CHAPTER 25

My laugh is a harsh sound, one that settles here amid this rubble. "Pardon me if I don't think you're real."

"Assaf, they won't—"

They'll do so. More loudly than I had planned, my voice comes out. I whisper, "I know them," as the memories that I'm trying not to think about come flooding back. "I am aware of everything they would do to me."

Perhaps they will bind me to a wall like Darius would or tie me up and beat me like Felix likes to do. Perhaps they will throw a party for their guests and force me to crawl around them in my pants while carrying a platter of refreshments on my back.

Like a canine.

They might even force me to bark.

Once more.

Or worse, I make an effort not to consider. Never.

My knees are being slashed, and I'm having trouble breathing.

I have a damp face. Do I have blood? Is this something else, or what?

Even when an arm slides between my knees and across my shoulders, it still feels like something else is happening to me.

"I won't be taken back. Just murder me, I