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T his.

Isn’t.

Real.

Both hands clamp around my mouth, doing little to stifle my cries. I’m rattled to the bone. Shocked. Siphoned of strength, unable to keep my legs from crumpling underneath me.

He’s dead.

Jasper is dead .

Falling to my knees, I race back in time to those first few harrowing months in captivity. I recall my broken heart, my weepy, mournful pleas to the other victims.

Mary.

She had no reason to lie to me.

I saw Jasper that night with my own eyes—motionless, clinging to breath, bleeding out all over our tile floors. Red on white. A forever stain on my memory.

I felt him leave me…though not right away.

In the beginning, I still held on to hope. Ambulance sirens had whistled through the dark night like a promise as I was schlepped through the back door of my home, barely clinging to life. Help had been on the way. A fighting chance.

But as days turned into months, and months into years, the hope dwindled.

Faded.

Something snapped.

It was my lifeline… to him.

But here he is.

Alive.

My husband is alive.

I’m hauled back up to my feet by the hair, a ragdoll in Dolph’s grip. My cheeks are soaked with tears, and my eyelids sting like lemon peels. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

Isaac leans back in the chair, biceps straining, veins protruding in his forearms.

He shakes his head.

I watch the sobering disappointment filter through his body—he knows I can’t say his name now.

The Timekeeper chuckles under his breath, watching my agony play out in vivid color. He’s loving this. He lives for this.

“Well, well, well,” he says breezily, a new bounce to his step as he skips between both men, dangling the hourglass in front of each of them. “This is quite the predicament, wouldn’t you say?”

“There was a woman—a captive. Her name was Mary.” My voice shakes, sunk with disbelief. “She… She said he was dead .”

The devil smiles.

“She told me!” I shriek. “She saw it on the news. Jasper didn’t make it. This doesn’t make any sense.”

“Ah, Mary,” The Timekeeper says, nodding with approval. “She really sold that performance, didn’t she? I almost regret wasting her talent here—she could’ve made a fine actress.”

Realization slams into me.

Mary was a plant.

He put her in that room.

My captor was subduing me. Draining me of fight, forcing me to believe I had nothing left to live for.

And it worked.

I bare my teeth. “I. Hate . You.”

“I’m flattered, truly. Although I’m afraid your opinion of me has little to do with the choice you’re going to make.” Flipping the timepiece upside down, he glances at me with a glimmer in his eyes. “And your time is running out.”

“I’m not choosing.” Sickness swirls in my stomach, my throat. “I can’t.”

“Oh, but you must. I’m not sure I have it in me to kill both men. I do have a heart, you know.” He presses a hand to the dead, rotted organ inside his chest, sneering with wicked joy. “What’s it going to be, Everly? Your beloved husband? Or Isaac, the man who risked his life for you. Who tasted freedom and still returned, unable to leave you behind. Something tells me he wouldn’t do that for just anybody . Our surly prisoner acquired a soft spot for the pretty girl behind the wall.” He kicks Isaac’s tethered leg and laughs, the sound echoing through the room like a howl of wind through a desolate canyon. “For as much as I loathe inconveniences, I love a twisted dose of irony just as much.”

“You’re sick ,” I hiss through clenched teeth, my insides shriveling. “I can’t choose. Please…I can’t. You’ll kill us all anyway.”

Another flick of his finger, summoning a guard.

I watch as the tall, broad-shouldered lackey with graying hair approaches Jasper. He pulls a cloth napkin out of his pocket and jabs it under my husband’s nose.

Three seconds span.

Then, with a gasp and a start, Jasper jolts awake.

His chest expands, eyes pinging open as he lurches into a sitting position, scrambling backward on the tile floor. “What… What is this…?” His voice is low and scratchy as his senses click back on.

I nearly choke.

I haven’t heard that voice in two years.

Frantic, Jasper looks right, left. Forward and behind. And when he does a double take, head swinging back in my direction, he blinks rapidly. Squints, frowns. Blinks some more. “No…”

I stare at him, my expression in ruins. “Jasper.”

