Darby wiped away tears she hadn’t realized were rolling down her cheeks until they started to prickle on her skin as they froze.

“I picked up the knife and plunged it into the side of the last man to rape me.” She remembered the spurt of warm blood and that turned her stomach all over again. Bile rushed up her throat and she bent to one side to wretch against the ice.

Corinne’s grip tightened. “You get used to it.”

Darby spat and then wiped her mouth. “I won’t ever get used to it. I am not a killer, Corinne. I have no desire to hurt anyone.”

“You’ll do what I say.”

Or what?

Corinne seemed to read Darby’s defiance from her silence. “You’ll do what I need you to do.”

“Funny,” Darby said bitterly, “that’s what my abusers said.” That was a lie. They hadn’t spoken English. They hadn’t needed to in order to almost destroy her.

“I’m not like them.”

“You kidnapped me the same way they did—at gunpoint, against my will.”

Corinne grew visibly agitated. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’m a victim too. We’re alike, you and I.”

“Alike?” Darby tried to recall the negotiation techniques Eban had taught her in bed last night but couldn’t remember them when she needed them most.

“We were both abused. No one has the right to abuse another person.” Corinne’s gun hand was swaying. Her fingers were probably frozen to the trigger.

“I agree. No one has the right to abuse another person. Not even you,” Darby said bitterly.

“Shut up! You’ll understand eventually. I’ll make you understand.”

“You’ll make me understand? Like you made Martin and Adele?” Tears filled Darby’s eyes, but they were angry tears. “Why did you kill them?”

Corinne’s expression was visibly annoyed even in the dim light. The temperature was so goddamn low Darby felt her toes and fingers going numb.

“Because he was going to take advantage of you. You didn’t see the expression on his face when you weren’t looking.”

Darby’s teeth rattled. She did not want to die. They had to get out of the elements soon before they both perished from exposure. “I didn’t see you at the dance.”

“I arrived late. I had a ticket but,” she shrugged, “it wasn’t really my scene.”

“Why didn’t you come inside?” Darby pressed. “You bought a ticket—why not come in and say hello to people. You might have enjoyed yourself.”

Corinne remained stubbornly silent.

“Instead, you watched through the window—”

“I came inside!” Corinne screamed, making Darby step back in alarm. “You didn’t notice me. No one ever notices me!”

Darby’s chest hurt from the cold every time she inhaled. “So, what, you got angry when you saw others having fun—”

“I saw you being groomed for sex.”

Which would have been her choice.

Corinne glanced around as if suddenly remembering they were outside at minus forty windchill, not in a bar having a chat.

Darby dragged Corinne’s attention back to her. “At some point you roofied my drink. And, then what? Waited for me to leave?”