Page 32 of Snake

Which would have worked if I’d ever been in this room before. But unless I hit a fugue state somewhere between being dropped off by Juliet and now, I’ve never been in what appears to be a storeroom. I’m sitting on a pile of three or four mattresses covered with layers of mismatched blankets and quilts, more mattresses are stacked to either side. I suppose at one stage this must have been a normal storeroom where they kept old dorm room stuff, but someone turned this place into a shrine.

A hoarder who couldn’t bear to throw away even the most useless piece of furniture, judging from the jaunty angle of the drawers, tables, chairs, and other bits and pieces jumbled around the place. Here and there, fat candles have been lit. Their drippings run like stalactites from the mismatched furniture, and the smell of candle wax is one of many hanging in the air here.

But where I am isn’t as important as why I’m here. And from the expressions on the Serpents’ faces, it can’t be good.

I look at each of them, hoping to see even just a scrap of mercy on one of their faces. I only find blank, dead eyes.

“Do you know how rude it is not to accept a gift during the Feast of Ashes?” Mason blurts out, like he’s been holding onto this for too long.

“Is it any ruder than taking a knife to someone’s thigh just to make a point?” I throw back, spreading my leg to the side so my skirt hikes up and reveals their scar on my inner thigh.

Mason looks at his feet.

“Didn’t think so.” I lift my chin, glaring at them now. “Take me back upstairs.”

“We’re not done with you yet,” Knox says, right on top of Silas’s, “Nice try, princess.”

“Let me guess.” I narrow my eyes as I give them a condescending scan. “First, you’ll want me to suck your dicks. Then, maybe, I get to come a few times while you fuck me.” I cock my head at them, widening my eyes. “That sound about right?”

Silas turns his body, angling a low hiss toward Knox. “Told you this would happen. Let’s just get rid of her.”

My skin crawls at his words, but I try not to let the sudden uneasiness show on my face. Knox keeps studying me, then takes a slow step forward. “Hear that, love? Silas says we should just get rid of you. Honestly, I can’t fault him for his logic. You’ve been nothing but an inconvenience to us since the day we met.”

There’s a sudden cold weight in my chest, like my lungs have filled with ice water. Heaven knows why his words sting so much. “It’s not my fault you chose to murder someone the same day I went for a walk in the woods.” I try to sound jaunty, but everyone can hear the hollowness in my words.

“It’s no one’s fault,” Mason says quietly. When I look at him, there’s a softness in his eyes, but it hardens as soon as we lock gazes. “But you’ve only made this worse for yourself. If you’d just listened to us and—”

“And what?” I snap, my heart already aching because I know—I fucking know—this is the last time we’ll ever speak. “Ignored the fact that you took a machete to some innocent guy? Just carried on with my life, knowing that there were a bunch of killers sitting in the same cafeteria, going to the same library, walking the same halls as me?” My voice rises, and I suddenly realize why they chose this spot above all others.

No one can hear me yell.

No one will hear me scream.

My jaw locks as fear grabs me in a tight, icy fist. “If that’s what you want,” I manage through a tight throat, “then that’s what I’ll do.” I tug at my bonds, lifting my chin, forcing them to imagine that I’m not affected by their insidious threats even though I’m quaking inside. “I’ll forget you even exist. When I see you coming, I’ll turn and go the other way.”

When my words don’t seem to move them, when nothing on their hard, handsome faces change, I add, “Fine. Then I’ll go home. Back to the city. That’s what you want, right? For me to leave? No witness, no crime.” I shrug. “Untie me, and I’ll pack my bags right now.”

It’s then that Silas smiles, and fuck, what a dangerous light that puts in his eye. “You had your chance to leave.”

I swallow hard, forcing my eyes away from him, searching for any sign of empathy from Mason and Knox. But it’s like they’ve shut down. Despite the orange candlelight playing in their eyes, there’s no warmth on their faces. Even when I smile at Mason, I get nothing but a tick from his jaw. “I’m sorry,” I whisper, and the tears that suddenly fill my eyes are hot and real and as desperate to get out as I am. “I was wrong. I should have listened. Please, don’t hurt me.”

It’s Mason who comes closer. And thank God, there’s a hint of sympathy in his brown eyes now. “We won’t hurt you anymore, baby girl,” he murmurs, laying a big, warm hand on my thigh.

Right over my scar. Coincidence? As if.

“No,” Knox says, his head tilting as he steps closer too. He takes hold of the end of my ponytail, running it through his fingers. “What we’re going to do is so much worse.”

My eyes widen, my mouth going bone-dry. “P-Please,” I stammer, pushing the words past a shaking jaw. “Don’t do this.”

“But it’s exactly what you’ve wanted all along,” Silas says, his voice spiteful as he throws my words back at me. He comes to crouch in front of me, not touching me. But the heat of his eyes might as well be an open flame. “We’re giving you what youwant.”

I search their faces, my lips trembling, a strange laugh breaking free. Delirious with panic, with confusion. “What?”

“The truth, love,” Knox says, letting go of my ponytail so it swishes against the back of my neck. “We’re going to tell you everything you want to know.”

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