Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“At least they are free.”
My father guffaws. “They’re not free, Riggs! They’re food for the spider who weaves an invisible web all around them. They are chewed up, and spit out, and used for… whatever. They are nothing but a bit of meat. You gave up everything I set in motion for you for that, Riggs. For a bit of filthy, rotten meat.”
“That’s not true. It’s not even close to true. I just don’t want to be here. I want to live in the sun. In the fresh air. I want to be free to go anywhere I choose. It should not be illegal to leave.”
“But it is.” His smile is sad now. “Leaving is high treason and you are a traitor. We can’t have traitors running around the Colonies, now can we? It’s a problem. You’re a problem, Riggs. And, well… if there’s no you, then there’s no problem, is there?” He stands up. “We’re done here.”
“Wait! What about Clover? Don’t kill her. Please. None of this is her fault.”
“Kill her?” My father scoffs as he side-eyes me from over his shoulder. “We’re not going to kill her. Killing her would incite Collin Creed and send him careening down a path of revenge and retribution. No one wants that. It will all end badly. We’re just going to kill you, Riggs. Actually, we’re not.” He smiles again. A pretty poison frog. “Collin is.”
It takes several moments for me to parse these words because I just can’t make sense of it. Why would Collin kill me? I never betrayed him, he’s the one who betrayed me.
As if he’s reading my mind, my father says, “You’re on a lot of drugs right now, Riggs, so allow me to elucidate. You see, everything that happened inside Clover’s house was recorded. It was a test, son. We were keeping tabs on you the entire time.”
“So?”
“So…” He shrugs with his hands. “We have all those threats you made. All those times you tackled Clover to the ground. All those times you tied her up and gagged her. All those times she begged you to let her go. And right now”—he looks at his watch—“Collin Creed is watching all that footage. And since his one true love is Clover’s best friend, Collin is forming some opinions about how you might meet your true end, Riggs. He’s also very confused about something. He’s about to start putting things together and while he won’t have all the answers, he’ll have a start. He’s a smart guy. So I have no doubts whatsoever that he’ll figure it out. And when he does, that’ll be the end of you.”
“What’s the point of that? You’re acting like this is some great scheme, but who the hell cares if Collin kills me?”
“Who cares? Why, Clover Bradley cares, that’s who. She said she wouldn’t leave here without you, remember?”
Suddenly, I get it. My father is going to scar her. That’s the point of this. He’s going to hurt her in a way that cannot be fixed. And the worst thing about this is that I built it. I laid the groundwork for this pain he and Hattie want to inflict on Clover because I kidnapped her, and fucked with her head, and made her loyal to me, and it worked so well that when given the chance to save herself, she couldn’t leave me behind.
This entire thing is my fault.
My father opens the door to the little room and a nurse comes in. “He’s ready. Let’s do this.”
“You’re sick!” I say, struggling against my bindings. “You people are fucking sick! She didn’t do anything!”
“But she did, Riggs.” I look past the general and find Hattie, the owner of that voice. She’s smirking at me. Just as evil as the rest. “She’s a prissy little bitch. But, somehow, you convinced her to love you. She insulted me. Threatened me. If I could kill her, I would kill her. But having you killed and making her responsible?” Hattie chuckles. Her smile is big and satisfied. “Well, I guess it’ll just have to be enough.”
My vision starts to go blurry and when I look to my right, I realize the nurse has pushed more drugs into my IV.
A moment later, there’s nothing left to live for.
CHAPTER 25 - CLOVER
I’ve been chained to this metal table for hours now and there is nothing in the room with me but the sound of the air conditioning, which doesn’t seem to have a cut-off temperature because the room is freezing and my body is shaking as bad, or worse, as it was the other night when Riggs held me.
But he’s not here to hold me now and so there’s no hope of stopping the shivers that are getting worse by the second. Pretty soon, I’ll be convulsing if someone doesn’t take me out of here or turn that damn AC off.