12. Sawyer
SAWYER
At least one of the girls has arrived.
Aiden’s words thirty minutes before we began the hike to the Bower.
“Did anyone mention what the girl looked like?” I ask as I stride behind Aiden’s huge, commanding gait, my steps ticking tallies in my head. We’ve walked one thousand seventy six steps, and as far as I can tell, nothing else is remotely close to the ominous building.
“No.”
“Nothing? You didn’t get a glimpse?”
“You’ll see soon enough, Mr. Hansley,” he says as the Bower comes into view.
By his calm demeanor, my guess is Liberty hasn’t arrived.
But then we step through the doors, and I see Luna. Her hardened stare tells a different story.
“Good morning, Head Keeper,” I say, tipping my head in a little bow just to score some brownie points with Aiden.
Eyes lingering on me for a few more seconds, Luna breaks away to address Aiden. “Thank you for escorting the Dreg. You may go.”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
Dreg.
The word echoes in my skull as Aiden walks away, but I keep my face neutral. Luna has been especially guarded over the last few days, but in that time, I’ve learned a few things.
She only calls me Dreg when she’s distancing herself. Or when she’s about to punish me.
“Have the women arrived?” My voice is casual. Too casual. Almost flippant. I’m trying too hard.
Luna’s eyes narrow.
“They’re all right, aren’t they?” I relax my cheeks into an almost frown.
Instead of answering, Luna reaches by me to slide a panel open on the wall, revealing a monitor showing two rooms. Two women. Very different dispositions.
Aubry’s behavior is predictable. Scared. Frozen. Waiting for someone to tell her what to think, what to do, what to feel.
Liberty’s behavior is even more predictable. Wild. Erratic. Fucking moronic.
Blowing out a breath, I lean in closer, as if I need to get close to see Liberty going off the rails. Lying on her back, she kicks at the door—very Liberty style.
For a moment, I’m taken back. Same girl. Different monitor.
Watching as she sat for days in a cell, wasting away in stubbornness I knew with certainty was incurable.
Twice I slipped a knife into my pocket and opened the basement door, only to close it again.
I’d stood with my forehead pressed against the door knowing, knowing this woman was an infectious disease.
But with Angel’s insistence, I brought her upstairs anyway. Let her infect my home. Let her ruin my life.
“How long has she been like this?”
“Since she woke up an hour and a half ago. When Thorne tried to calm her down, she used his face as her scratching post… This is unacceptable, Dreg.”
She got to Thorne. Good for her.
“I know, just … give her time. I told you she wouldn’t adjust right away, but she will adjust. Trust me, she’s—”
“I don’t trust you,” Luna snaps, her arms crossing over her chest. “I will never trust you, so save your breath and address this before I’m forced to.” She waves her hand toward a reinforced steel door down the hall.
That’s the room she’s in? Kudos on the soundproofing.
“All right.” I nod. “Yeah. Let me just talk to Aubry, then—”
“Handle the viper. Now.”
I pause at the anger in Luna’s voice. My eyes roam her face and spot the slightly crinkled brow, the pinched, pink lips. Before, as my ‘prisoner,’ she was quick to show anger. Fear. Pain. Vulnerability. Emotion.
But this is the first time I’ve seen genuine anger since. She does that stony face thing so well.
“Fine. Don’t trust me… Just watch.”
I feel Luna’s glare on my back as I walk to the door. My hand grasps the cool, metal handle, and I allow only a moment’s hesitation before I thrust the door open, shoving Liberty’s legs out of the way.
She scrambles to her feet, her hands instantly balling into fists—as if she isn’t going to immediately switch to clawing anyway.
I raise my hands and watch her expression morph. At first: furious. Then scared. A couple seconds of perplexed; back to furious.
Her jaw drops as her eyes widen. Her fists begin to shake.
“You.”
I nod. “I know… You’re angry. You’re scared. It’s happening—again. You—”
“You son of a bitch!” she screeches before hurling herself at me, her nails aiming for my face. I catch her wrists and raise my knee to protect my balls from the inevitable.
“I’m gonna kill you!” she screams in my face as I flip us around to pin her to the wall. My eyes close as she spits on my cheek, but I don’t loosen my hold.
I think I have her, but closing my eyes is a mistake because I don’t see when her teeth gnash. They lock onto my chin and sink deep into my flesh. A flash of searing pain yanks a yell from my lungs.
“Fuck!” I knock my head against hers on instinct. Her jaw unlatches, and she sinks to the floor when I step away, her palm pressing to her forehead as she cringes.
Red hot blood dribbles down my neck. I wince as I tap a finger to the wound on my face that’ll no doubt scar.
Bitch.
Stumbling backward, I meet Liberty’s glare and wait for her to pounce on me yet again, but she doesn’t. She will. The curl in her lip says vicious. The hate in her eyes says vengeance will be hers. It’s all very dramatic.
Pressure builds in my chest, and my ears catch fire as memory after memory assails me.
“Okay.” I nod more times than necessary and shove the contempt deep inside. My finger taps my chin. “Fair. We done now? You gonna give me a minute?”
