Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107720 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 539(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
I cringed. Even the sweet scent of the fruit made nausea grip my throat. I loved apples. I’d drunk enough apple blossom wine to crave a glass or four. But this one...this one was as appealing as eating maggots.
“I don’t think I can...”
My stomach snarled loudly.
Lucien grimaced. “Just a bite. You need at least something in your system. It’s been days since we’ve eaten anything.”
I eyed up the bruised fruit as he spun it in his fingers, searching for the best part. A bite had already been taken out of the side—hinting he’d tried to eat it too.
“It wasn’t just the sandwich you struggled with.” I caught his eyes. “You couldn’t eat anything either.”
He flinched as if he hadn’t wanted me to know that part—as if he hoped I would be different and would happily devour the meal. Hunger ached in both of us. A hunger that didn’t just grumble in my belly but in every limb, cell, and beat of my sickly heart.
I sagged on his lap, recalling yet more notes my parents had taken—typing furiously on their laptops when they thought I was fast asleep on the couch in their office, waiting to go home.
I’d read those notes in secret.
I knew that the lab animals nearing the end always went off their food.
Nothing could entice them, and if the lab technician took matters into their own hands and forced them...everything came back up again.
Lucien followed those thoughts too. A flash of pain at the thought of me leaving him was quickly smothered with savage determination not to let that happen.
Tossing the apple away, he snatched up a bottle of water. Cradling me against him, he twisted the top off and held it against my lips. “I’m not taking no for an answer on this. Who knows how long we’ve been unconscious. If we stand any hope of getting out of this place, you need to at least sate your thirst.”
Without a word, I forced my arms up and clutched the bottle. I trembled, weak beyond belief. Never looking away from me, Lucien supported the bottom as I tipped it back and drank.
I grimaced at the wet, uncomfortable sensation as if my body had already abandoned the ability to eat or drink. It wasn’t soothing, nor did it quench my thirst. But I drank another mouthful for him, squeezing my eyes tight as my stomach roiled.
I tried to push it away after my third, but Lucien didn’t let me. “Another. Even if those lab animals you were thinking of went off their food, we don’t have to. Sure, it’s a struggle, but as long as we actually eat and drink, our bodies won’t break down and—”
I retched.
Flinging myself over his arm, the three mouthfuls came back up again, splashing onto the ground.
“Fuck.” Lucien gathered my hair back as I retched and retched. Nothing else came up. I had nothing inside me for days and days, but that didn’t stop the sickness making everything miserable.
Only once the nausea subsided did I have enough strength to cringe with embarrassment. My gaze locked onto the tiny puddle I’d caused, grateful it was only water, minus the chunk of unchewed sandwich.
Lucien shifted me off his lap. The black-covered mattress rustled as he laid me down beside him, spreading my hair above my head.
His eyes held a hundred worries as he pressed the back of his hand to my forehead. “You’re burning up.” His voice shook a little. “You’re normally so cold...”
“I’m fine.” I grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away. The prison cell swam with my efforts. “Really.”
He scoffed and shook his head. “You’re not fine. None of this is fine.” His voice cracked as he looked away. His jaw locked so tight, the muscle jumped, trying to hold himself together.
With a curse, he snatched the other water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and chugged it all in one go. Water spilled down his chin, soaking into his black shirt as he swallowed. His chest strained and he groaned as if it took all his willpower, but...he finished it.
Grimacing, he rasped, “I’ll eat everything. I’ll get my strength back.” Grabbing the apple, he held it to his lips but didn’t take a bite. “It must be night right now. I can’t hear any of the reactors running. There aren’t any heartbeats either. There’s no one around which means I have time to let this food grant me energy, and then I’ll break us out before they return.”
He sank his teeth into the apple; the crunch and sweetness almost made me gag again.
I wanted to believe him as he chewed with single-minded determination, but the world kept fading in and out. Sharp pains crawled through my insides as if a thousand tiny bugs devoured me.
And the dead started singing again.
Come back...
It’s peaceful here...
No more hunger. No more pain...