Page 118 of The Secrets of Jane: Reborn

No one will bother to come in. At least, by the time they get suspicious, the sirens should be freed.

And so will Anya.

That’s all that matters. I don’t intend to escape what I am about to do. Misery can’t kill me, so that means I won’t die. And Jesper can’t ‘accost’ me, at least not right now, and that’s the only thing that might actually break me.

I can take a beating.

I can handle pain.

My heart races.

And like Melona said, I trust that the others are coming.

A shallow knockcomes to my door, Marissa returning with new clothes for me to wear, and some cloth to wipe myself down with, and even some oils to make me smell better.

I stare at the glass vial that smells like evergreens. Out of everything,thisisthe ultimate betrayal. Sorenlovedputting his preferred scent on me, which is so much more floral and sweet in its smell...

“Your hair is greasy at the roots. We need to braid it. There’s no time for a proper bath.”

“If you say so,” I reply, placing the vial down in hopes she will forget to ensure I’m wearing it.

I kneel on the floor so Marissa can sit on the edge of the bed. Her rough strokes with a brush make me wince, and then she yanks hard on my hair. “Will you behave?”

Oh,gods,this is annoying. She wasn’t like this yesterday. “Am I not doing so right now?”

She threads tighter.Uneasy. “You are lucky, you know.”

I open my mouth, not sure what to say, breathing through my teeth when it hurts. “Okay.”

She yanks again, pulling me back so she looks me in the eyes. They’re wide, and disturbed. “Jesper is the chosen one from Misery. If you comply, you’ll be courted by him… as you’re about to be, tonight,” she says, as if the idea is physically harmful to her. “And you’ll get to live the best life before having the most meaningful end.”

What the fuck is this? She gave offnoneof this over the last week. “Can you just finish my hair?”

Her jaw trembles, and she shoves my head forward again as I stare at the dwindling hearth. “I’ve been assigned to be your lady’s maid, you should know. Permanently.”

“I thought you already were, and you seemed so pleased by it...”

She lets out a puff of air, my mind spinning with trying to remember when this change occurred.

“Nope, the permanence was decided today. And Iwasexcited to be a part of this great honor. Until Jesper spoke about you just now. He doesn’t roll out the evergreen oil toanyone. I didn’t think—I didn’t think you’d getthat.”

Oh, well that’s interesting to know. He’s taking this seriously? That could either go well for me, or he could reveal how fucking weird he is and then I have to deal withthat.“What did he say?”

“Hewantsyou.” She pulls my hair tighter.

“Stopthat,” I warn, raising my hands as if I’ll do something, but I also don’t want to ruinanyopportunity for tonight.

She does nothing to stop, my scalp burning. “Stop acting like you’re in danger. I’m not allowed to killyou.”

“You say that like you've killed others.”

“We’re not havingthatconversation.” She recomposes herself, or at least the mumbling under her breath stops. When she’s done braiding my hair and I create as much space between us as possible, she looks at me like I disgust her.

“So who did you kill?” I ask, wanting to know what kind of crazy I’m stuck in a room with.

“Others.” She’s reminding me of a person thatjustreceived devastating news, like I’m the confirmed mistress of her lover. “I suppose we’re like sister wives now.”

I nearly laugh, my jaw dropping. “What?”