Page 39 of Monsters Like Us
Neither of us says anything, but it doesn’t faze her.
“I’ll see you soon, children.”
After she disappears upstairs, my gaze roams over Katana, checking her for new injuries. Other than being terrorized and chained to an industrial floor-to-ceiling pipe, she’s okay.
I need to get us the fuck out of here.
Now that we’re alone, I test the pipe like I do a man—slowly and deliberately. There’s no give. The shackles are old but solid. The thought lands with the weight of a stone—we were brought here for Vale’s twisted experiments. My eyes move to the metal table across the room. Needles and machines, a man who studies fear.
Katana curls against the wall, folding down until she’s a small, hollow thing. She slides to the concrete, knees drawn, nails curled into her palms.
I tighten my jaw until it aches, hating that I couldn’t protect her, like I promised. I try to reassure her anyway. “It’s okay, little murderess.”
Her head lifts, hazel eyes meeting mine, fear and a drop of hope in them. Nothing is okay about this situation, and I’m fucking pissed that I allowed this to happen to us, but I’ll do anything I can to protect her.
He found my weakness. Now he plans to exploit it.
I pull. The chains bite. I try angle, leverage, and brute force. Metal groans and my muscles scream, but there is no give. There are things even I can’t break by will alone.
I let my shoulders hit the cold wall as I slide to the floor, my legs straight out in front of me. I stare at Katana, hating to see her so scared.
My slip-ons scrape the floor as I toe one off, then the other. I extend my bare foot and try to touch hers, offering her comfort the only way I can.
She looks at my bare feet, then at me. She shifts, extending her legs out in front of her, feet almost touching mine. She toes her shoes off, one at a time. Then she stretches out her legs as far as she can. Our feet meet—skin to cotton. An anchor in engineered terror. Her socks are white and warm.
“Little murderess,” I say, and the name tastes like truth. My voice is low and raw. “I’ll get us out of here. I fucking promise.”
She looks up. A stubborn spark lives in her hazel eyes. It steadies me more than I expect.
“And when I do,” I add quietly, my voice hard as iron. “I’ll tear him apart until there’s nothing left. He’ll never terrify you again.”
The words are ugly and final. The monster hums under my skin—patient and hungry, waiting for the signal.
For now, we breathe… and wait.
CHAPTER 34
Micah
The silence stretcheslong after our words fade. Her socked foot pressing against mine is the only tether in the room. I let it hold me steady, because if I don’t, the monster in me will crack the walls trying to get out.
Hours drag.
At some point, the lightbulb above hums and clicks like it wants to die but refuses to give us mercy.
Then the door opens.
Corinne slips inside in pale blue scrubs, a tray balanced in her hands. The smell of bread and metal comes with her. She sets two plastic cups of water and a pair of wrapped sandwiches on the floor between us, as though this is a gesture of kindness. Her smile is soft and practiced, the same one she wore when Vale called her “wonderful.”
“Eat,” she says, sliding the tray closer with her foot before gliding out again. The lock scrapes shut.
Katana stares at the food like it might be poisoned. I shake my head once. “If they wanted us dead, they wouldn’t need cuffs and poisonous food.”
She swallows, then reaches for the tray. Her chains rattle as she tears the sandwich in half, tossing the other half at me. It’s tasteless and dry, but it keeps the gnawing in my stomach at bay.
I drag the cup of water closer with my foot until I can reach it. I use it to wash the sandwich down.
After we’ve eaten, the silence returns. I’m used to it—but not with her. She’s the only person I’ve spoken to since I killed my family.
