Page 57 of Taming Seraphine

“Dad told me that Mom was dead along with my real father, and that I would have to repay him for every penny he wasted thinking I was his daughter.”

Leroi’s breathing is deep and even, just like the relaxation exercise. When he doesn’t speak, I continue.

“The twins were waiting for me in the basement,” I say, my voice hitching. “They must have spent the day getting things prepared because the door had already been secured with a fingerprint lock.”

I pause, my breath mirroring Leroi’s, and try to relax in the warmth of his embrace. It’s impossible as the muscles around my lungs tighten, making it difficult to exhale.

“Was this the first time you’d met Samson and Gregor?” Leroi asks.

“Yes,” I say with a sigh. “Dad called me their little sister, but he talked about me like I was a dog that needed to be fed and watered. He said that if they couldn’t take care of their new pet, he would hand me over to someone more deserving. And then...”

Beneath me, Leroi goes perfectly still.

The words wither on my tongue and turn to ashes. I can’t talk about how they waited for Dad to leave before forcing me to strip or how Gregor mocked my body and said I wasn’t worth his time.

My head bows. “You already know the rest.”

“When did they install the chip?” Leroi asks.

“After they realized the collar wouldn’t be enough.”

“And when did they fit the collar?”

I blow out a breath and fix my gaze on the clouds, wishing I could float away like them, and hoping he won’t freak out. “The first week, I bit a chunk out of Samson’s dick. Gregor came back the next day with a collar and called me an animal, but after that Samson was never the same.”

“What do you mean?” Leroi asks.

“The bite became infected and Samson got a fever. By the time someone forced him to see the doctor, it was too late.”

“Was it amputated?”

“I think so,” I pause, lost in the memory. “Samson never pulled out his dick on me after that.”

Leroi hesitates. “What happened next?”

“They beat and starved me until I was so weak that I stopped moving. Dad eventually found out, and they offered me another way to pay him back.”

“Which was?”

“To kill three people in exchange for them freeing Nanna, Gabriel, and myself.”

“How did he expect a sixteen-year-old girl to do something so dangerous?”

“He brought in a handler to train me,” I tell him. “I didn’t want to do it, but I was so hungry and just wanted the pain and the electric shocks to end.”

Leroi’s chest deflates with a sigh. “This… handler. What did he do?”

“He made sure I was eating right and forced me to exercise. He warned the twins to back off because I needed to look pretty and healthy to be a convincing assassin.”

His body stiffens. “What else?”

I raise a shoulder. “He made me practice with syringes over and over, with my hands behind my back, tied above my head, and in all kinds of awkward positions. I had to learn human anatomy, pressure points, and where to plunge a knife.”

He relaxes as though relieved. Was he expecting worse?

“After five months, the handler said I was ready, and that’s when I got the chip.”

“So you wouldn’t escape,” he says, his voice flat. “Even though they were holding what was left of your family captive?”

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