He means the laptop he gave me a week ago. It hasLegally Blondedownloaded on it, along with a few rom-coms. That has tempted me far more than the regular delivery of tomato soup. Time would pass faster if I could rot my brain with some classic movies. But watching a movie feels as good as admitting defeat, ascomplying.
I’d rather starve and die of boredom than let Sebastian think he’s won.
“Grace,” he says.
I close my eyes, squeezing them until they hurt.
“Come,” he says. “I’ll walk you to the washroom.”
Usually, Beatrice is the one who babysits my bathroom breaks.
“I’d rather pee the bed,” I tell him. I’ve still got my eyes closed and my back to him, and yet, I feel when he moves from the doorway.
In all the time I’ve been here, Sebastian has rarely entered my cell. It’s unsettling, feeling him lurk over me, his legs bumping my mattress. My entire body clenches without permission.
“Come,” he says again. “You can’t lay here forever. Let’s skip the theatrics, shall we? There’s too much work to be?—”
“Go to hell, Sebastian,” I say. I lurch into a seated position, satisfied when he startles. “I’m done trying to help you. You’re a terrible person, and you know what? The witches were right. You alldeserveto burn.”
His jaw ticks, but for once, the man doesn’t respond. He only watches me, face carefully still, eyes recklessly wild. He opens his mouth. Closes it. And finally, leaves, slamming the door behind him.
I stare for over a minute before believing he’s left for good. Then, I roll onto my side and drift back to sleep.
I don’t knowwhat day it is. I have no idea how much time I’ve lost while in the Echo, only that the world must be looking for me by now. Even if Tessa didn’t report me missing, Libby would have. There are probably pictures of my face on telephone poles and on news segments. I bet Libby has a whole mob of people sharing my story on social media.
They could spend the rest of their lives hunting for me, but they’ll never find me here. I’m not sure they could, even if they knew about the doorway Sebastian used in Aberlena University.
I stare at myself in the mirror. My occasional trips to the bathroom are the only time I leave my room. Sebastian hasn’t returned since I snapped at him, and though I’m relieved, I’m also going insane.
I touch my cheeks, studying the sharp angles of my face. I’ve lost too much weight, and yet, I no longer feel the pangs of hunger. The black clothes Beatrice brought today arebaggy and boyish, but I don’t care to complain. Who cares if the fabric swallows me alive? I feel dead anyway.
“Is your plan to sleep for the rest of your life?”
I startle at the sound of Beatrice’s voice. In the past, she’s never entered the bathroom while I’m in it. I meet her expectant gaze in the mirror. While I look like a skinny wet rat, my skin flushed from the hot shower, Beatrice is beautiful and put together. I’m not sure if they have clubs in this hellish world, but she always looks ready for a night out.
“I’m not sleeping now,” I say. I trail a finger from my cheekbone, over my jaw and down my throat. My skin looks like crap. It hasn’t seen moisturizer in weeks, and my diet of tomato soup and bread isn’t helping. Not that I’ve eaten in days anyway.
“Yeah, because you had to pee,” she says.
“And shower.”
“He’s going to lose his patience with you eventually,” she says. I’ve gone back to studying myself, but I can still see her in my peripheral vision.
She’s a vampire. I can see her in the mirror.
Yet another myth, broken.
“I’m surprised he hasn’t already,” she adds. She’s less than a foot from me now, her breath tickling my neck. She smells like iron, likeblood. “I’ve been nothing but supportive of his decisions, but truly, Grace, I wish he’d let me kill you.”
I clamp my teeth together, meeting her eyes in the mirror again. Part of me wishes he would too. At least it would put me out of my misery. I’d never have to eat tomato soup. I’d never have to feel like an idiot while Cora heaves and sighs in the background. And I’d definitely never have to see Sebastian again.
Unfortunately, there’s a stubborn part of me that won’tallow it. It still feels self-preservation, an inexplicable urge to stay alive, despite it all.
I turn, facing her until our noses almost touch. Her eyes sharpen, lip curling until I can see her canines. Her teeth, like Sebastian’s, like Oskar’s, are perfectly straight. I haven’t seen a single fang since I’ve arrived.
Another myth, apparently.
“Sebastian wouldn’t let you kill me if your life depended on it,” I tell her. My heart races as she glowers at me, eyes turning lethal. Predatory. I force my shoulders back, pretending she can’t hear the terror radiating from me. “He may be yourmaster, but you are nothing more than a convenient fuck for him.”
