by Dylan Steel
She allowed her fingers to roam over the bindings. Pausing over a deep brown cover, she tugged it free. It came off the shelf with a groan of protest, spilling the scent of leather and old paper through the air after it. She breathed in deeply, letting it fill her senses as she flipped through the book’s pages wistfully.
To her surprise, the book didn’t seem to be filled with any sort of records. Instead, it looked like an account of a man very much in love with a woman who felt little more than indifference toward him. His anguish bled out in his account—he wanted nothing more than to be with her, but she believed she was too good for him and wouldn’t be convinced otherwise. He gave her gifts and showed her wonderful things, but none of it mattered. Her mind was made up, and nothing he could do would change it.
Sage’s heart twisted in empathy as she scanned over the man’s words, and she felt a tear escape from the corner of her eye. Brushing it away quickly, she closed the book and put it back in its place on the shelf. She wanted to read more, but it didn’t seem right. It felt oddly personal, like she was reading a diary. And maybe she was—it was hard to tell exactly what the purpose was behind the writing or if the words were true.
But it didn’t matter anyway. She couldn’t afford to waste whatever little time she had on reading about anyone else’s life. Her own was enough of a tragedy. And as much as she felt a pull to spend the rest of her time in this room, she needed to continue searching. Nothing here would help her escape.
Moving on, she found the bathroom next. There were more faucets and sinks and fixtures than she could name—even more than were in her smaller suite next door. She rifled through drawers and cabinets more out of general curiosity than any actual expectation of finding a tech egg. Nothing useful here either. She shut the door behind her and made her way to the opposite end of the bedroom, starting her search in the corner that shared a wall with her own suite.
Peeking inside the new room, Sage let out an incredulous laugh under her breath. A kitchen? She shook her head. It was much smaller than the one on the main floor, but it was still substantial. It held all the essentials and—she discovered upon closer examination—a nice stockpile of food.
Sage’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. While she and Everett had barely managed to scrape together enough credits to get by, this man had multiples of everything—his duplicate kitchen was bigger and nicer than their entire apartment had been. Every conceivable convenience was readily available at his fingertips. No wonder he’d been able to stay hidden away in his suite for weeks at a time. Why did he even need the rest of his house?
It didn’t matter.
Having made it most of the way around the suite, Sage was beginning to wonder if Weston kept any useful tech at all in his house. If there was something that would set her free, he was likely to keep it close by, but she hadn’t found anything worth so much as a spark of hope yet.
Pulse pounding in her ears, she pushed on the last door. It didn’t budge. This one was locked.
Her brows knitted together. This was more promising—albeit, also more frustrating.
Smashing her ear to the door, Sage held her breath, listening. There, beneath the layers of silence pressing in around her, was the familiar low hum of tech. Her heart started pounding harder in her chest. This was it—her chance for freedom. It had to be. Why else would he keep this room locked? If she could just find a way inside—
“What are you doing?”
Sage jerked back, spinning around. Eliza stood in main doorway, hands planted on her hips, eyes rimmed with suspicion.
“I could ask you the same question,” Sage said, feigning confidence as she scrambled for an explanation. “You’re not supposed to be in Mr. Bennick’s room.”
“Pretty sure you’re not either,” Eliza said.
“No, it’s fine,” Sage said. The half-lie slid out smoothly. “He said I could look around. I’m just—”
“Snooping?”
“No, I—”
“Save it.” Eliza crossed her arms. “After what you pulled with Jonah, I’m not about to trust a word that comes out of your mouth.”
Sage winced. “I’m sorry about that. Really. I was—everything was so new, and I was just scared, and—I wasn’t trying to hurt him.”
Eliza frowned. Gold waves shook around her shoulders. “He’s fine. But that’s not the point. I still don’t trust you. Mr. Bennick knows it too. That’s probably why he asked me to keep an eye on you while he was away.” She tilted her chin, smirking.
“He what?” Sage’s jaw dropped slightly. “But he relaxed my tether.”
“When you didn’t show up for breakfast, I figured you might be getting in trouble already, so I came looking for you,” Eliza continued, not bothering to acknowledge Sage’s reaction. She shrugged. “Guess I wasn’t too far off.”
