For my lineage and my bloodline, I force myself to stand tall, and I wait. My back straightens, my chin lifts, and I allow myself to look up the stairwell and see Jesper slowly descending as Anya is carried past him.
The only benefit is knowing howangryhe will be.
Iama daughter of Skull’s Row.
And I fucking ruined his precious little plans.
I hear someone yell, “Thomas is killed, too!”
The gazes from all around lock onto me in increments, like they’re shocked it wasme. Jesper finally makes it to the bottom of the stairs, looking me over in disgust, before picking me up by the robes I stole and slamming me against a wall, seething. Pain explodes in my back and ribs as I gasp, struggling to stay upright. “What thefuckdid you do to me?”
I meet his gaze, forcing myself to stay steady. “If you seriously think I was going to just sit in a tower, or casually eat dinner with you like my entire life never mattered, then I can’t help you.”
His expression twists, a grotesque mix of anger and amusement. “You will be punished for this.” His wide eyes gyrate as they look all over my face, and yes… I am a little afraid. But I’m already numbing myself, disassociating. I must survive whatever happens. Anya needs me to. I can lie, say that I forced her out of her cell. Forced her to shift and to wear the robes. I don’t know what good it will do… but maybe it’ll help.
He lets out a dark, humorless chuckle. “Alright… you’re right, JaneRitter. There’s no point in being angry at a dog for stealing food if it’s on the table… but youcanbeat the feral beast.” He motions down the tunnel, eyes connecting with guards. “Someone bring me the friend.”
That’s right. She wasn’t looking like herself. He doesn’t know…
A soldier rushes off, his boots pounding against the stone. Jesper looks back at me. “How did you do it? They said the sirens are gone.”
I don’t answer him and just glare, gripping his forearms to try and steady myself.
He shakes me. “Youleftme sleeping in myfood.”
“I know. You smell like steak.”
He tosses me across the small space and into a wall, my breath clearing my lungs. That jolted my back so profoundly my hips feel out of place.
When it looks like Jesper might kick me, the same guard that took off returns, shouting, “She’s gone! Sam is dead, too!”
Jesper’s face is overtaken by pure shock, looking back up the stairs like he might see Anya there. His hand shoots out, grabbing the hood of my robes, yanking hard enough to make me stick my fingers between my neck and the fabric to prevent being choked, dragging me up the stairwell; the hood twists around as my knee slams into the edges a few times, trying desperately to keep breathing. I can’t help but whimper at thesearing pain. “If she fights me, someone stab her. Misery can deal with it, just like Blackwell can deal with his sirens,” he commands, his tonebiting. “We’re going for a walk.”
It takes all I have to keep up, moving quickly and at an awkward angle where I can’t see much. I’m finally released when he tosses me onto the floor in what’s clearly the grand hall, its vaulted ceilings and flickering braziers making the space feel cavernous and oppressive. I breathe deeply, rubbing my neck.Manyare waiting, one woman yelling at me through sobs, “That bitch killed Brandon!”
They’re free. Focus on knowing the sirens are free.
And where is Anya?
Accusations, curses, and sobs swirl together once they all feel like it’s time to blameJanefor everything. Even Marissa is in the crowd, her eyes frenzied with glee. “She’s not one of us! She never will be! We should just kill and use her now!”
Jesper shouts at them all to quit talking, his voice echoing against the stone before he stands over me. “I’m going to rape you, right here and now, then tie you in the dungeons. Every time we consummate,everyonewill watch. And then after you’ve given me whatIwant, I’ll let the men fuck you as many times as they please, right in this hallway… Oh, is that going to bother you? What, angry you can’t heal your way out ofthat? Misery can deal with you beingaccosted.”
Silence, once more. I’ll literally run straight into a sword, aiming for my womb, before letting that happen.Don’t let it scare you. You’ll never live to see that.
Right when Jesper yells in frustration, taking a step near me, someone else shouts, “Enough!”
Blackwell’s presence is like a thunderclap, shaking everyone as many shoulders stiffen. “What thefuckis going on? Why did I have to wake Misery? Why do I hear that the sirens are missing?”
The oddest looking, dark furred monkey is perched on Blackwell’s shoulder, the eyes completely circular and with orange, molten pupils. The monkey twitches, its movements unnervingly sharp, and then, without warning, it leaps from Blackwell’s shoulder, scampering on the floor, its long tail coiling.
“She freed the sirens. And theprisoner,” Jesper pants, his lips curled in against his teeth. “She escaped the piano room,” Jesper adds, swatting at the monkey when it starts to approach him. “I think she used the balconies and crossed over on the servant’s ledge.”
“Why was she in there at all?” Blackwell asks, his gaze filled with rancor, his peppery hair tightly pulled back.
“She asked to go in there.”
“Oh,” he answers, the mockery almost embarrassing. “Sheaskedfor it, did she? And how thefuckdid she get out of that room?”