“Everly?” His eyes round to twice their size. He’s still gasping for breath, shivering and stunned. “Everly…”

The moment he jumps to his feet, he’s restrained by the guard. Two meaty arms circle his torso as Jasper writhes and jerks, trying to reach me.

I reach back, sobbing. “Jasper…”

“You…you’re alive…” His eyes dart around the room, from face to face. “I d-don’t…”

The Timekeeper sighs, giving the hourglass a slight shake. “Boring. Let’s get on with it, shall we?”

I growl, fighting Dolph’s firm hold. “Please, God, just let me touch him. Let me?—”

“That’s your final choice, then? You’re choosing your husband?”

“I…” I look over at Isaac—tied, shattered, and helpless. Tears fall like violent rain as I curl into myself. “No… Isaac…”

“So, you’re choosing Isaac to be set free?” He bends to place the hourglass in front of Jasper.

Panic ripples through me. “No!”

“No?” Another sigh, his cheeks puffing with a taxing breath. “You’re giving me whiplash.”

“Don’t make me do this. Send me on the hunt.” I stomp on Dolph’s boots with limp, bare feet. “Send me !”

“That’s not an option. We’ve been over this.” He points at Isaac, then Jasper. “One of these men will be hunted, and the other will be let go. Make your choice. And pray you can live with it.”

I close my eyes.

Images unfurl, brimming to the surface.

I hear Isaac’s voice, gritty and vulnerable. His words.

Bee.

Trust me.

You matter.

He’s right in front of me, so close, and yet there’s still a wall between us.

The unbreakable kind.

I think of Jasper, imagining our last moments together, lips locked, limbs tangled, as we swayed in the foyer to a silent song. All our life’s memories careen through me like a warm wave.

He’s the love of my life.

Always. Forever.

When I open my eyes, Jasper’s lips are moving, but all I hear are the thumps of my heart and a pitchy ringing sound, howling in my ears. A dirge.

No, I won’t be able to live with myself after this moment.

But it won’t matter. I don’t have much time left. My heartache will be short-lived, scattered to the wind in a few days’ time.

My chin wobbles as I glance between Isaac and Jasper.

Sound whirrs back to life, suffocating me.

Noise. Shouting. Scuffing feet and haggard breaths.

“Time is ticking. Ten seconds…”

“Everly, God, please.” Jasper begs for his life as he fights against the guard. “Fuck, please, what is this? No…no, let me go!”

“Five seconds…”

Isaac says nothing. He just sits there, already knowing the end of this story.

“Three, two…”

“Everly! Everly, goddammit!”

“One…”

My eyes land on Isaac as I give my final answer, knowing there’s only one name I can say: “Jasper.”

The timepiece is placed in front of Isaac, just as the final grains of sand breach the bottom of the glass.

Time is up.

My vision goes white. Guilt eats away at everything vital. My stomach contracts, bile crawling up my throat in bitter waves.

Isaac has no reaction.

He just sits there, slumped over in the chair, breathing heavily through the bag.

I turn away.

I can’t look at him.

The Timekeeper smirks, glancing at Isaac. “Looks like she made her choice. And as the kids say—no backsies.” Then he turns and barks an order at the guard, snapping a hand at me and Jasper. “Lock these two up.”

Tendrils of icy fear coil around my heart. Pure dread.

Jasper is hauled through the door first, calling my name. Fighting and kicking.

“No!” My feet slide every which way, panic climbing. “Please, no!”

I’m flailing.

Failing.

I’m carried out next, a hollow lump in my throat.

Regret and horror turn everything around me black. The gravity of what comes next tears holes through my chest.

“Isaac!” I shout, my voice shaking with grief. “Please, please, forgive me.” I claw and scratch at the arms squeezing my midsection as they lift me off the ground like I weigh nothing. “Keep fighting. You can do this. Don’t give up.” Hot tears burn my eyes, streaming down my face and neck. I feel sick. Gutted. “I’m sorry…I’m so sorry. Please, don’t give up. It’s not over yet.” I wail his name one last time as I’m dragged out of the room by the guard, arms outstretched, begging for forgiveness. “ Isaac !”

