Page 90 of While He Breathes

“Her?”

“The woman Lucas talks about. He’s obsessed with you. Has been the whole time I’ve known him.”

“Did you know him long before you got here?”

She shakes her head. “No. I worked at the club for a few shifts before he decided I would be more useful to him in other ways.”

I blanch, my stomach rolling with nausea, and I’m suddenly relieved I have nothing in my stomach because I’m pretty sure it would be making a reappearance right about now.

“What’s the date?” she asks suddenly.

“It was August twentieth the day they took me,” I reply.

“Fuck.” Her head rolls back and slams against the concrete wall. “I’ve been here seven months.”

My mouth drops open, and a fresh wave of nausea hits me. Just when I think this place and this situation can’t get any more fucked up, I find out how wrong I am.

“I’m so sorry,” I rush out.

“It’s not your fault.” She shrugs.

“You’ve been in here the whole time?”

She nods. “They took me outside once. That asshole Cain broke my wrist being too rough, and they had to take me out to see a doctor. But that was months ago, I guess.”

I cover my mouth with my hand. I can’t fathom being stuck down here for a week, let alone months, and here she is, surviving all this time.

“Don’t feel sorry for me,” she says. “That’s one thing I can’t handle. Pity.”

“I’m not pitying you. I feel guilty that I’ve been here days, and I’m losing my mind. I don’t understand how you’ve done it!”

She shrugs. “They drug me sometimes. I guess that cuts out some of the time. And the rest of the time, I’m making plans to escape.”

“Oh,” I murmur, my hand brushing the blade in my pocket. “I think I may have found something of yours. In the bathroom.”

A soft laugh fills the room. “I have them all over the place. Keep it.”

“And they’ve never found them?”

“Nope. They think they’ve broken me, and I let them think that. It’s better for me that way. And it means when the time comes, I’ll catch them by surprise.”

I half laugh. “You’re kind of a badass, you know that?”

She smiles at me, and I can’t help but think how pretty she is, even with her matted hair and defeated eyes. “I just have a lot of live for.”

We’re interrupted when Cain slams the door open, and we both avert our eyes to the ground, not wanting to anger him.

“Time to go,” he barks.

I stand and move toward him, my hands trembling.

“You too, whore,” he snaps at Elsie, and I meet her surprised gaze.

Maybe there’s a chance for both of us to get out of here. We just need to work together.

CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

ORION