Page 50 of The Secrets of Roan Island

His eyes narrow. I tense, expecting the assault of pain at any moment. Instead, he walks to the bookshelf, right to the hourglass, then stops, his back to us.

I imagine overpowering him, imagine what it would feel like to strip him of his lifeforce, but it’s impossible. He’s sniffed us out every time we’ve tried. The power to control us is too excessive to fight and even if we could, he has another, more motivating insurance policy that keeps us cautious.

Hammish whirls, and Jafeth crumples to the ground, gritting his teeth against the pain.

“Miss Rose wanted funding. I’ve been dangling our meeting in front of her for weeks. She wouldn’t miss our tea. Tell me the truth, Noah.”

Jafeth arches his back, pain hissing through his teeth, his face red with the exertion of fighting it.

My hearts burst with guilt wanting to come clean to save my brother, but I can’t. I won’t. For Ruby. “I told you. I went to find her, and she wasn’t there.”

“Lies!” Hammish roars.

Shemaiah seizes, grunting with agony. As he crumples to the ground, his eyes meet mine, and I see the defiance there.

“I will hurt them worse if you don’t tell me the truth.”

“You’ll hurt them regardless,” I snap, hating him. “Even if I knew where she was, it wouldn't change this. You’d do it anyway.”

Pain cuts me from head to toe. I cry out, dropping to my knees. Then it’s gone just as quickly, and I’m left panting on the floor, my brothers still writhing. “What do I have to gain by lying?” I huff. “Check her room.”

“Mrs. Darning already did and her things were gone.” He brushes off my statement as if it doesn’t matter whether her things are here or not. He’s right to not take it as proof. I packed her belongings the second Ruby was asleep, before the party had even ended.

“I promise you, Noah,” Hammish says, leaning down to meet my eye. “When I find her and bring her back, if I discover you aided her, I will break you, just like I am going to break your brothers.”

Shemaiah screams at the first crack of his bones.

26

Ruby

Coming back to myself happens slowly, as if my body has been through a battle and is now pulling itself from the soil where I was buried. I stretch, every muscle rioting with overuse, then lick my dry lips and realize I’m parched.

From the biting.

The sex.

The pleasure.

I smile and open my eyes, expecting to see the replica library. Only that isn’t where I am. An artificial light hangs above a metal table in the center of the small, unfamiliar room. Four square metal doors with latches line a wall beyond the table. No windows.

I swallow but ignore the fear coalescing in my gut and instead sit up on a cot that creaks as I move. I’m naked underneath the thick blanket. Shivering, I pull it higher around my shoulders.

“Where the fuck am I?” I voice the question to the empty space, and it echoes without an answer.

Standing, my heart tripping with a doubtful rhythm, I pull the blanket tighter. The metal door opposite the cot seems vaguely familiar, though I can’t place it. The concrete floor is cold under my feet as I pass the narrow metal table, noticing the deep grooves and scratches in the surface. A sink sits at the end of the table, the annoying drip of water from the faucet plinking into it.

“Noah?” I call quietly, hating the timidity in my voice. Why isn’t he with me?

When I reach the door, I pull on the lever, but it doesn’t budge. Locked.

My heart plummets as if pushed from a cliff. What the hell?

“Noah!” I shout and smack my hands against the door. My pulse thunders so loud it blocks the sound of my fist hitting the door over and over. The room isn’t dark, but the corners of my vision grow black. Locked in. My airway closes as my breath moves in quick, painful bursts through my lungs. I’m back in the basement, in the dark, the door locked, David laughing from the otherside.

But it’s not David this time. It’s Noah. He tried to warn me that he wasn’t a good man, but I didn’t believe him. Shame douses me as if a bucket’s dumped freezing water over my head. The cold creeps all the way down to my bones.

I close my eyes and take slow deep breaths. I’m stronger than this. I survived David. I can survive whatever game Noah’s playing. He’s probably on the other side of the door enjoying my screams for help, just like David.

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