Who Will Save Your Soul - Skye Warren Page 0,11

I was lying when I told my teacher that. Maybe my parents were right when they insisted I had made up that story with my terrible mind.

“You can tell me,” he says, so softly something inside me cracks.

“So that you can call me a poor little rich girl?”

“No. So that I can help you.”

I’ve spent a lifetime with my father calling me stupid, with my mother calling me a liar. With teachers giving me pitying looks, because my parents have had a conference to tell them all about me before the first day of class. Most of the kids knew better than to come near me. Their parents had warned them about my family.

And the few that wanted to be friends… it was too strange being the only one who wasn’t allowed to come over for a sleepover, to attend a birthday party, to meet at the mall.

A lifetime of suppression and lies, so my voice feels rusty as I finally speak the truth. “I’m not allowed to leave. Ever. I go to school with a limo and a driver, but what you don’t know is that he’s armed. Not to protect me. To make sure I do what he says.”

Niko looks confused, which is probably a normal response. It’s been a long time since I’ve met someone normal. Someone with dirt under his nails and jeans with real holes in them instead of fake ones.

“The phone here can only call my mom and my dad’s mobile phones.” A small laugh comes out, but it feels more like a sob. “They actually disabled the ability to call 911, which wasn’t easy let me tell you. They had to bribe someone at the phone company.”

His expression hardens. “You’re home alone so much. What if something happened?”

“I don’t think they would care. Maybe they would even be relieved. I graduate from college in two years, and then what will they do with me?”

“But why? Why don’t they let you go?”

“Because I know too much. And because I’ll tell anyone who will listen. Which is no one. They’ve made sure no one will believe me. But they won’t risk it by letting me out, either.”

“Do they hurt you?”

He means with fists. “No, but I don’t feel safe either. I’m not really a daughter to them. I’m part of this whole fa?ade. The house and the cars. The pretty little family. But I also have a mouth and a mind of my own. I don’t think my dad will ever risk letting me go.”

“Because you could put him behind bars.” His voice is so matter of fact it takes my breath away.

“You believe me?”

“It’s not really a stretch,” he says, his voice dry. “I watched enough to know you don’t leave this house except in that limo when you go to school. And I know your dad is dangerous enough to have half a million dollars in black market diamonds in his living room.”

“Right,” I say, feeling strangely deflated. It’s powerful to have someone believe me, but that’s only because he’s been watching to steal the diamonds. He’s seen it for himself.

It’s not about believing me. Not about whether or not I’m a liar.

I have to turn away from him to hide my disappointment.

“So will you help me?” I ask, impressed that my voice stays even.

I cross the carpet to the window, where I look out at the wall that’s kept me imprisoned for so long. Beautiful and covered with ivy. Such a lie, that beauty. He was out there when I first saw him. Now he’s behind me, standing in my room, weighing my future with those secretive dark eyes and strong hands.

The world around me changes, but my situation doesn’t change. I’m trapped here.

Whatever he says next can change that. I wait for his words without taking in a breath, without letting one out, even though I don’t let myself hope. Can’t let myself hope.

It isn’t a word that comes to me.

It’s a hand, knuckles brushing the back at my neck.

My gasp sounds so loud in the dark room. In the darker night.

“You have to stay away from my uncle,” he says.

“Was that the man I saw today?”

“He got the job here first. As the head gardener. He’s been planning this for a long time. At least, a long time for someone like him. He won’t let you jeopardize it.”

I turn around to face him, forcing a smile like I don’t care. “Will he kill me?”

Niko’s expression is severe. “I won’t let