Epilogue
Twelve days.
That was how long it had been since I last saw daylight. Twelve days of nothing but silence. Darkness. And, of course, the aching hole in my chest where my heart used to be.
I’d ripped it out twelve days ago when I jumped out of that plane.
Cold stone pressed against my back. The air was rotten. Damp. The only light came from the six holes drilled into the wall above my head. They were filled with cobwebs. A place long since abandoned.
But it wasn’t abandoned. Not anymore.
I heard them coming. The iron doors weren’t exactly quiet as they shuddered open. Footsteps clicked over wet stone. Warm firelight reached me first, pouring through the bars of my prison. Their shadows followed, three of them.
I didn’t move, didn’t react when they came to a stop just beyond my cage. I heard them breathing.
Sometimes they brought food. Sometimes they just stared.
Today, they spoke.
“Are you satisfied now?” The voice was deep, muffled. I peeked up through my lashes. They wore those stupid gold masks, concealing everything but their eyes. I hated those fucking eyes.
The question wasn’t directed to me.
A fourth shadow joined the exhibit. Shorter than the rest, with a slender frame in a stylish black coat. Gloved fingers reached forward, curling around the bars like a caress.
“Leave us.”
My body jolted.
That voice.
I swallowed, my throat dry. I couldn’t cry anymore.
“I’d tread carefully, Duchess,” one of them warned, his voice dripping with scorn. “This one will be valuable. The hunt—”
“I said, leave us.”
Footsteps faded, but the firelight remained. Sucking in a shaky breath, I rose stiffly to my feet. I was so weak that I nearly toppled back over.
“Come closer.”
Obediently, I did. Two steps. Three steps. A slow, reluctant shuffle.
I didn’t want to get closer to her. I didn’t think I could stomach it.
“Stop.”
I stopped. We were almost the same height. My eyes panned up, taking in the coat, the gloves, the gold mask, the bright blue eyes behind it.
“P-please…” I whispered.
A gloved hand reached up. She removed the mask, so there was nothing between us but iron.
I was wrong before.
A fragment of my heart remained, because what little was left shattered into a thousand pieces.
Bright blue eyes met mine.
Familiar eyes.
“Molly…”