Page 126 of The Cruelest Chaos
She glances down at my lap, at my erection bulging against my pants.
And then she brings her hand from behind her back.
She’s holding a knife.
My side aches at the sight of it. “Not this shit again, Ella, baby.”
But ghosts can’t stab me. Hallucinations can’t hold real blades.
“I’m going to free you,” she says seriously, and then she’s close enough for me to touch her. If I wasn’t tied to the fucking chair. “I’m going to free you, Mavy, and then we’re going to run.”
I smile at her, watch as she brings the blade underneath the rope around my wrists. The steel is cold on my skin, and she angles it, sawing at my binds.
“We can’t run, you beautiful, beautiful girl.”
She shoots me a glare, but I keep talking as she keeps working. The cold of the knife feels so real. Her hand pressed against mine to steady herself does too.
“We can’t leave until this is over.”
“It’s over when I say it’s over, and I say it’s over now, Mavy.”
The rope frays and she jerks the blade up, releasing one bind. She makes quick work of it around my wrist, unwinding it and setting me free. I don’t move my hand, just glance at the rope burn on my wrist.
It looks so real.
The release...it feels so real.
“I need to tell you something, Ella.” My voice is hoarse. “I need to tell you something important.”
She looks at me warily but slides the knife under the binds of my other hand.
“I need to tell you...” I swallow, my throat dry. But this is her ghost. This is my trip. I can tell her the truth. I can set myself free. “I think I lied to you.”
She smiles, eyes still downcast. “Oh, I wouldn’t doubt that, Mavy Boy.”
I snort. “I’m not a boy.”
She keeps sawing away at the rope. “Every guy I like is a boy to me.”
I frown. I don’t like the way she phrased that. I tell her so.
She shakes her head. “I’ve only ever called one other man a boy,” she admits.
I tense. “Who?”
“Con,” she says simply, and brings the knife up, cutting through the fraying rope. She drops the blade with a clatter, hands on her hips. “Now tell me, before we get out of here. What is it you wanted to say?”
I rotate my wrists, marveling at how real freedom feels, even if it’s only in my head. Or maybe that’s the best kind.
I meet Ella’s green eyes, a light blue circle around her pupils. God she’s beautiful. I didn’t tell her nearly enough.
“I think I love you, too.”
I don’t know what I expect her to do. Maybe kiss me. Maybe climb into my lap. Maybe say it back.
Whatever it is, I don’t expect her to fucking slap me so hard my ears ring. I blink, sitting up straighter.
And when I blink, everything…changes.
