Page 55 of Crimson Tears

But that’s okay because I know how we’re going to get out of here.

???

When I wake up sometime later, I find that the three of us are all locked in cells next to each other with a glass-like barrier separating us. Nessa is in the middle and Boris is on her other side.

Nessa is tied to a chair in the center of her cell, while Boris is sitting up against the divider between them, watching her as if his stare alone could protect her.

She is still out cold, but when Boris’ icy gaze meets mine, I know I’m in for it.

“Have you learned your lesson yet, Kid? Do you now understand why we make no moves until we are certain?” His eyes dart to Nessa.

I’m surprised we can hear each other so well, but then I notice the speakers and cameras in the wall.They want us to be able to hear each other.

“I fecked up, okay. I get it. Now how do we get her out of here?” I look around, needing to come up with some sort of plan so that the weight from the guilt of what I did doesn’t crush me.

I know what to do once we get out of the cell, but I don’t know how we’re going to get out of these damned rooms.

“We are sealed in well. I was able to note a panel on the outside, just to the right of the doors before they tossed us in. Other than that, the doors are six-inch triple-bolted steel.”

Oh shite. This is so much more secure than I would have thought.

“Fuck!” I roar, kicking out at the glass dividing us.

I want to break it down with my bare hands and crawl to my girl, begging for her forgiveness on my knees. I want to untie her from that chair and apologize a thousand times over while lying at her feet. But the glass doesn’t budge, and neither does she.

“What did they do to her?” I ask, hoping that if Boris was able to see enough to get the other information, he might also know why she’s still passed out cold.

Her hair falls around her face in waves as she leans forward, her chest evenly rising with shallow breaths.

“I think she is just taking longer to wake up, but I have been focused on her breathing.”

The way Boris watches her, I have no feckin’ clue how he thought he was going to be able to walk away. The man sitting less than twelve feet from me looks like the woman between us is the sun in his universe, and he is but a helpless planet that orbits around her. Trapped in her gravitational pull.

Don’t say it. I know I look the same way. I was just pointing out that he thinks he can deny it.

I stand and survey the barrier between us. It’s not so much glass as it is a very thick clear barrier, at least six inches. If I can get Nessa to touch it on her side, I can better gauge how thick it is. Either way, it’s clear that hitting or kicking it will do nothing.

My hands are shaking as that regret threatens to consume me. I thought it was bad when I was stuck in my head alone. But seeing Nessa tied up, watching the way Boris stares at her, and knowing everything that is about to happen rests on my shoulders is all too much.

I can feel my heart racing and my jaw tightening. I can’t lose it right now though. That won’t help any of us. I have to keep it together, at least until we get out of here.

Just when I look up to ask Boris a question, two men walk into Nessa’s cell. They take one long look at her, then glance at the two of us. Before they can blink, Boris is up on his feet with a glare that gives everyone a glimpse of the monster hiding under the surface.

One of the men steps back a little, knowing that he would be dead if this barrier weren’t between us. The other, with a nasty bruise growing on his cheek, must have a really fun kind of death wish.

I recognize the timid one as Nessa’s father's man, but I don’t know the one who approaches me without an ounce of fear in his body.

Not a bright move, asshole.

“I’m Green, this is–,”

“Gray,” I answer for him. Gray takes another wise step back, but Green’s eyes harden.

“How’d you know that?”

I shrug, smirking slightly. “I could hear all of your loud mouths when you thought we were passed out in transport.”

Green’s jaw flexes, giving away his anger. So he must be the one with the control issue, which makes Gray the one trying to help him see reason.

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