But he remains silent.

Gravely still.

The image of his sagged shoulders and bowed head, his body a picture of defeat, is the last thing I see as I’m pulled through the doorway, a thrashing mess of limbs and screams.

He’s given up.

And it’s the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.

Metal bars slam shut after I’m shoved inside a cage. My ass hits the dirty cement floor, the heels of my palms nicking on rocks and debris as I catch myself. It’s a cage designed for animals, too small for me to even stand in. Scooting backward, I curl my knees to my chest and watch as the gray-haired guard inserts a key into the padlock.

He locks me in.

Jasper is tossed into his own enclosure at the same time, residing two cages to my left. I can see him through the slats of the one between us.

He’s on his knees, both hands wrapped around the bars. Shaking them. Shouting obscenities. He looks over at me, then at the other guard as the man steps away. Both guards retreat, whistling as they go, and then the main door closes with a bang , echoing through the industrial room.

I’m in a daze.

Part of me is numb. Part of me feels everything .

I hear my heartbeat in my ears. My throat. My stomach. It’s pounding like a sledgehammer against a steel door.

Hysteria bubbles to the surface. I try to choke it down, but it’s a relentless beast.

“Everly…my God, are you all right?” Jasper twists toward me, gripping the bars that face my cage. “Jesus Christ. Where are we? What is this?”

My eyes are wide and glazed. I’m in shock; I know that. Whimpers crawl up my windpipe like tiny razor blades.

“Everly!” He shakes his cage so hard it crashes against the one between us, ramming into mine. “Goddammit. Tell me you’re okay. I thought…”

I blink, my lips parting on a silent scream.

“I thought you were dead .”

Heaving in a breath, I slowly turn my head to look at him. I swallow. “I wasn’t.”

We stare at each other for a heavy beat.

Jasper.

My husband.

The man I chose.

Conflicting emotions are tearing me apart like a riptide. A seesaw of guilt and sweet relief.

Jasper is here.

Alive. Breathing. Flesh and blood.

Isaac is gone.

He tried to save me…and I killed him.

I stare blankly at my husband from ten feet away. This is not the reunion I’d dreamed of. No party hats or confetti. Only a slow kiss of death.

Jasper’s face is full of shadows, dark circles rimming jade-green eyes. His skin is sapped of its golden color, looking chalky. He’s lost weight. Jet-black hair, normally slicked back and styled to perfection, lays haphazardly across his forehead, stray pieces sticking straight up.

He gives the bars another fruitless shake. “Talk to me. Please. Tell me what this is…what happened to you?”

I can’t.

I’m not a storyteller anymore. All my stories have dried up, turning to ashes on my tongue.

He lets out a growl of frustration. “ Fuck , Everly! Say something. Please.”

“Where were you?” I demand on a sob, a hot wave of tears brewing behind my eyes. “I…I waited for you. I waited for two years .”

Shaking his head, he gazes at me with tortured eyes. “I tried, baby. I tried to find you.” A frown bends, creasing his dark brows. “I looked everywhere. Your case went cold. There…there was nothing more I could do. They said you were dead.”

The tears fall.

All this time, I’ve been in here.

And he’s been out there…living his life without me.

I shouldn’t blame him. It’s not fair. He’s been grieving, too, and one man can only do so much. I was a needle in a haystack. A teardrop in the ocean.

But these feelings are surging through me, ready to combust, and I don’t know what to do with them.

“There was no evidence,” he continues, his voice cracking on the words. “Just me, my blood. The police had no leads, nothing to go on, and I…I didn’t know what else to do.”

I look away and squeeze my eyes shut as more tears leak out.

“Everly, please… What did they mean when they said a hunt ? Who was that other man tied to the chair?”

He was everything.

And I let him slip through my fingers like water.

“Isaac,” I croak out. “His name was Isaac.”

Is.

