Page 17 of Martyr
That’s got to be wrong.
Because I also dream abouther, about the feel of her body and her fucking pierced nipples. Are her nipples pierced? I don’t even fucking know. It’s just the way I picture her naked, fully formed.
I’m asking you these questions because you can’t answer, and I don’t want to know.
What I do know is, as jarring as this situation is, I fucking miss you. With every fiber of my being. I’d trade my life to get yours back. I’d walk straight into the underworld for you,Elora, and I’d carry you out even if I had to leave my soul behind.
A tear hits the page.
I quickly close it and swipe at my face, embarrassment radiating through me. I’m crying? I cried when I wrote it, too, my vision blurring so much my handwriting got sloppy. There are already spots of smeared ink farther down.
Why did I dream about her nipples being pierced before I even saw them?
I hadn’t realized.
Hadn’t remembered.
And yet, today, I saw her tits, and there they fucking were.
I clench my jaw harder, until my teeth might crack, and put away the notebook. I can’t stay here, pacing the room like a caged animal. There are night checks, but only once. They don’t come back—and I don’t think they patrol.
We’re not prisoners.
My door is unlocked. There’s no lock on it at all, actually. I grab my sweatshirt and slip out of the room, into the bright hallway. The light from the fluorescent bulbs overhead sear my eyes. I blink rapidly, checking that the coast is clear, then hurrying in the direction of Tem’s room.
No.
Wait.
I pause at the top of her hall and shake my head. I amnotgoing to her.
I’m going to satisfy my original curiosity about Sleeping Beauty.
Two minutes later, I’m outside her room. At least, Ithinkthis is hers. And I don’t know why they call her Sleeping Beauty,unless maybe she has narcolepsy? This could also go really wrong if I enter this one and she wakes up screaming.
I might be committed to theotherside of the island, where they do put locks on the door.
That’s almost enough to make me turn away, but I catch a voice. Hushed though it is, it travels through the door and straight into my chest.
Artemis?
Okay, fuck it. Universe, you win.
Steeling myself, I grasp the knob and twist. I burst into the room, my finger already pointed in accusation.
But then, I freeze. Because she’s not alone—and this setting is not what I was expecting in the slightest.
8ARTEMIS
Reese is confused,and I don’t blame him. We went from blow job in the freezing cold to standing over an unconscious girl in her room.
“Lyssa Laurent,” he says, repeating the name I told him not thirty seconds ago. His brows are furrowed, and he grips the plastic footboard at the bottom of her bed. “Laurent. LikeKadeLaurent?”
“Half-sister, I think.” I lean against the now-shut window. When we entered, it was a extra chilly in here—oops, my bad—and there are goosebumps on her arms. “But more importantly, she’s Gabriel’s…”
His gaze lifts to mine. “Gabriel’swhat?”
“Uh… First love? His deepest infatuation? Trauma-bonded soulmate?” I shrug. “Take your pick.”
