Page 32 of The Stone Survival
“I don’t know. They could be anyone, anywhere. They find you when they need you, and before you know it, you’re a pawn. I made a mistake, sweetheart, and I’ve been paying for it ever since, but this time…This time I was able to secure a benefit for you and?—”
“No! I don’t want anything from them. I won’t be a party to this.”
Them.They. A faceless organization that’s somehow connected to the graynites, that works for the graynites, pulling strings and gathering allies from within our ranks. They must be stopped. But how? How can we stop them if no one speaks out?
“They don’t have to know that you know,” Father says. “You can have the procedure without?—”
“Stop! Just stop it! You need to let me go.”
“I can’t do that. If they find out that you know…if anyone finds out, then everything we’ve built will be torn away.”
“You think that matters? You think that your wealth, this house, and your status will mean a damn thing if the graynites win the war?”
The colors in his aura shift and flatten out as he reins in his emotions. “You will stay here until I have word that the objective has been achieved.”
My pulse spikes. “You said they failed, that the elite team was safe.”
“They are. For now.”
Which means they’re still in danger. That this organization will go after them again.
He rises from his seat and heads for the door. “Get some rest and eat the food that Benny brings you. Stubbornness will achieve nothing. Once this is over, we’ll talk some more.”
The door closes, and the sound of several locks being engaged follows.
I close my eyes and lie back against my mountain of cushions.
Impotent rage washes over me, and I breathe to dissipate it. There is nothing I can do. No way to contact my friends. No escape.
The locks click and clack as they’re opened again, but I don’t look at Benny as he enters, rolling a trolley laid with my next meal.
As far as I’m concerned, his betrayal hurts the most. I love my father, but Benny…Benny is like a mother to me. The person I share my secrets with, the person who stayed up late with me drinking cocoa when I was plagued by nightmares or suffering a broken heart. He’d stayed by my bedside night and day after my accident.
And now…Now he’s helping my traitorous father hold me hostage.
“You must eat something,” he says, setting a tray on the bed beside me. “You must keep up your strength.”
I don’t want to look at him. Don’t want to see the conflict of emotion in his aura that tells me he hates this as much as I do but is trapped, just like me.
“Selas…please…”
I sigh and face his bright aura filled with love, and my heart aches.
He gently takes my hand. “Everything will be all right.” He presses something cold and metallic into my palm. He leans in and brushes a kiss across my forehead. “At midnight,” he whispers. “The door will be unlocked at midnight.”
My heart skips a beat then settles into a canter. “Benny…”
“I love you, child.” He retreats with the dinner trolly. I wait for long seconds after he’s gone, heart thudding painfully against my ribs before slowly opening my hands to trace the object inside with my fingers.
A small key.
He’s given me a key to my cuff.
CHAPTER 16
SHARNIZA
My bed is littered with accessories—pretty scarves, clips, headbands, and bangles. The floor by the wardrobe is lined with boots, each with a heel no less than four inches. I have ankle boots, calf-high boots, boots with zippers, and boots with laces, each made of the softest leather, not lastonflex. Which means I can’t wear them every day just in case we’re called to action. Still, I like looking at them, and they will no longer be hidden in the wardrobe out of sight. I might even see if I can get replicas made in lastonflex.
