Page 175 of Blood and Ruin: The Complete Series

“I can hear you crying, so I know you’re not dead.”

Crying? I try to lift a hand up to check, forgetting I’m still strapped in. Squeezing my eyes tight, I feel the wetness run down the sides of my face.

How did I not know I was crying?

He sighs. “Are you… okay?”

No… but I wasn’t going to tell him that.

“Stupid question…” he mumbles, more to himself than me.

But his question surprises me either way. Why would he care? I’m nothing to him. Just another prisoner here.

He sighs again, heavier this time. “I just listened to you get electrocuted, could smell your skin burn from in here… So I…”

I hear him move about before speaking again. “How are you still alive?”

Again, I stay silent and start to wonder what his ulterior motive is.

“Look, you helped me when you… made me stop. I just wanted to see if you were okay.”

Made him stop? I still didn’t understand how that worked or if he just made it all up in his head. Maybe he’s been here too long to tell the difference.

Maybe I should stop overthinking everything.

“I’m… I can heal.”

I wait for the onslaught of questions about how and why, but instead he sighs, sounding relieved.

“Good. You’ll need it here.”

I’m taken aback by his relieved tone but focus more on what he just said.

“Where is here?” I haven’t a clue where we are. Am I still in the Cardinal Three or somewhere else?

“I don’t know, and I’m not just saying that. I haven’t seen the outside of these walls since I arrived here, and even then, I wasn’t exactly… lucid.”

He wasn’t lucid? Maybe he was unconscious like me, but there was something about his tone that suggested there was more to it.

“How long have you been here?” I ask him.

He takes a moment to answer.

“Too long… Years.” His tone is sad, making something in my chest tighten.

“Years?” Maybe I misheard him.

“Yes.”

Hearing his confirmation makes me sick to my stomach.

Years. He’s been here years… Trapped and alone down here. And for what? Is he alsouniqueandspecialand something King wants to keep for himself?

My stomach turns and twists. I can’t imagine being completely alone here for years. But that’s what my future is starting to look like.

Can I live with that? Can I let them torture me over and over until my time is up in this world?

“Howdid you make me stop?” the guy asks, distracting me from my thoughts. It takes me a second to realize what he asked.

---