Liberty’s curled lip pulls into a bitter, brutal smile. “A minute? Have you not taken enough of my life, you sadistic fucking prick!”
I sink my lips into a heavy frown and will my eyes to convey sorrow instead of resentment.
I look up in search of the camera Luna is watching. And listening, closely monitoring every interaction.
It won’t take much for her to conclude that Liberty is a lost cause. It took me about a day to decide the same.
After meeting Liberty’s eyes, I look up once more pointedly to alert her to the camera, though I can’t actually see it. She follows my gaze but doesn’t ease her glare.
“You’re right.” I wipe blood off my neck; smear it onto my pants. “I wronged you, and I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry, and I don’t expect you to forgive me… I’m not going to hurt you anymore. That isn’t what this—”
“If you think for a second Angel won’t find—”
“Angel’s dead.”
Horror freezes Liberty’s wide eyes before her lip flattens with grief. I can see her train of thought. Can see the word no flash across her mind on repeat.
I almost, almost let it linger.
“I’m sorry… It was a few months ago. She got sick again. The doctors did everything they could, but… I’m sorry, Liberty. Your friend isn’t coming to your rescue this time.”
Her brow furrows with confusion. As far as I’m aware, Liberty is a friendless, frigid bitch who only has Angel, his family, and a niece in her life.
And if I know Angel, there’s no way in hell he’s put anything linking the two of them on paper (my enemies are his enemies, and his enemies are vengeful).
So Luna’s knowledge is limited. It’s best we keep it that way.
“But you don’t need rescued.” I shuffle closer and crouch in front of her to keep my voice low. This nonsense is for Luna’s ears, but it’d be nice to know what volume the cameras no longer pick up.
“You’re safe here. Jasper can’t find you.”
Her eyelids constrict, as if even more confused. I bite my tongue to give her a second, just a second to clear her mind, kick in those survival instincts I know she has.
Once more, she glances up at the ceiling.
There ya go.
“I have new friends now, and they’re very powerful people. They can keep you guarded. Kind of like how Chaffer did.”
“Chaffer?” she asks, squinting at the mention of my former enemy. I don’t think she ever met the guy. But everyone knew about our feud.
I nod. “They’re exactly like him. Kind. Generous… They’ll demand your loyalty and devotion, but if you give them those things, you’ll never have to worry about your old master finding you ever again. Even if he did find you, they know his name now. They’ll kill him on sight. I promise.”
I see the words form in her mind: You son of a bitch.
But, for once, Liberty keeps her mouth shut.
Her eyes rake over my face before surveying my body. My palms rest open on my knees, revealing the signs of hard labor and servitude. For the last three days, I’ve maintained a constant state of hunger just to keep my hollow, malnourished face and collar bone intact.
She sees it.
I know she sees it.
Because she smiles. Bitterly. Coldly. With no humor, no camaraderie, no compassion.
“You’re pathetic,” she spits, her arms wrapping protectively around herself. A subconscious gesture—she’d never willingly show fear.
We stare at each other for nearly a minute, so much to say, but not a word can be spoken in this room. With her eyes, Liberty manages to convey her disdain. It balls my chest tighter until the remorse I mimic slips, and I have to look away so she won’t see her hatred reflected back.
It’s wrong to feel insulted under these circumstances.
Yet…
I gesture to my forehead. “I’m gonna get you some ice. That looks like it hurts.”
A piece of foam sticks to my elbow when I stand. I pluck it off as I turn toward the door.
“Sawyer.”
My knuckles hover in front of steel. I look down at Liberty.
“I’m feeling claustrophobic.” Her arms hug her knees, but none of the discomfort reaches her eyes. It won’t fool Luna for a second, but the attempt loosens some of the tension.
At least she’s playing ball.
“I’ll let the boss know.”
The door opens without me needing to knock, and I step out to meet Luna and another Keeper, one not nearly as friendly as Aiden. I glimpse him before locking onto Luna.
“She’s subdued, for now. But you should be aware, her previous master got off on forcing her to spend hours in tight spaces.
She’s okay for the moment, but if you want her to believe you aren’t cruel, she’ll need fresh air.
Access to a bathroom. Some semblance of freedom…
It’d be helpful for her to stay in my room with me, at least for a couple of days. ”
Luna’s head tilts. She’s onto me. Already.
“You aren’t afraid?”
“Of Liberty?” I huff, my working jaw bringing attention to the sting on my chin. “Of course. But I’m not just meeting the girl. We have history. I know how to handle her.”
Luna blinks. The longer she stares, the harder it is to keep my feet steady.
“She’ll be given walks… You should welcome the other girl now.” She waves her hand down the hall where five other metal doors ominously await.
“I can talk to six women simultaneously before their personalities jumble…”
Coincidence.
I nod slowly before heading to Aubry’s room.
Upon seeing me, she hops to her feet, tears springing to her eyes. Her fear loosens the more that I talk, and this time, every lie I tell is in Luna’s favor.
It’s hard to say which woman I hate more.
Liberty.
Or Luna.