His name is Isaac. He’s not dead yet.

“Was he…” Jasper pauses. “Your friend?”

I cup a hand over my mouth as my shoulders shake. “Yes.”

“God…I’m sorry. I should have fought harder for answers. I’ll never forgive myself for this.”

I look back over at him when his voice trails off with mourning. Jasper’s forehead falls to the slats, his grip loosening on the bars as he deflates.

Empathy trickles its way inside me. Swiping at my tears, I crawl over to the side of the cage and lift to my knees, facing him. “It’s okay,” I whisper. “I’m sorry. I don’t blame you.” My words quiver. I bite my lip, keeping more cries from spilling out. “It’s okay, Jasper.”

“It’s not. I should have torn the whole goddamn world apart until I found you.”

I rest my temple against the cool bar. “How is Mom? And Allison?”

He lifts his chin, his throat bobbing. “They’re coping. It hasn’t been easy for any of us.” His fingers curl around the metal wire. “There’s been a void. A gaping hole we can’t fill.”

“Are you taking care of them?”

Hesitating, he nods slowly. “Of course.” Then he reroutes back to our current predicament. “Is this where they kept you? In this… cage ?”

I shake my head. “No, I had a room. A mattress, toiletries. Books. I was a product, so they treated me as such.”

He looks up at me. “A product?”

“My eggs. They were taking my eggs for some underground surrogacy business.”

“They told you that?”

“No. I figured it out.” I lick my dry lips. “After two years, it was easy to put the pieces together.”

Wild eyes gaze back at me. “Are there others? Like that man in the chair?”

“Yes. Many men and women have come and gone. Killed, I’m assuming. I guess I was the lucky one.”

“Jesus.” His head falls forward, shaking from side to side. “This is a nightmare.”

“It’s been my nightmare for a long time,” I tell him. “I’m sorry it’s become yours.”

Jasper doesn’t respond for a while, but I’m too frazzled to count the seconds. Time spins in clipped movements. A blur. At least a minute or more passes before he blows out a breath and drops back to his butt, crossing his legs. “We’re going to get out of here. I promise. I won’t let you go again.”

Tears sting and chafe. If I’ve learned anything in this place, it’s that promises are destined to die here. They hold no weight and have no wings. A promise is nothing but a doomed whisper in the dark.

But hope was the only thing that kept me going, so I won’t take that from him. “Yes,” I reply, brokenly. “We’re going to get out of here.”

A sad smile pulls on his lips, unable to reach his eyes. He extends a hand through the opening. Slowly, painfully, I reach back. Our fingers dangle a few feet away, a mountain between us. Too far apart to touch.

Jasper exhales a shaky breath. “I missed you,” he says, his arm stretched out. “So much.”

Little rivers glide down my cheeks. I curl my fingers in and pull my arm back, sagging forward against the bars. “I missed you, too.”

I imagine a life outside of this place.

A new life.

Difficult, at first. An uphill climb.

But life , nonetheless.

A real bed to sleep in. My husband by my side, his strong arms curled around me. A ceiling fan spinning overhead, lulling me away to kinder dreams.

Allison—I can’t wait to hug her, to see her pretty face, to stroke my fingers through her dark-red hair and tell her how much I’ve missed our talks and laughter-filled sleepovers.

My mother—I need to hear her voice, feel her arms around me. She’s my comfort. My home.

Even my pet tarantula seeps into my thoughts. My quirky little arachnid, always a steadfast friend.

Jasper.

Delving back into married life won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it. We can get through anything together. We promised each other that as we stood beneath a floral arch, our smiles glimmering in the midday sun. White tulle and lace fluttered in the breeze as sacred vows warmed us with unconditional love.

And yet…

The ghost of someone else compromises the sweetness.

The man behind the wall.

The man I sentenced to death.

My crime soils the tendrils of hope blooming within me, and I know the weight of my guilt will haunt me forever. Even if I make it out of here alive, I’ll never be the same.

Once a choice is made, it cannot be undone.

And that, I fear, is a fate worse than death.