Page 140 of The Oath We Give

Stephen’s hair hangs past his ears. The strands of limp, stringy hair sway as he snaps his gaze toward me. His lips curl back over his yellowing teeth into a snarl, eyes narrowing.

Prison hadn’t been kind to the previous Dean of Hollow Heights. His once blonde hair was now dull and speckled with grey. Teeth stained yellow from neglect, skin sickly. The well stitched together skin suit he once wore was decaying. Was showing just how much corruption was festering inside, he was oozing misery.

"We need money, baby." He looks over from his manic searching, "I've got to be able to take care of you."

Bile sits in the back of my throat. The way he speaks to me like a child.

"If you just let me draw money from my account--"

"I do not need your father's money, Circe. I'm a man, I know how to take care of you."

My jaw goes taunt, molars grinding against one another. As he eyes me from across the desk, anger flaring in his gaze.

"I'd be quick, Stephen." I bite, "Every second we spend in Ponderosa Springs is another step closer Silas gets. Don't say I didn't warn you."

“You think he’s gonna be your knight in shining armor, Coraline?” He sneers, his laughter seems to split the air. “You mean nothing to him. You are simply a means to an end for Hawthorne.”

I scoff, rolling my eyes, “And what, Stephen? I mean something to you. I’m your special girl.”

He drops the papers in his hands, stalking over towards the chair he’s tied me to. I hiss as he grabs me by the hair, jerking my head up with painful grasp, peering down at me like I'm beneath him.

That familiar smell of his wafting in my nose.

“You’re mine, Circe. You loved me once, you can love me again. I would start forgetting all about Silas, it’ll make this much easier for you.”

I never loved him. Not really. My mind did what was necessary to survive the torture. I played dead like a possum in the road trying to avoid death from poachers. I adapted and did what I needed to survive.

There was no love in that basement.

Saliva gathers in my mouth before I spit it out at him.

“Go fuck yourself.”

I expected the hand across the face, anticipated the taste of metallic in my mouth before it filled my throat. My lip throbbed from the smack. Aching with familiarity. Stephen's abuse was like walking into your childhood home, you remembered it, knew it's secrets and could never escape it. It was forever apart of you.

I’d survived him once and I could do it again. Even if I didn’t, I knew Lilac would be taken care of and Silas would be safe.

It would all end now, for everyone. They could be free and happy. Released from the chains, Stephen Sinclair wrapped around us all. They could all finally move on to a brighter future, and that made the pain worth it.

His hand grabs my face, holding me steady, “Am I going to have to teach you how to behave again, Coraline?"

I bare my teeth, showing the blood in my mouth, “I am not the girl you left to rot in that basement, Stephen. You will not break me this time."

Another hand cracks across my jaw, the bone in my cheek throbbing with pain. Tears burn the corner of my eyes from the force of the hit. Maybe if I made him angry enough, pushed him far enough he'd end this quickly for both of us.

His arm rears back to hit me again, but it never comes.

Thuds echo outside the door.

Once, twice, on the third wood splinters into the room. The door shoved completely off the hinges as Silas's body barrels through the entryway.

I flinch at the pure force radiating off him in waves, how he stalks into the room after just breaking down a door.

Stephen scrambles backward from my body, just as Silas peeks in my direction. He only looks at me once, before moving towards Stephen like a wild predator.

My stomach drops as Stephen struggles to move towards the gun resting on his desk, but he's not quick enough. Just as he wraps his hand around the grip, Silas's large palm smashes down on top of it.

With a vicious hold he, picks up Stephens hand in his own before smashing it into the desk. The cracking of bone reaches my ear as he repeats the process until the gun falls to the floor and Stephen's hand is shattered.

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