Page 164 of Deviant

Thankfully, Andy and Harper were left unscathed even though they had no choice but to choose the red room after Chris and Abbie were fortunate enough to pick the black. I have a sneaking suspicion that before either Harper or Abbie came across such doors, they already knew which ones to pick. Rowen must have warned them. I’d bet my life on it.

Doesn’t matter anymore anyway. I’m sure everyone has picked up on it by now which doors are safe and which are not after the last two games.

I must admit I was a little surprised when Andy told me that the red room wasn’t so bad. Like Rowen and I, they too werestrapped to an electric chair, but apparently, since none of them lied when the other bombarded them with intrusive questions, both left the room right as rain.

But that was three days ago.

The only reprieveThe Scourgegives us between games.

Today, we’re all supposed to play, and I’ve got a nagging suspicion that shit is about to get a whole lot worse.

Or maybe the real reason why I’m dreading today’s game is because I’ll have to be locked in a room with Rowen. Since she came clean and told me how my sister died, I haven’t made any moves to get too close. I just couldn’t. Not until I could decipher how I felt about the whole thing.

One thing has been made painfully clear to me though.

Rowen never meant to kill Nora.

She wasn’t the heartless traitor I accused her of being.

Her only sin was to try to protect Nora from herself.

Leave it to my baby sister to think she could save our mother by trying to enterThe Scourge.After this past week, I’m certain that my bleeding-heart sister wouldn’t survive a day here.

I honestly believed that if Rowen told me what she had done, my hatred for her would grow. And I needed that hate. I needed that hate more than anything. Because then it would make it easier for me to watch her die.

But once again, Rowen foiled my plans.

That’s what she does.

She spins my world upside down until I no longer know which side is up.

And for the past three days, I’ve been trying to make sense of the chaotic mess she left me with her confession.

“Is everyone ready?” Henry asks when he enters the dining room.

“If we say no, can we get a raincheck?” Harper asks, batting her eyelashes at Henry.

“I’m afraid not, Lady Thomas.”

“Babe, what are you doing? He’s blind, remember?” Andy laughs at Harper’s attempt to flirt her way out of the game.

“So that’s why it didn’t work.” She snaps her fingers.

“God, you’re adorable,” Andy professes before kissing her stupid.

When he lets up, Harper fans herself like she might faint from the kiss.

Those two were made for each other.

They might be a little weird, but they… make sense.

To my chagrin, my gaze travels around the room until it finds Rowen sitting next to Abigail on the couch. Though Rowen is slightly older than Abigail by a few years, their friendship makes sense on paper, too. Both are known for having been sheltered by strict parents, hence Abigail’s crippling shyness and Rowen’s lack of friendships. Compared to the rest of the deviants in this room, neither girl looks like they are much competition when it comes to winningThe Scourge.Only I know that one has killed before—even if unintentionally—while the other doesn’t go anywhere without her trusty steak knife around her waistband.

When Rowen catches me staring, I turn my head away, pretending something shinier has caught my eye.

Fuck.

The woman makes me feel like I’m some punk on a playground tugging at the braids of the girl he likes.

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