Chapter 45
Luci’s face flames pink, and she drops her head.
“I’m sorry. I know it’s painful to talk about, but Luci, you know it wasn’t your fault.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She jerks free. “Nothing matters! Not me. Not the truth. Nothing but the Marteau name with all its money and influence.”
“Of course you matter. We all do.”
“My family isn’t perfect, but my grandmother has always tried to protect me, to keep me out of the family business. And other things. The whispers and the talk of monsters.” Her face goes dark. “But she never knew about him, what he did. He’s sick and twisted.”
“Who? Tell me.”
But as she looks at me, her eyes go blank again. It’s as if an automaton has slipped inside her skin. “You should go.” She steps back.
She’s clearly terrified of someone, whoever took the polaroids. Whoever abused her. She’s been under his control since she was a child.
“I need you. I can’t find Alice by myself. You and I have to get out of this place, and then we can come back with help. We can save Alice.”
“The police won’t do anything.” Her voice is small and distant, as if she’s been drugged. The reality of her life numbing any chance of hope. “There’s no fighting them. They have too much power.”
“We’re powerful, too.” I cup her face in my palms. “But only if we stick together.”
Luci draws a breath as if to speak, but then her gaze shifts. She stares over my shoulder.
At something behind me.
Her brown eyes widen. “No, don’t!”
I start to turn, but an arm wraps around my neck. A man’s arm, his elbow bending. Squeezing, choking, until black spots fill my vision.
He holds me against his chest, so I can’t see him.
His arm cinches tighter, and my lungs start to burn. My chest feels like it’s going to explode. I pull at his arm, but my vision blurs.
In an instant, the world goes dark.