Page 75 of When We Fall: Part Two

I stared at him, willing the tears not to fall at the thought of not seeing my Rosie again. We’d finally had shit figured out. I was going to get to marry her, and then this shit had to happen.

“If you’re going to kill me, do it quickly,” I choked out.

“You understand that I have to hurt you, right?” Dante asked.

I looked away from him. It didn’t matter. If it had to happen, then so be it. Right then, I needed to get back to E. He needed me.

Dante leaned in, his voice soft.

“Your girlfriend is my sister,” he said, his voice low.

I tensed, really fucking hoping he didn’t have that bit of information.

“That sort of connection seems to have given you a place under my protection,” he continued just as softly, his voice shaking slightly. “I do want her, though. I want my sister to come home to me.”

I swallowed thickly and looked at him to see his green eyes wavering as he stared back at me.

“Don’t hurt her,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Dante. Please. If you need to take your anger and hatred out on anyone, choose me, never her. S-She’s everything that’s light and perfect in this world. Please don’t hurt her. I’mbeggingyou.Please. Have mercy.”

“I understand,” he said gently, brushing my hair away from my eyes. “This is me telling you my job is to hurt you, but by doing so, it would hurt her. I cannot do that.”

Surprise flooded me at his words. Was he saying he wasn’t going to hurt me?

“But I must make this believable until I figure out how to get you out of here. I can’t just walk you out the front door. I have to hurt you until I can get you out.”

“And E,” I choked out. “I can’t go without E.”

“Everett is taking him,” Asylum said, his blue eyes fixed on a point above my head, a faraway expression on his face. It was as if he were seeing something only he could see. He cocked his head again. “Mm, not good. Not fucking good.”

Dante looked to Asylum, who broke his faraway gaze and stared back.

“We cannot help him. It is as it must be.” He winced. “There is no way inside. They’ve taken him to nine.”

Dante’s face paled.

“What’s nine?” I choked out. “What the fuck is nine?”

“The pit. The last level of the underground,” Church said. “It’s a place many don’t come out of. It’s where the worst deeds are done.”

“You have to help him. You have to get him out!” I rocked in my chair weakly.

“This is what’s going to happen,” Dante snapped, digging into his pocket and pulling out a pill. “You’re going to take this pill. You’re going to eat that fucking sandwich. You’re going to take the beating I have to give you. Then you’ll go back to your cell until we meet again. Maybe I’ll have a plan by then. Open.”

“What is it?” I asked, eyeing the pill.

“It’s going to make it not hurt so much.”

“And E? What about E?”

Dante rose to his feet. “I don’t know. I’ll try.”

It was the best I had.

I opened my mouth, and Dante dropped the pill in. I swallowed it dry before Asylum offered me the sandwich. I ate it hungrily until it was gone, downing the last bite, a prayer on repeat in my head.

A strange fuzziness washed over me, my body numbing. It felt similar to E’s drugs, but this was a little bit different. My head felt so cloudy and detached. I wasn’t myself.

“No hard feelings, Fox,” Dante whispered. “Close your eyes. This might hurt a little.”