Page 112 of The Freedom in Captivity

There’s one place down here that feels the most right for him to find me in, so after dropping my backpack by the post I was once chained to, I head for the chair I woke tied to the first night.

The metal is cool against my arms, but it warms quickly.

Now, to wait.

Flynn

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Parking my bike back in the garage seems like a fucking loss. After checking the bus station, where none of the staff claimed to know who I was asking about, even after tossing threats and later money at them, I wandered the surrounding streets because…why the fuck not? I drove to our hold high school in some weird hope to find her on the bench again, and it’s then I realized how much I long to see her there again. A representation of a better time, rather than the chaos we’ve found ourselves in lately.

She could be literally anywhere. She might not want to be found.

But I won’t accept it.

Tomorrow, I’ll demand time off. I’ll fly to B.C. if I have to, since presumably, that’s where she’s headed: to look for her sister. I refuse to let her go without seeing her again.

Without telling her…without just…my thoughts trail off, uncertain of themselves. Defeated but they won’t admit what my heart knows. That if there’s any person in this world worth living for, it’s her. Loyalty aside, my appreciation for the family who took me in, there’s a part of me she’ll forever own and it’s up to Rozelyn to decide to make me whole again or take it with her when she goes.

Which is why coming home feels like giving up.

Even temporarily.

With a heavy sigh, after putting away my bike, I head for the side entrance and my room. Going there feels like a kick to the gut, considering it was the last place I saw her. Perhaps, I’ll get changed and I’ll spend the evening at the gym. Anywhere but this mansion.

Leaning on the outside of my door, Nico waits, his attention on his phone, which he tucks in his slacks the moment I close the outside door.

“What’d I do to deserve this visit? Punishment for interrupting your meeting this morning?”

He pushes off the wall, with the hint of a smirk on his lips, and before turning away, commands the last thing I’d expected him to. “Go to the basement and clean your knives or something. Anything.”

“What?”

“It’s an order, Flynn, and one you should obey for once.” There’s slight amusement in his tone.

Then he’s gone and I’m dumbfounded, staring at my door and then in the direction he’s headed. Nico’s never lead me astray, so doing as he says, I head for the basement, finding the light already on.

Someone new already?

But no, he would have said something about that. Nico looked too amused, like he was playing some sick game.

Every step down is filled with caution, with wonder, and dare I fucking think it—with hope. Pointless hope?

At the bottom of the stairs, I find my every fucking desire.

“Holy fuck.”

Mon soleilishere.

“Rozelyn.”

She’s seated in the chair I once had her chained to. Her hair falls around her like a perfect damn curtain and her gaze is firm on me. Her lips showing the hint of a smile, but it’s uncertain, cautious.

“Hi, Flynn.” Throaty, quiet, so fucking perfect.

The first time I saw her, I thought how much she looked like a princess, and once again, if this is the final time, I think it again. Only, she’smyprincess now. Her throne amidst a room that’s only known death and destruction.

A million things go through my head, so many things to say to her, but one no more pressing than the last. Finally, a single thought breaks through: “I thought you left without a goodbye.”

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