Chapters (49)
- COVER
- DEDICATION
- MAP
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- DISCOVER MORE
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- PRAISE FOR
Nomi didn’t know what to think. She’d come to suspect he cared for her, but to have it laid out like that, and to know he’d been rebellious in his own way…
If I’d trusted him, if I’d let myself care for him, would he have found a way to help Serina? She thought back to all their interactions and how much of those were influenced by what Asa had told her about him.
Malachi looked up at last, his mouth quirking sadly. “I told you you could go. But if you’ll recall, I also asked you to stay. I wanted you, Nomi. I was hoping you might want me back.”
For a moment, she was caught in his eyes, and he held her captive, just as he had in the hallway that first night. Except this time, anger and fear weren’t the emotions that drew color to her cheeks.
Malachi turned his attention back to the marble. “But you wanted my brother.”
It was on the tip of Nomi’s tongue to say I don’t anymore, but she couldn’t. She didn’t know if Malachi still cared for her after everything she’d done, but she couldn’t risk her own heart. It was still broken.
She was still broken.
SEVEN
SERINA
SERINA SAT WITH her back against the bars of an empty cell, legs stretched out in front of her, and ignored Diego’s vitriol.
“You’re going to die here, just like all the rest,” he said, spitting the words. A vein pulsed along the side of his bald head.
“I am going to slit you open.” Carlo stuck his narrow, pimpled face through the bars and leered.
“I’m going to bury you,” Hector growled. He was the largest of the guards, as big as Commander Ricci, with close-set eyes and rotting, broken teeth.
Serina knew the names of five of the seven guards now, from them egging each other on. One, down at the end, kept his mouth shut. But he watched her and the other girls, his eyes gleaming, and she knew he was no less a threat.
Not a single guard begged for his life or tried to weasel his way into their good opinion. They didn’t pretend to feel as Val did, or admit to a single regret. They didn’t care one bit that they’d been responsible for hundreds of women dying. They reveled in it.
Beside her, Mirror crossed her arms over her chest. “I wish they’d be quiet,” she murmured.
“That’s why they do it,” Serina replied.
Every shift watching the prisoners was more draining than the last. But it seemed more dangerous to leave them unsupervised. Val had been taking more than his fair share, just to give the women a break, but Anika always insisted on standing watch with him. She didn’t trust that he wouldn’t betray them.