Page 41 of Curses and Cures

“A bad omen?” Faith ponders, her gaze drifting to mine as she unconsciously rests her hand on her abdomen.

“For the Skull Brotherhood, yes,” I reply in agreement.

She nods, lost to her thoughts as she slowly rubs her belly. “What will happen to me when we finally get out of here?”

“What do you want to happen?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been a prisoner for so long…” Her voice trails off as she frowns.

“Do you have any family?”

She shakes her head. “Not any that I want to return to.”

“Any friends?”

A soft sigh escapes her lips. “Yes, but I’m not sure they’d be able to deal with my baggage. I wouldn’t want to inflict them with my suffering.”

“If they’re your friends it wouldn’t even cross their minds not to take you in,” I point out.

“Honestly,” she says, giving me a sweet smile, “If I get out of here–”

“When you get out of here,” I interrupt.

“WhenI get out of here,” she says with a determined smile. “I want a fresh start. I want to become someone new, someone who hasn’t lived the past few years of her life as a sex slave, abused and degraded daily. I can’t bear to see the pity that I know will be in their eyes, it would kill me.”

“I see,” I say, frowning.

“I’ll figure it out somehow,” she says.

“You won’t need to figure it out on your own. You’ll have me. I know people who’ll be able to help you start over.”

“Those men who’re coming to save you?” she asks, tipping her head to the side, her blonde hair inked in reds and oranges as the last of the sun rays slip past the horizon.

“Yes, the men who’re coming to saveus,” I reply, reminding her that I will not leave her or any of the other women behind.

A few minutes of silence pass before Faith rests her empty mug on the nightstand. She pulls up the cover over her thighs as the heat of the day begins to make way for the cool temperature of night, and clears her throat.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you something, Cyn.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“The other day when you asked Soren for the ingredients to help me, you said something that I thought I imagined…”

“What was that?” I ask, knowing full well what she’s referring to.

I’ve been debating whether I should tell her of my plans about poisoning Soren and his men. Part of me thought it would be better if she didn’t know, to protect her should it all go wrong, but the other part needs her advice. She knows this place better than anyone.

“You said that not all of the ingredients were for me. What did you mean by that exactly?”

“Hold on a minute,” I request, getting up off the bed and stepping into the bathroom.

Crouching down next to the toilet and ignoring the spasm of pain from my ribs, I open up the cistern and fish out the plastic bag containing the small glass bottle filled with poison.

When I reenter the room, Faith watches me curiously as I take the glass bottle out of the bag and hand it to her. She frowns, looking from it then back up to me.

“What’s this?”

“That’s something I made for the Skull Brotherhood.”

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