Twisted - Esme Devlin Page 0,20

Why teach a girl to read only to let her die? Why let me off the hook with Hum last night only to drown me the very next day?

Why?

I wish I knew.

It feels like they’re all fucking with me. Every single one of them.

But there is no more time to think about it.

None of it matters anymore.

They lift me up to the edge of the tank and let me hang there. Maxim reaches over the side with the keys, letting them fall into the water. I watch the ripples expand as the keys drift quickly to the bottom and land on the floor of the tank. I’ll do the same shortly.

“Maxim, please—”

“Deep breath, Sapphire.”

Or maybe I imagined he said Sapphire.

I don’t know.

I gasp for air the second before ice-cold water slaps against my face.

My heart feels like it’s about to split my chest in half.

My stomach sinks.

Everything sinks.

I struggle against the bonds, hoping maybe this is a trick. Maybe they didn’t fasten them correctly. Maybe this is all just for show.

But nothing pops open. The more I squirm, the more I twist in the water, until finally, the floor of the tank connects with my cheek. I can’t feel anything.

I’m not even the right way up to grab the keys.

I open my eyes only to see a dark mixture of black and blue.

My dress. The coloring in the water.

The lights are far away, as if they are in one world and I’m in my own one. A cold one, where the only sound is the beat of my own heart thudding in my ears.

I’m going to die in here.

My body is screaming at me to panic.

No… don’t panic.

Find the key. Find the key. Stay alive.

But why would I do that? So they can try to kill me again tomorrow night?

I’m almost tempted to die just to spite them.

How ironic would that be, to die a virgin in a world where there are one hundred men to every one woman? Perhaps even a thousand. I don’t know. I never really got to see it.

My lungs are burning now. I’ve not managed to flip myself over. I’m just bobbing around on the bottom of the tank.

Good.

At least they won’t find this death entertaining.

My lungs are on fire.

My movements become stiff and jerky.

Maybe I should panic. Maybe that is what they’re waiting for.

If I panic, will they pull me out?

I need air.

Air.

My eyes could be open or closed.

It’s just darkness now.

Is this what death feels like?

I can’t hold it.

I breathe in.

8

Sapphire

Is this death?

Or was I saved?

I don’t remember either happening.

But then I don’t suppose I would.

I remember the fire in my lungs, the pressure in my chest, and the urge to climb out of my own body. And then there was a brief moment of peace before the darkness consumed me completely.

If I died, then how am I here?

And why is hell inside a bed?

I am in a bed. Comfortable. Or perhaps not so comfortable… I must be dazed. Of course I’m dazed—I just drowned.

Trying and failing to sit up, I tilt my head and stare in amazement at my wrists. They’re still bound by the thick straps, but instead of being tied together they are spread wide and attached to the bedposts with chains.

The moment I realize I’m tied up is the same moment I feel his presence.

I look around the room. It’s too dark to see anything. There are no walls, just darkness on every side. But he’s there, lurking in the shadows like one of hell’s own hounds. I can feel him.

I try to speak, to break the silence that is hanging in the air so thick it feels like a weight on top of my chest. But my voice refuses to work.

I’ve forgotten how to speak.

Baron appears from the shadows and every hair on my body stands up to his attention.

He’s merely a mask at first, just as chilling as the first time I noticed him in the crowd.

Noticed him?

That was a lie. I didn’t notice him—he commanded my attention just by being alive in the same moment as me.

He walks toward the bed, his steps slow, careful, and calculating.

His body comes into focus next. Tall. Imposing. Brutal. The man has a presence that could turn every head in the room toward him, and I’m not immune to it. I wasn’t last night, and it’s only multiplied since.

I can’t drag my eyes away from him.

“You saved me?” My words sound hazy, as if someone else is saying them. My