Page 54 of CHASE: Captive to the Dark

I was already heading for the door, unable to stop myself.

“Aside from the fact that she doesn’t speak to me, I guess she’s fine,” Palo said quietly. “If you ask me, she looks sickly. I’m…not going to tell you what to do, but the girl needs to get out of that room. It can’t be good for her to be so alone.”

“She’s not alone, she has me.”

“Not lately.”

My jaw clenched and I closed myself in the basement, feeling the weight of the world pushing me down, drawing me closer to her. The light was still on, just like I’d left it when I got her up for her morning routine. She had barely eaten again this morning and it was beginning to worry me. Palo was right, enough was enough. Kit had paid Rory’s price and she obviously didn’t want to submit. Not willingly.

“Kit?” I rounded the stairs, noticing she was sleeping. Again. It was all she ever did and I couldn’t stand it. “Kit.”

She stirred, yawning as her eyes fluttered open.

“Yes, Father?”

Robotic, that’s how she sounded.

“Time to get up. You need some fresh air.”

Six days ago, she’d declined my gift. I wasn’t giving her the chance to do it again.

“I don’t want to go.”

A yawn fell from her mouth again and she already had her eyes closed. I reached forward, releasing the cuff. My knee connected with the bed and I reached over to undo the other. Just as my fingers pushed open the buckle, fists pushed against me and Kit threw herself from the bed in a rush for the sink. I couldn’t do anything but watch in surprise. It took a few seconds for me to get to her. Just as I got a grip on her hair, a realization hit me so hard, I felt my stomach drop.

“You haven’t started your cycle. How long…” I was already doing the math. Already trying to calculate how many days she’d been under my roof.

“I’m on the pill,” she managed. “Taking them every day.”

The water began running but I couldn’t think of anything but numbers. Seventeen days.

“When was your last…?” I didn’t finish. I opened the drawer, pulling out the pills I’d been giving her. Two days ago, she had put in a new set, which only now seemed confusing. I knew nothing about these things.

“You’re here,” I said, pointing to the pill she was meant to take tonight. “Where are you when you usually start?”

Kit spit out the water and turned, looking at the pills. Something she hadn’t done since she’d been here. Her eyebrows drew in, but she didn’t appear afraid.

“I have a twenty-six day cycle, so here.”

“You should have started days ago, but you haven’t.”

“It ranges. Sometimes I’m late. It’s why I’m on them.”

My heart wouldn’t stop racing. “How long ago was the last time you were late? Last month?”

Silence.

“Kit.”

There it was, a spark of emotion.

“Months? A year?”

She reached for the pills and I almost didn’t let go.

“I…have been pretty spot on since they switched brands. No, it’s impossible. Stress. That’s what it is. All of this is just throwing me off again. It’s known to happen.”

“Known?” Fuck, I sounded like a parrot.

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