Don't Let Go (Third Book to the Other Side)

Chapter Eighteen (Girl of Blood and Bone)

He wasn't telling the truth.

He couldn't be.

I knew his tricks, I knew how he lied.

My sister is out there! I'm going to escape, and I'm going to find her, and everything will be alright.

But the more I said it to myself, the more I started to doubt it.

My head pounded with the ongoing headache that plagued me. Normally, I would have done something about it, but my hands were twisted behind my back, bound by the same kind of material Thomas used when he created the bracelet that stops someone's flow of energy. He tried to explain it to me once, something about an overpowering current that confuses something called electrons? My wrists were also throbbing and sore, and my throat was dry from lack of water. But I pushed those thoughts from my head and focused on getting out of here.

Every plan I came up with was riddled with coincidences at best, and impossible at worst. I was on the verge of tears again, of giving in to the darkness that was slowly crushing the last bits of hope flaring inside of me. Thinking of my sisters, my friends, and the family waiting for me at home wasn't enough to fight against the bitterness rising through me.

I trembled in the darkness, but fortunately, a sudden noise jolted me from the storm of thoughts swirling around in my head. I wiped my tears against the grimy sleeve of my shirt and swallowed hard. It had sounded like iron scraping against stone, but that it was really much more than that. It was the sound of the prison cell next to me being opened. I stiffened, counting my heartbeats, as a muffled groan of pain rose through the air.

I heard that damned voice of the King, but he was speaking so softly, I couldn't make out what he was saying. I just knew that whatever it was, it wasn't good.

The sound of the iron gates against stone again, and I knew he was gone.

"You okay?" I asked, my voice meek, but even those two words I regretted. Divinity's children, it hurt just to speak.

Another stifled grunting, and I sighed. "Gagged again?"

That creature in there was in no way, shape, or form my friend. But I knew that somewhere, deep down, Thomas was in there, fighting to break free against the King's ironclad grip. So I couldn't help but feel a wave of sympathy crash through me at how he was treated like an animal. A monster. Gagged and bound and kept from fighting against the people that locked him away.

"What'd you do this time?"

He managed to get the gag out of his mouth, most likely by struggling against it until it fell away. "None of your business," he spat, the words harsh. I had never heard so much hatred from him before getting thrown in here, but now I was starting to get used to it.

"If you don't talk to me, you won't be able to talk at all," I pointed out, easing backwards so I was pressed against the rough stone. A small piece of it that jutted out dug into my back, but there was nothing I could do to get rid of it. I closed my eyes and listened, wondering if I could pick up his heartbeat. The last few times I had heard it, it hadn't just been irregular. It had sounded like a bell had chimed in his chest, and the last few notes were dying away. A single, continuous note. It wasn't much of a heartbeat, really.

"I don't need to talk to anybody."

"Well, that's a load of bullshit and you know it."

He paused, as though my words had struck a chord in him. "When's the last time you had something to eat or drink?" It came out gruff and authoritative, but even he was unable to disguise the way his voice went high at the end of his question.