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I glanced around at the windows. They were all still securely barred. I rested my head back against the door, my chest heaving.

Okay. What now?

After a while, I crawled over to the wire that Nick had taken off. I reassembled it and studied the little box at the bottom. There was an on-off switch. It looked like Nick hadn’t bothered to check to make sure it was off after he’d thrown it away.

But it wasn’t responsive when I flicked the switch. Was it battery powered? In the shitty excuse for a kitchen, I found a charging cable for Nick’s phone, which miraculously fit into the wire’s little box. All the while, Nick paced outside the cabin, shouting obscenities now and again. I could guess how remote we were by the way he didn’t seem to care who heard him. That probably meant there was no one around for miles.

After a few minutes, the light on the wire came on. I grabbed it and put the mic to my mouth. I had no idea if anyone could hear me. I’d lost the earpiece I needed to hear any replies. But still,the thought that Brody might be listening to try to find me made me want to try.

“Brody—I think we have some loopholes in our plan,” I whispered into the mic. Silence met my words, of course. I held the wire close and slid down to sit on the sticky floor. I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open. Having the means to talk to Brody, even if it was just in my imagination, was comforting. I hugged the wire to my chest and let myself ramble.

“You’d be so proud of me. I didn’t freeze. First time ever. I didn’t freeze, I fought. I fought like a girl, like you said to. I used my head, though it might not seem like it when you find me. You’re coming for me, right? Hopefully you’re not sleeping right now with your white noise machine on, knocked out after your nightly magnesium dose.”

I smiled as I thought of the man who had changed my life. With his rituals and health routines and fucking energy for life. He was unstoppable.

“I know you’re looking for me. I know it. Because, I know you. I don’t know how it happened, exactly, but I know you, and you know me. It’s been a very long time since I’ve let someone know me. I feel like you could say the same. I wish we weren’t related. I wish we could have just met like regular people, and I don’t know, dated or something.” I laughed. “That’s dumb, isn’t it, because how would we have met if it hadn’t been for sharing a bathroom?”

I licked my dry, cracked lips. I was so tired I was going to have to sleep, just for a while. I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

“I just wanted to tell you now, when I have a chance, that I’m glad we met. I’m glad you bullied me into trying to live in theworld again. I’m glad I got the chance to love you… when I’d already accepted that I’d never love anyone.”

And then I lost the battle to stay awake.

I woke to the sound of glass breaking. I jerked awake, my foot hitting the floor and the pain making me teeter on the edge of darkness. I crawled into the middle of the space, just in time to see Nick breaking through the window. He had some kind of huge wire cutter in his hands. He’d broken the bars off one section of the window. He was coming in.

I tried to stand, but I couldn’t. I crawled to the front door. I couldn’t stand the thought of being locked inside with him.

“You, bitch, are going to die today,” Nick announced with the calm of someone who had come to a decision.

I pushed the security bar off but didn’t have the chance to stand and try to escape before he reached me. He dragged me back by the foot and lifted me off the floor, dumping me on the bed. My breath flew out as my back hit the firm mattress hard. Dust and the stench of mildew floated up around me.

He ripped at my clothes, and my mind went far away. It drifted to the last time I’d woken up in Brody’s bed. Sunlight slanting across the covers, the clean, fresh smell of his linen, and him. I pulled it toward me and tried to lose myself in the memory. Nick leaned back, swearing because he was having trouble getting my skintight jeans off.

He was positioned near my feet. I acted before my mind had even formed the plan.

I kicked my painful foot down on top of the other one, and the blade shot out.

Nick turned slowly, as if moving underwater, and stared at the knife sticking out of my boot. He started to reach for it as I kicked his hands away with my other foot. He fell back on his heels and then swayed forward, the momentum carrying him toward me.

I thrust my injured foot, blade and all, toward his gut.

He sank right onto it.

There was a sound. Like a siren, or a scream. My throat burned, and I realized that it was me who was screaming. I cut it off and had my second realization: the noise didn’t stop.

It was sirens.

The door burst open, and Brody was the first one through. He scanned the room, and his eyes latched onto mine. Something moved between us in that moment, something too real to ever deny.

Then he was running toward me. He wrenched Nick back and slammed him onto the floor. Then, he was reaching for me.

“Are you hurt, where are you hurt?” he asked, each question coming rapidly.

The sirens continued outside. Others crowded into the cabin. Cal, and Marcus. Someone else I thought was Marcus’ older brother.

“Where does it hurt, sweetheart?” Brody demanded.

“Everywhere,” I managed to croak.