Page 39 of What Doesn't Kill Us

“Maybe I jumped the gun. Maybe everything that has happened from the moment I stuffed her in my trunk until now is my fault, and if I had continued to lie low and pretend everything was fine, we wouldn’t find ourselves in our current predicament. Maybe none of the dumb shit that has happened would have come to fruition if I had continued to suppress the beast inside me that continuously vibrates with the need to possess her.”

Agatha’s cackle echoes around me and I can’t help but smile as she crows, “You stuffed her in the trunk? Classic romantic move, there, big guy.” She pauses, laughing a bit more at my expense and then sobers as she says in a more serious tone, “I don’t think any one person is to blame for our current predicament. I think it’s likely if any of us had chosen a different course of action, the outcome would remain the same. Maybe we should have left when we had the chance instead of doing your exceedingly stupid idea of going after Carolina. But maybe not. Maybe if we had left, Toni still would’ve gone barreling in there and ended up face-to-face with the devil, in which case, she would’ve caught a bullet right in the face. But one thing about it: if we had not gone in there, if we had not gone after Carolina and found out what we found out, we’d still be in the dark. At least now, regardless of what happened in that warehouse after we left, we know what we’re up against. Not that it matters if we die in this fucking dark cell. Wouldn’t that be fucking poetic? We meet our maker via dehydration.”

I can’t help but laugh. She’s right. Wouldn’t this be the most fitting, anti-climactic death for us there ever was? No guns, no glory, just the rats eating our remains in the endless blackness. “Oh, don’t fucking say that. I think I’d rather be strung up and tortured than die here in such a boring way. After all the shit I’ve lived through, I should at least be allowed to die in agony, knowing I didn’t spill my guts to the very end.”

Agatha’s laughter echoes with mine as she says, “At least I’m strung up from the ceiling in a somewhat fitting manner. You were left to roam around the room like you’re not even a threat at all. So much for all those years of people trying to bring down theBeast.”

I snort-laugh, allowing myself a moment to find humor in our ridiculous circumstances. “If it comes down to it, I’ll come over there and let you chew out my throat so that it at least looks like I died in battle.”

She laughs even louder. “But you know I’ve never actually done that, right? I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with those other two, but the idea of chewing out somebody’s throat does not appeal to me, that whole biohazard thing, and all. Maybe that’s because I’ve never been put in a position where that was my only choice, but I don’t see that ever happening.”

“I have no idea, but the one time I witnessed Lilith chew out a throat, she had all the choices in the world. That was her go-to.”

She takes a few deep breaths, her laughter dying down as she says, “Lilith. My fucking mother. I can only imagine the atrocities that molded her into the crazy fucking psycho she is. I’m not even sure I want to know.”

I nod in the darkness, standing up and moving in front of her. “I can’t imagine it’s a pretty tale. Are you sure you don’t want me to get these chains off you?”

“Fuck, no. I’ll be fine. If they don’t come back after a few more hours, I’ll think about it. So far, this is child’s play.”

“Something tells me there’s a story behind that line, too.”

“There’s always a story, Dare. Most of them are not worth the retelling.”

I turn around, moving closer to her and pressing my back against her front as I stoop underneath, then stand, lifting her onto my back. “Let me ease some of the strain for a little while, anyway. I’ve rested long enough; it’s the least I can do.”

She giggles into my ear, her chin resting on my shoulder. “I won’t say no to that. But only for a short time, then you should go back and lay down, continue playing dead.”

“I will.”

“Dare?” Her whisper cuts through the pitch black.

“Agatha?”

“They’re okay.”

“Of course they are.”

She doesn’t say anything else, but I feel her shiver behind me, and I know we’re doing the same thing.

Praying.

Chapter Fifteen

Toni

Aboutayearago

I come awake in stages, my blurry vision clearing more each time I attempt to rouse myself to my surroundings.

I’m not sure what happened or why I’m so disoriented, but I know whatever it is, it can’t be good.

Part of me wants to hide, to feign sleep until I’m forced to face whatever awaits me, as if the cause will miraculously disappear, and I’ll wake in my bed, this entire episode nothing more than a fragmented memory.

“I know you’re awake.”

I frown, that gritty voice sending a shiver down my spine, and I grind my teeth against the urge to whimper.

Dare.

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