Page 151 of Caging Darling

“There’s not another way,” says Astor. “Even if it weren’t for Michael. Did I ever tell you how my father died?”

I shake my head against his chest. It’s soaked from my tears and the salty taste makes me want to vomit.

“He died the same way as his father. And his father before him. She caught up to them eventually, and they ended their lives rather than be taken. Rather than defile their marriage vows and be unfaithful to their wives by going to be with her. Not that my mother or grandmother ever knew the reason.”

My stomach twists. “Is that what you’re going to do? Are you going to take your own life?”

He pauses, glances down at his chest. At first, I assume he’s looking at his bargain with the Sister, but then I realize he’s staring at the tattoos meant to cover the streaks from his illness. “Thankfully, that won’t be necessary.”

I’m not sure which is stronger, the nausea of what Astor will be forced to do for the rest of his existence, or the knowledge of how short the rest of his existence will be, given what he’s implying.

“I killed you,” I whisper. “When I cut off your Mating Mark, I sentenced you to death.”

Astor cups my chin in his warm hand. “A mercy, really.”

“No,” I choke. “No, you’re giving up. After accusing me of giving up on myself, of throwing away my life, now you’re doing the same thing.”

“For that, I truly am a hypocrite,” he says, grimacing.

“The things she’ll do to you…” I cry, like he’s not a grown man. Like he doesn’t understand exactly what kind of lair he’s walking into.

“Don’t worry yourself with the details. I’ll be fine. I’m rather tough, you know.”

I weep against his chest.

“I’ll think of you every moment of every day,” he whispers, his promise an anchor I’ll be stroking against my heart for the rest of my life. “And you know how I know I’ll be fine? Because I’ll know you’re free. And that you’re happy. And that you’re out there somewhere tending a garden with your husband, carryinga child on your chest as you hold his hand. It will be the most beautiful picture, and I’ll keep it in my head forever.”

“I can’t see that,” I say. “I can’t see that picture.”

“I know. But you won’t just see it. You’ll live it.”

“Please. Please, don’t leave me.”

Astor sighs. Pulls me tighter into his warm, sturdy chest. “Oh, that I could give you that.”

The Sister shifts impatiently beside us. “It’s time,” she says.

Astor turns to face her, still cupping my jaw in his hand. “You’ve yet to free her, last I checked.”

The Sister sighs, then glides over to Peter, still holding a blade to Tink’s throat.

“Let your little slave free,” says the Sister. “I’m growing weary of this extended goodbye.”

“Please,” begs Peter, so overcome with distress that he allows his hand to slip ever so slightly. He hardly seems to notice as Tink pounces on the opportunity to push his wrist away and free herself from his grasp, ridding herself of the bonds I’d tied loosely around her wrists for show. “Please, Wendy’s all I have.”

The Sister laughs as Tink stumbles away. When it becomes clear that his master doesn’t care, Peter grits his teeth and bears down. His very back bends with the weight of fighting off her compulsion. “It won’t be what you think,” he says. “It won’t satisfy you. Every day, you’ll look into his eyes and know he wants someone else. That you’re just filler.”

The Sister flinches, but she’s undeterred. “Peter, let the girl free.”

Peter stares at me with those beautiful blue eyes of his. “Is this really what you want?”

It’s somewhat shocking, the sincerity in his tone. Like he thinks there’s some other option. I don’t deign him an answer.

“You’re free, then,” he says, only resentment left in his voice.

The ink at the crook of my elbow burns. Stings. The bargain folds like the edges of burned paper, crinkles away like curling cinders. I watch the bits drift to ground on the breeze, glowing like the last embers of a dying fire. They sizzle when they hit the ground, some drifting off to take their last breath among the hedges.

And all at once, it’s as if a hand being held to my throat has been released. Fingers pried away from my neck.

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