Page 180 of Saving Sparrow
“You lied to—”
“I slipped while—”
“I saw what Abraham did to you!” Everything around us went still. The fire I’d reignited in the hearth, the wind outside, even the sound of our breathing. “I saw,” I whispered.
“H-how?”
“I…” I stared into his bleary eyes, taking a mental snapshot of the affection in them before it was gone.
“Did I… Did I forget to lock the door?”
“No,” I swallowed. “I found a spare key in the attic. I’ve been in all the rooms. I’ve seen everything. I’ve met everyone. Even The Good One.”
“The Good One?”
“The mother who’d do anything to protect her child. The mother Elliott should’ve had.”
Betrayal flashed in his gaze before it went vacant. “Give it to me.”
“Not until you tell me why. Why would you help him hurt you? Haven’t you been hurt enough?” How could he provide Abraham with the means to cause him pain?
“It’s not my fault he’s here,” he snapped. “He just showed up out of nowhere, and now I’m stuck with managing him.”
“Don’t they all show up out of nowhere?” I knew they appeared for a reason, but at least initially, their arrival had to seem sudden.
“He’s different.”
“How?” I asked, but he refused to answer. “Are you saying he’s new? Are you saying he showed upafterElliott went dormant?”
Sparrow kept quiet. He’d iced me out.
“He did, didn’t he? How’s that possible? Please, tell me.”
“I said, give me the key.”
“No. Why does The Good One want to cut me to pieces? Why does Joshua believe his parents—yourparents—are in the basement? What happened that day? How did you get away with it? How have you been surviving here?!” Everything I wanted to know came spilling out of me.
“Give. Me. The Key.”
“Promise you’ll give me answers if I do. Promise you’ll let me help you. I’mbeggingyou.”
“I don’t need your help.” He backed me into the window, the cold draft threading around my neck. “We would’ve been fine. Everything was fine until you went and screwed it up!”
“Fine? Did you think I wouldn’t find out about him? That we could stay here forever, and I’d never know, never see what happens to you when you enter those rooms? How long will it be before you can’t contain it? How long before you start shifting into something dangerous, leaving me to figure out what to do with them, huh? What am I supposed to do with them, Sparrow? Be flogged, crucified, or shot? Talk Joshua down from a temper tantrum? It’s not realistic; it’s not safe for any of us!” My guilt made me frantic because I was to blame for part of his delusion. I’d allowed him to believe we could be happy like this. I hadn’t said it, but I didn’t need to. It was in every touch we shared as we slept in his workout room. In every kiss over the last two days. It was in the details of every second I’d spent falling for the man who looked like my husband.
“Our minds are strong, Sparrow. But they can break if they’re not properly cared for. How much longer do you think you can do this?”
“I’m fi—”
“Stop saying that,” I hissed. “You didn’t come back. Abraham was hurting you. I was in there with him. He thought I was a demon… And you didn’t come back. Why?”
“Because he doesn’t fear pain, he relishes it!”
Sparrow picked up on their anxiety, on the quickening of their pulse due to fear or pain. Abraham lived in a state of exhilaration. He was in his element. He welcomed the opportunity to cast out evil.
“All the more reason to get away from here.”
Sparrow was an impenetrable force, his guards pushing against me.
