Page 31 of Cup of Lies

If they put nanotech into my body, which I’m almost completely sure of, then it stands to reason they’ve done the same to her.

Why separate us and make us forget?

I may never understand the how, and honestly, it doesn’t matter.

All that matters is getting me and LuLu the fuck away from these people.

And finding Romy.

Once they’re safe and we’re free from their technological control…

There will be hell to pay.

I’m going to deliver it.

Romy

I’m scared.

The doctor with the big smile and kind eyes takes my doll and grips her in his hand, just out of my reach.

Why is Daddy making me go with him?

I want Bastian to act tough like he does with his friends and tell the man to give me my doll back. The man makes my tummy twist into knots.

Maybe I can convince this man I’m not sick so I don’t need to see him. My heart hurts so much, but I don’t want anyone to know. It makes Daddy angry and Bastian sad. I can forget that yucky stuff that happened. I don’t want to remember it anyway.

“I’ll take good care of Calista,” the doctor promises.

His voice is weird. Like he’s trying to tell a lie with a smile on his face. It makes me even more scared because I don’t believe him. She’s my favorite doll.

Bastian and Daddy aren’t here. They’ve left me with this doctor, who must think I’m sick and in need of fixing.

I don’t trust him.

The only people I trust are Daddy and Bastian. Some people—like her—are bad inside their hearts. I feel like this doctor has the same heart as her.

I want to go home.

There’s a boy around Bastian’s age watching me. His eyes are swollen and red like he didn’t sleep for a thousand years. He seems tough, even tougher than my brother. I’ve seen Bastianmad at his friends lots of times and he has a mean look when he punches them. This boy doesn’t seem mean. I think he’s sad and scared like me. But, unlike me, he’s tough and can probably tell these doctors no.

What happens if I say no? If I throw a fit and refuse to go back there with the doctor?

I bet the boy would punch the liar doctor in his nose and make it bleed.

Can you save me?

The boy’s eyes shine with terror and heartache. If I weren’t being nudged to walk past him, I’d want to hug him. Maybe I could make him happy and he could save me. We could help each other.

But nothing happens.

The boy’s voice, deep and soft, murmurs behind me as he speaks to another man. I don’t hear what he says. And soon, the door closes behind me and the doctor, cutting me off from my only chance of being saved.

I wake to the smell of bacon and my stomach grumbles. Did Seth cook breakfast? He never cooks. It’s always up to me to make sure our family is fed.

“I got coffee too,” a female voice says. “Not sure if you can have it while being pregnant.”

Awareness slaps me like a wet towel—sharp and painful. I jerk my eyes open and take in the floral-print walls of the chain hotel we booked a room in late last night.

---