Page 53 of His to Keep

Face creasing, he turns to me. “We’re wasting our time.”

Storming past me, he goes into the bathroom and slams the door behind him.

A hand suddenly grabs my arm, and I jump with a gasp. Maisie’s now off the floor, eyes like giant orbs. It looks like she hasn’t slept at all. And why would she if she’s been in the dark since Christmas, not knowing anything?

“Come on,” she whispers. “Let’s find a way out of here.”

“W-What?”

“I don’t believe for a second there isn’t a way out of here. There’salwaysa way out of these places—you just have to know where to look. Come on. I’m not hanging around to find out what these psychopaths want from us.”

“Maisie—stop,” I beg as she drags me off the bed, surprisingly strong for someone so tiny. “I promise there’s no way out.”

“We can find it.” The back of her voice breaks as she goes to the door and pulls on it like I did. When it fails to open, she darts past me and tries opening the window, not seeing the nails that stop it from moving. It’s dark out. She can’t see how high we are when her eyes land on the chair. “Help me throw the chair at the window.”

“What?”

“Why do you keep asking me to repeat myself? Let’s smash the damn window and use the bedsheets to climb out.” When I don’t move, she screams at me, “What the hell is wrong with you? Come on!”

The bathroom door opens again, and Callum stomps back out, obviously having heard the commotion. “What’s going on?”

“She—”

Maisie gasps. “You’re seriously going to tellhim? He’s one of them! I saw him with them.”

My face flushes hot with shame. She doesn’t know anything.She doesn’t know him like I do.Folding his arms, Callum sighs with agitation. “Even if you do manage to get out of the house, there’s a fence caging us in.”

“Like I’m going to believeyou.”

“It’s true. I-I saw it.”

She shakes her head repeatedly like she can’t quite grapple with the fact that there isn’t a way out. She begins pacing, and Callum and I exchange uncomfortable looks. “You don’t understand—I have to go home. My boyfriend’s going to be worried about me. My dad.” Tears fall down her face.Boyfriend.Just how Father Aaron thought I had one—Adam. “What does he want?”

I swallow hard, knowing I’m about to put someone through the same despair I felt.Still feel.“Us.”

“What?”

“There’s to be a ceremony, and he’s going to, um…” Why can’t I say it? Thankfully, I don’t have to. Her watery brown eyes widen even more, and then she gags.

“No. Hell no. Over my dead body—”

“If you don’t, itwillbe,” Callum says spitefully, and I try not to let it sting, but it does. Somewhere deep that I keep burying deeper. If I don’t let Father Aaron, I’ll die too.

I step closer to her. “Father Aaron had another girl right before he took me. She did something to…disobey him, and he murdered her. I saw her after. When she was dead. It was horrific…” I trail off, her blood-soaked body flashing in my thoughts.

“Death doesn’t scare me,” Maisie sneers at me. I don’t believe her, but if this is how she’s trying to cope, then I can’t disagree. “I’d rather be dead than let him rape me. If you want to lie there and take it, then you do that. But I won’t. He’ll be sorry he ever took me.”

Having gotten the idea from Callum, she runs into the bathroom and slams the door. Pushing my hair back from my face, I go over to the window and peer out of it. Stars litter the sky, and a lone cloud floats across the full moon.People change when there’s a full moon, Ava. It makes them crazy,Gran said one time. She was wrong about a lot of things, but not that.

Callum shuffles behind me, and my body shivers the moment he puts his hands on my shoulders and squeezes them. Will it ever go away, the way he makes me feel?

“I can’t stop thinking about you,” he whispers into my ear so that Maisie can’t hear from the bathroom. “I know it’s the wrong time—but I can’t help it.”

Leaning back into him, his warmth surrounds me. My chest squeezing, my body wanting more of what I can’t have. What we could only let happen once.

“You didn’t have to be mean to her.” I glance up at him. “She’s scared.”

“She’s reckless. She’s going to get us punished. The sooner she accepts it, the better it is for us.”

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