. I can’t keep living in the delusion that I might have her one day. The most I can hope for is she finds a way to get free of all of this.

I roll the apple she gave me between my palms. Even starving, I can’t bring myself to eat it.

A sharp, high-pitched scream rips me out of my thoughts, filling every nook and cranny of my room. I stand, moving as close to the door as my chain will allow.

Another scream, this one a begging plea, sends a shiver down my spine. The voice is too young, too innocent to sound like that. It goes on and on, alternating from one small voice to another.

The bloodcurdling noise has every muscle in my body pulled taut as the weight of who it is slams me down to my knees.

“Let them go!” I yell until my throat’s raw, but it never stops. On and on, the sound of young cries eats away at my sanity.

“Please. I’ll do fucking anything. Please,” I beg the empty space around me.

---