Fated Lies (Lies #3) - Ella Miles Page 0,16

around the whole room. There is no door. I think it must be above us. The entire room and floor is made of stone, so I don’t know if you will be able to dig us out or not. There is water dripping on the far side against the wall. That might mean there is a weakness in the structure on that side. What’s your plan?”

“To rest.”

I frown. “Seriously, what’s your plan? We have to work together if we are going to have a chance to escape.”

“To. Rest.”

“We can’t rest. We are trapped in a dungeon. We have to escape. We—”

“Need to rest. You just said there are no doors. There is no way to dig under the walls. We are both weak from being drugged. We need to rest to regain strength. We need to wait and be patient. Whoever is holding us captive will make themselves known soon enough. People are easier to break than walls. Once we have all the facts, then we will be able to escape.”

He starts to crawl away from the center of the room until he hits one of the walls, and then he leans against it. His breathing is heavy, and I suspect he is really hurt, he’s just not telling me. That’s why he suggests we rest.

I move until I’m sitting next to him, leaning against the wall. I try to think of who could be holding us captive.

“Whoever it is, it’s about the treasure, isn’t it?”

“Most likely.”

I close my eyes. “I should have told you the truth. Maybe then you could have gotten it, and everyone would be going after you instead of both of us.”

He doesn’t answer.

“They are going to torture us for information, aren’t they?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer again, but I know that’s what is going to happen. And I know I’m going to be seen as the weakest. They will torture me, rape me. They’ll try to use my pain to break Langston, but it won’t work. Even if I told all of my truths, it wouldn’t be enough to save me. Langston has the other half of the secret. My secrets alone wouldn’t be enough.

Stop thinking like that. For now, I need to do what Langston said. I need to rest. I need to save my strength so that when the bastard shows his face, I’ll be strong enough to face him.

And then I hear Langston speak before I drift back to sleep. “I won’t let them torture you. I won’t let them hurt you. I’ll only let them torture me.”

His words should comfort me. But he’s told me that before, and he failed me. He didn’t protect me. I doubt he can now.

9

Langston

I lean against the wall of our dungeon—a tower made of stone with no door, no escape. The room is pitch-black, but I’ve lived my life in the dark. That I can adjust to. I can see almost as easily now in the dark as I can in the light.

I wish I could say I have a plan to escape, that I know exactly who took us and how to defeat them. But I can’t even remember how we were taken. I don’t remember anything after kissing Liesel.

I don’t know how much danger we are in, but I suspect whoever took us is serious about getting the treasure that only we know the truth about. They took us without a fight, wiped our memory with a drug, and then dropped us in this impossible to escape tower.

Nothing is impossible. I haven’t tried to escape. We will be free again. I just need to regain my strength first.

I don’t want Liesel to worry, though, so I don’t tell her the truth. I don’t tell her of the pain in my back that agonizes me with every breath. I don’t tell her that I don’t have a plan. That I’m not sure I’m strong enough to protect us both.

I just have to protect her. That would be enough.

Flashes of Rose and Atlas pop in my head. I have to protect us both, for my kids.

I told Liesel that we should rest, that that was the only thing to do. Really, it was just an excuse to not talk and reveal the extent of my injury to her.

Liesel closes her eyes and, judging by her steady breathing, drifts to sleep.

There is no way I’ll be able to sleep with the amount of pain I’m in.

“Are you asleep? I can’t sleep,” Liesel suddenly says.

I chuckle.

“Can you