Page 34 of Broken Skulls

No one peered into her tiny fractures … until me.

“Okay,” I hear myself say, ready to face the ass whooping I’m likely to get from Jesse.

But it will all be worth it.

For her.

Chapter Fifteen

Elizabeth

Jacob wraps his arm around me and ushers me inside. The two women who pulled me from the basement are standing in his kitchen, their heads bowed together. The one with long dark silver hair glares at Jacob.

“Where do you think you’re taking her?”

“Jesus, Jess, give me a break. I haven’t hurt her, nor am I going to. I’m taking her back down to talk to her, because goddammit that is where she feels safe, okay?”

“Well then, we’re all going.”

Neither Jacob nor I argue. I just want to go back to the room in the basement. Where it’s dark and quiet. I feel … I feel exposed out here in the light.

When we get outside his room, he tells them, “You two can wait out here.”

The long-haired woman opens her mouth, but the other lady stops her. “We’ll sit out here. You’ll keep the little door open, won’t you?” she asks Jacob.

He nods, ushering me inside. He gives me a moment to settle on the bed before he closes the door. Then, he cracks the little door open slightly. It lets in a sliver of light that cuts across the floor. It’s not as dark as I’d like, but I guess it’s all I’m going to get.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly as he sits down beside me.

I don’t say anything, because I don’t know what to say.

“I was going to tell the club about you.”

He lies back, staring at the dark ceiling. “And about this room.” He sighs loudly before startling me with a loud chuckle. “God, I fucked up.”

“You sure did,” the woman on the other side of the wall chimes in.

“Why do you have this room, Jacob?” I ask quietly. “And why did it used to have a lock on it?”

I feel his eyes on me as I lie down beside him. His breath stirs the hair around my face when I turn toward him.

“You’re going to think I’m lame when I tell you.”

“Do you think I’m lame for hiding in a nursing home for several years?”

His fingertips trail down the length of my arm, making me shiver. “I’ve never seen you as lame, Elizabeth.”

For some reason, I smile when he says my name. It makes me feel human, special even, and I haven’t felt that way in a long time.

His hand pauses, resting on my hip before he speaks.

“My friend, Lily, locks me in here when I need her to.” He pauses, holding his breath.

“Okay.”

He laughs lightly, releasing the air in his lungs. “Just okay? You don’t want to know why?”

“I know why.”

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