Chapter 34
Micah
The silence stretches long after our words fade. Her socked foot pressing against mine is the only tether in the room. I let it hold me steady, because if I don’t, the monster in me will crack the walls trying to get out.
Hours drag.
At some point, the lightbulb above hums and clicks like it wants to die but refuses to give us mercy.
Then the door opens.
Corinne slips inside in pale blue scrubs, a tray balanced in her hands.
The smell of bread and metal comes with her.
She sets two plastic cups of water and a pair of wrapped sandwiches on the floor between us, as though this is a gesture of kindness.
Her smile is soft and practiced, the same one she wore when Vale called her “wonderful.”
“Eat,” she says, sliding the tray closer with her foot before gliding out again. The lock scrapes shut.
Katana stares at the food like it might be poisoned. I shake my head once. “If they wanted us dead, they wouldn’t need cuffs and poisonous food.”
She swallows, then reaches for the tray. Her chains rattle as she tears the sandwich in half, tossing the other half at me. It’s tasteless and dry, but it keeps the gnawing in my stomach at bay.
I drag the cup of water closer with my foot until I can reach it. I use it to wash the sandwich down.
After we’ve eaten, the silence returns. I’m used to it—but not with her. She’s the only person I’ve spoken to since I killed my family.
There’s one thing I’ve been intensely curious about—how she ended up at Holloway.
“Tell me, little murderess. How did you end up at Holloway?” I ask.
Her muscles tense. She tries to pull her feet away, but my toes catch them, keeping the contact between us. She avoids my eyes, looking around the concrete lab before she finally exhales and meets my stare.
“I killed my mom’s boyfriend,” she says.
I already know she killed her mom’s boyfriend when I snooped on the nurse’s computer at Holloway, but I want the rest.
“Why?” I push.
Her fingers twist together in her lap, the chains rattling. After a long pause, she whispers, “He killed my mom.”
I study the way her lashes rest against her cheeks as she stares at her lap.
“Why?”
She doesn’t say anything for a few beats. But her fidgeting increases.
“Did he try to get into your room?” I ask, leaning forward a degree.
She nods, pale as a ghost.
Rage curls my fists. I want to dig her mother’s boyfriend up and tear whatever is left of that man apart.
I clamp the thought down and rub my toes against hers instead. “We’re more alike than you think, Katana.”
She finally looks at me, her hazel eyes curious. “What happened to you? How did you end up at Holloway?”
The answer sits heavily inside me. I don’t want to hand it over in this room, with every shadow hiding that this lab could be bugged. So I keep my mouth closed. Not here. Not yet.
She looks disappointed as she curls back against the wall, moving her feet away from mine. The loss of contact gnaws at me, but I let her sink into it.
Waiting is part of the work.