Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60768 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 304(@200wpm)___ 243(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
I head into the office, grabbing the monitor to one of the computers, and she can tell by the way I’m holding it I will crash it to the fucking ground. “I talk to Enley, or this whole set up gets destroyed.”
Orchid’s eyes widen slightly. “Okay. Enough.” She pulls out a cell phone from her back pocket and pushes a button. “Let me talk to Enley,” she says into the phone. She waits a few seconds and then hands the phone over to me.
I grab the phone like a lifeline. “Enley?”
“Poe, I’m here.”
Relief floods my system. “Are they treating you okay? Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine. Promise.”
I listen to every sound she makes. To the background noise. To everything. Fuck. “Enley, just do what they say and this will all be over soon.”
Orchid grabs the phone from me and hangs up with a swipe of her finger.
“I wasn’t done talking to her yet.”
Orchid laughs like she finds this whole situation funny. It’s not. “You can talk to her more later.”
I rub my hand across the back of my neck. “Yeah right.” I’m too tired to fight. I head upstairs to my room. The door clicks shut and I hear the lock engage from the outside. I strip down and crawl into bed, staring at the ceiling again.
My mind will not quiet.
I could try to hack the house system from in here. There might be a way to disable the cameras, unlock the doors, create a window to slip out. But then what? I still have no idea where Enley is. One wrong move and Serafina makes good on her threats. And even if I get free, my friends probably think I’m the enemy now. Maddox might’ve already written me off. The whole team could be tearing itself apart because of the lies I’m helping spread.
I’m fucking screwed.
Completely and utterly screwed.
I roll onto my side, punching the pillow into a better shape. Across the hall I can hear faint movement. Orchid getting ready for bed. The beautiful, dangerous woman who holds my sister’s life in her hands and looks at me like she’s waiting for me to break.
I close my eyes and try to push it all away. The worry about my friends. The guilt about Maddox. The constant fear for Enley. The confusing pull I feel toward Orchid even though I should hate her.
It doesn’t work.
Sleep comes eventually, restless and shallow, filled with dreams of locked doors and my sister’s voice calling my name from somewhere I cannot reach.
Tomorrow I start hacking for Serafina.
Tomorrow I go back to pretending I can handle this game.
Right now, though, in this soft bed inside her secure cage, I can’t stop thinking about how far gone I already am. And how little hope I have of getting out whole.
The house is quiet.
I’m trapped with a woman who could be my escape or my end.
I doubt I’ll make it through the next few days with my sanity or my heart intact.
Try as I might to see Orchid as the enemy, I keep noticing things I shouldn’t. How she moves. How her voice gentles when she thinks no one’s listening. How her gaze lingers on me when she thinks I can’t see.
God, it’s dangerous.
And I’ve got no idea how to stop it.
SIX
ORCHID
The morning sun is annoyingly bright when I wake up, slipping through the edges of the blinds like it has a personal grudge against me. I lie there for a second, listening to the house settle around us. No alarms. No footsteps. Just the low hum of the AC and the faint sound of Poe breathing across the hall. For one ridiculous moment it almost feels normal. Then the noise starts.
Laughter. Loud, drunk, mid-morning laughter. Splashing. Music thumping some terrible country-pop song about trucks and heartbreak. I sit up fast, heart kicking up a notch, and cross to the window. I crack the blind just enough to see.
The neighbors. Of course.
The house next door has a backyard that backs right up to ours, separated only by a low wooden fence that might as well be tissue paper. Their pool is already full of people in neon swimsuits and too much sunscreen. A grill is smoking like it’s trying to signal for help. Kids are screaming. Someone’s waving a giant inflatable flamingo like it’s a battle flag.
I can’t believe this is happening. We’re supposed to be in a secure safehouse, not living next to the cast of a bad reality show.
I leave my room, moving to the living room window. A woman spots me. She’s maybe forty, blonde, wearing a bikini top that’s fighting for its life and a smile that says she’s never met a stranger. She waves both arms like we’re old friends.
“Hey! New neighbors! Come on over! Pool party and BBQ! Burgers are almost ready!”