Page 42 of When Sinners Rise
I don’t have the luxury of ideals.
It quietens down after a while, and the commands stop. Maybe we're alone now? I have to find a way out of this, and, as far as I can see, Shaw is my only possible option. Except he’s not here. After the call that girl handed to him, he’s not been back since. She brought me the food and a bottle of water that I didn’t want. Said something about being grateful that they can show mercy. I didn’t want to listen to her because I was too busy having a small breakdown over the situation I was back in. Panic swarmed under my skin at that moment, but I couldn’t give them the satisfaction of knowing how this affected me. Or how gutting it felt knowing Naja wasn’t here with me.
I look at the plate and the water before grabbing the bars and shaking them with all my strength. “Arghhh!” I scream, finally feeling the enormity of the situation begin to engulf me.
Doing this alone is a hell of a lot more overwhelming.
“Someone doesn’t sound very happy.”
Shaw. He came back.
This is a good thing. “Are you serious?”
“It could be worse.” He steps out of the gloom and into the pool of light just beyond the cage. His face is bruised and cut as if he’s just taken a beating. His brother. That’s the first answer, but which one?
Dragon left me once I got in the cage, which I was happy about. He’s a walking threat of what happened last time. At least with the others, I can pretend that they wouldn’t happily brand me with a flame-hot iron.
I shield my reaction to his wounds and drop my head, looking at the floor of the cell. He kicks over a crate and uses it as a seat, positioning himself opposite my jail.
“What do you want, Shaw?” I ask, sounding as tired and pissed off as I feel.
He doesn’t answer but just watches me.
I let go of the bars and sit, mimicking his position. I rub my rusty hands over the new jeans I’m wearing, blending them in with my surroundings.
“Where’s Naja?”
“Do you want me to answer that?”
“If you know the answer. Although, something tells me that’s debatable. Who was on the phone? Seems like you’re not anyone’s favourite person.”
It’s a risk, provoking him, but it seems to work with Shaw. He has a temper that I’ve seen and felt up close and personal.
He still doesn’t answer, so I go back to digging for information about my sister.
“Naja. Please. I did everything you asked. Wouldn’t you want to know if it was one of your siblings? One of your brothers?”
He bolts up and slams his hands against the bars. “You have no right to talk to me about my brothers. It’s because of you that one of them is dead. Haven’t you learned anything?”
“How is any of this my fault? I’m in a cage, again, thanks to your brother. And all I want to know is if she’s alive. You owe me that much.”
“I owe you nothing,” he seethes against the bars.
“You owe me that information, Shaw. Where is she? Is she alive?” I push.
He shakes his head and appears to calm back down.
I look at the plate with the sad, stale sandwich and bottle of water. “Hand me the water?” I ask.
He comes back and picks it up, passing it to me through the bars.
“Thank you.” I watch his eyes, hoping he’ll look at me. He does, and I force myself to hold his gaze, looking past the last few days and searching for the man who won me over enough to open myself up to him. I thought they were blue, but here, they look darker. Grey, or even brown. He doesn’t turn away as if he’s searching for something himself. In that moment, for a second, I’m just a girl, and he’s just a boy, and everything else fades away.
I break the connection and take the bottle, unscrewing the cap to take a sip.
“I think you want to tell me about my sister, Shaw. I think you know it’s not fair, and deep down, that doesn’t sit well with you.”
He goes back to his seat on the crate. “You said Cortez is all about profit. Value. What value am I?” I ask, hoping he’ll answer, but he doesn’t. “Would all of this be for nothing if I wasn’t worth anything anymore?” He looks up at that, frowning at me in confusion. “How much am I worth, Shaw? And how much have you already lost coming to find me, getting me back, having both you and your brother after me? I’m betting a lot of money.”
