Page 107 of Little Liar

My eyes slide shut, my lungs shriveling to nothing as my heart rate accelerates. The tingling sensation in my legs worsens, spreading to my arms and fingers, and I drop my face into my hands because I don’t have a clue what to do.

This is a bad dream, a nightmare. None of this is real. I’m hallucinating again. I must be. All I’ve been doing recently is losing my mind—this is just the result of it. Olivia is trying to wake me up in bed now, or I’m standing in the woods, the sitting room, the bathroom, and I’m blank and stuck in my head.

Stuck in this fucked-up dream.

I lift my head, the room spinning, but I manage to sign one more question despite how exhausted I am, how fucking dizzy I am.

Is she hurt?

“She’s safe,” he replies, not really responding to what I asked. “Xander, believe it or not, is on our side. Our father isn’t exactly the easiest to go against. He has my brother under strict orders and is hell-bent on them finally marrying and having his next heir.”

I feel sick.Has he fucked her?

“No.” He shakes his head. “Xander has no interest in her, and she’s made it perfectly clear she has no interest in him. It’s you she keeps asking about.”

Why can’t I just cut it out of her arm and save her?

“The tracker is attached to her nerve. It will kill her instantly if she tries to remove it or run.”

I grit my teeth, trying to get to my feet and wincing. I need to get up. I need to be active. I need to save her.

To add salt to my wounds, he adds, “If Xander doesn’t impregnate her soon, my father will do it. She’s already been off her birth control pill since going to the manor three weeks ago.”

“Like hell he will,” Dad snarls. “We need to hurry up with this plan.”

I look between them, waiting for someone to elaborate on this big plan that’s not in fucking motion.

“We have some aid,” he clarifies. “My cousin is acquainted with people who can help us. As long as we help them keep someone hidden, they’ll help us.”

He checks his phone then sighs. “They’re arriving in the morning. I suggest you get as much rest as you can because we need to make a plan and get Olivia away from Igor as soon as possible.”

The day after, I feel a little more alive. I could barely sleep with worry and anxiety and fucking zaps of pain, so the nurse came in and gave me something to numb the thoughts and everything else—my dad slept in the spare bed beside me, while Molly slept upstairs with Abigail.

It’s just great that she’s here. Just fucking great. One more person to remind me why I’m not good enough for Olivia.

Dad said she managed to get away when Base and Adryx were caught. They beat up the guards and killed them, but their names were already flagged with Igor Reznikov. But Abigail was already gone. It took that asshole Xander a week to find her and have one of his trusted guards bring her here.

Something tells me she’s here against her will though. She’s definitely got something going on with the brothers.

“Where’s the purple-haired one?” Base asks as I follow them down a narrow corridor.

“She’s asleep,” Adryx says.

His cousin chuckles. “You would know that, wouldn’t you? I wonder which brother she’ll choose?”

“Shut your fucking mouth. Your best friend isn’t here to save you from me strangling the shit out of you.”

“Kade will defend my honor when he’s home.”

Dad shakes his head beside me, his walking stick holding his weight. He was shot in the leg; nothing fatal or worse than what I did to him, but he’s struggling to walk again.

We make our way into a meeting room. There’s a long table in the middle and a whiteboard on the wall, with one single bright light hanging from the low ceiling.

I can smell fresh paint.

I focus on that as Sebastian gestures to the blonde beside him. “This is my wife, Luciella.”

She grimaces. “I’m not your wife.”