Twisted - Esme Devlin Page 0,56

this world, you can never be both.”

I stare at her for a moment, not really understanding what she’s telling me, but at the same time I feel like asking for elaboration would make me sound even more stupid than I do already. She’s speaking in riddles, just as Baron does.

“Are you all right?” Celeste asks.

“Yes,” I reply, although I don’t feel it. “I’m fine. Just… tired. I think I will retire now, if you don’t mind.”

Celeste raises her hand. “Of course. We’ll meet again, of that I’m certain.”

I smile at her as I stand up from my chair. “Thank you. Truly. And, goodnight.”

“Sleep well,” she says.

I leave the room quickly, quietly closing the door behind me. I can get myself back to my room now with ease. There are certain places I still struggle with, mostly because there are so many corridors that look the same and so many paths that are blocked. But the route between Baron’s office and my room is a path well-tread.

For the whole journey, my thoughts are swirling with what this means. On one hand, I should be overjoyed. There is no curse, no virus outside waiting to infect me.

But if what Celeste says is true… then it doesn’t matter. I’m safer here than I would ever be away from here.

So why doesn’t it feel that way?

Of course, she could be lying. She told me from her own lips she loves Baron. She could easily be telling me what he wants me to hear.

The closer I get to my room, the more exhausted I become just thinking about it. I feel like I should be planning my next move, but how can I do that when, yet again, I don’t know what comes next?

I haven’t seen Baron in days.

I won the deal to speak to a friend, but he played me. He knew I wanted to speak to the women who lived here, and while technically he did give me a woman who lived here, it wasn’t the one I needed.

And now I have no other hand to play. No way of getting any more answers. And no way of knowing when I will see him again.

I enter the room and am surprised to see the candles aren’t lit. Usually, that’s always taken care of—by whom, I do not know. Perhaps the lamp is working tonight.

Carefully, I take slow steps toward it and feel around for the switch.

Shit.

The thing almost blinds me, which is my own stupid fault for staring at it.

I never really expected it to turn on. Blinking a few times to get the sting away, my eyes are drawn to an unfamiliar shape on the floor.

Shoes.

Dress shoes.

A tailored suit.

“Did you miss us, little circus freak?”

18

Sapphire

Every muscle in my body freezes while I try to think of what to do next.

Fight? Don’t be so fucking ridiculous.

Run.

I need to run.

I stumble back, afraid to take my eyes away from the two men in front of me. My arm scrapes along the rough wall as I use it to guide me back to the door I just entered through.

The man, the one who spoke, just stares at me with a thirsty look on his face. The one beside him is smirking.

“We’re not going to kill you,” the second man says. He’s the one with the shaved head and those freezing-cold blue eyes.

“Yes. We’re just going to hurt you a little.” A third voice from behind has my heart stopping. His hands grip my shoulders and root me in place before I’ve even had time to turn around.

I know these faces. These are the men who wanted to buy me at the carnival. I hadn’t fully realized Baron had saved me from that until this very moment.

“Give her here,” one says. The one who called me a circus freak. The thirsty one.

Before I have time to steady myself, the hands on my shoulders push me forward and I’m stumbling. I trip over my own feet and land on my knees a few steps away from him.

The man closes the distance as I’m attempting to scramble away from him.

He grabs my ponytail and my scalp burns as I’m dragged toward him.

My hands grip his wrists, my fingers slipping against that thick watch I noticed on the very first night. But they’re powerless against him.

Useless.

He forces my head roughly against his crotch, and my cheek connects with the bulge there.

I cry out as he rubs my face against him, a cruel laugh escaping his lips.

How did this happen?