Page 54 of Beg the Night

“Why?” I asked. “What’ll happen if I don’t? You’ll kill me?”

Few things made me shiver the way his smile did. “We both know I could do things far worse than that.”

“What else can your power do?” I pushed.

He wanted me to talk about a power I didn’t possess, but he wasn’t willing to give me information about his own power or his life. “When did you discover it?”

“Conversation is over,” he barked, his eyes sharp. “Let’s just sit here in silence. It’s much less painful.”

Agreed.

We sat like that for hours. Time and time again, I had to bury thoughts of how his fingers had scoured my body deep into the shadows of my mind. I tried to think of literally anything else, forcing myself to consider where Margaret might be and what might have happened to all the other people at that damn ball.

Were they back in the dungeon like nothing ever happened? Was Margaret with them, or was she miles and miles away from here by now?

I was seconds away from losing my mind entirely when guards finally approached. Sinner was on his feet in an instant.

“Let’s go,” one of the men dressed in head-to-toe black ordered. He fumbled through keys and inserted one in the lock.

Sinner stepped to the side in a way that, if he were anyone else, would make me think he was shielding me with his body. “Go where?”

“You’re going back with the others. Make it fast or I’ll drag you both there myself.”

I bit back a scoff.As if he could.

The cell clanked open with a loud bang, then he waved an arm, impatiently motioning for us to exit. Sinner didn’t move. He didn’t even flinch, actually, until I stepped forward and put a small hand on his back.

He snapped to life and stepped forward, breaking our connection, without bothering to give me a glance.

I followed him out of the tiny cell.

Back to hell.

At least we wouldn’t be trapped in a four-by-four space any longer.

We were led silently through the tunnels, and within minutes, we stood outside the massive, fortified door that led to the dungeon.

The dungeon that was slowly starting to feel like home.

“Welcome back,” the guard sneered.

It took every ounce of strength I had—which, admittedly, wasn’t much—to control the urge to punch him square in the face.

As the door opened and several familiar faces turned our way, I was hit with a strange sense of relief.

But Sinner was as tense as ever.

A few steps in, he stopped in his tracks, nearly making me run directly into him.

Hands on my hips, I glared up at him. What the hell was his problem?

Carter and Leon, walking side by side, approached. “Where have you been? We thought you were dead!”

“Director wanted to run some tests on us,” Sinner said. “But we’re back now.”

“Tests?” Carter crossed his arms over his chest, chin tilted up. “What kind of tests?”

I kept my focus fixed on a spot on the floor between us, hoping the guys wouldn’t ask me directly. Sinner could handle it.

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