“For your information, I was just doing what I could to get to know him a little bit better,” Sage huffed. Mixing a little truth in her lies might help defuse the situation. And in a strange way, she had gotten to know a bit more about Weston by going through his things—though she wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the new information. “In case you haven’t noticed, he hasn’t been around much since we’ve been paired, and I thought it’d be nice not to be completely in the dark about him.”
Eliza rolled her eyes. “And I guess just asking him was out of the question,” she said flatly.
“You do realize I’m paired with a benefactor? One wrong word or look, and he can strip my Chances without a second thought. I can’t stop him. You can’t stop him.” Sage frowned. “So, no, I don’t think it’s a good idea to start pestering him with a bunch of questions.”
“He—” Eliza’s tough stance faltered for a moment, but she recovered quickly. “He wouldn’t do that though.”
“He might.” Sage shrugged, a grim expression on her face.
“I don’t think so. And I don’t think you’d think so either if you asked him about himself instead of snooping through his stuff.”
Sage snorted, her eyebrows lifting as she crossed the room toward the other girl. “Must be nice to not have to bet your life on that assumption.”
“Oh don’t be overdramatic. The way I hear it, you’d be dead anyways if Mr. Bennick hadn’t found you when he did.”
“I—” Sage blinked in surprise. She hadn’t expected Weston to tell anyone about that. “I don’t know if I’d say that’s exactly true.”
“Doesn’t really matter what you say. I wouldn’t believe you anyways.”
Her stomach churned uneasily.
“So you know,” Eliza said, jabbing a gloved finger at Sage, “I am going to tell him you were in here. And you should probably leave now.” She grabbed Sage’s arm, pulling her out of the room.
Sage let herself be dragged past the threshold and into the vestibule near the statue before shrugging off Eliza’s hold.
“Eliza, please don’t. You don’t know—”
“I don’t answer to you.”
“But you do have a heart, don’t you?” Sage practically hissed. “Or are you hoping to see me die here?”
“Right. He’s gonna kill you for snooping,” Eliza scoffed.
“He did tether me, and you didn’t think he’d do that.”
“After you ran and hurt Jonah. I’d have done the same thing if I was him.”
Sage’s shoulders sagged. There was no getting through to her. Obviously, Eliza trusted the benefactor more than she trusted his new pair, and nothing Sage could say would convince her otherwise. The girl was blinded by a misguided loyalty that Sage didn’t share.
“So this is how it’s gonna be?” Sage asked dully.
“It is.”
“You’re just gonna sit around and babysit me until Weston gets back?”
Eliza nodded once, raising her chin defiantly.
Sage sighed, sinking down onto the bench. She cradled her head in her hands.
“You do know he did say I could look around,” she mumbled t
hrough her palms.
“Exploring the estate is one thing. Snooping’s another.”
Letting out a slow breath, Sage leaned back against the statue. Her eyes rested on the elbow-length gloves Eliza was wearing. She’d been wearing a similar set the first time they’d met, but this pair was a darker color.
“What’s with the gloves?” Sage asked, hoping a change of subject would put her more at ease.
“I like them.” Eliza glared at Sage. No hint remained of the carefree girl she’d met a month earlier. “Wanna know why I picked this shirt out too?”
Sage held up her hands in mock defeat. “Eprah’s name. Sorry. I thought you were all for me asking more questions to get to know people.”
“To get to know Mr. Bennick,” Eliza corrected her. “There isn’t much point of us getting to know each other, is there?”
“You can’t be ser—”
“After the way you treated Jonah, I think know everything I need to know about you.” Her eyebrows gathered together, bitterness leaking into her voice. “What kind of a person just hurts someone—uses someone—like that?
“I take it you aren’t planning anymore late night chats with me about our pairs, then?”
She returned Sage’s sarcasm with a cold stare.
“Eliza,” Sage said slowly, “maybe you don’t get what I did, but you do get what it means to care about someone.”
Eliza’s eyes narrowed into slits.
“I cared about someone too,” Sage continued quickly, a lump forming in her throat at the thought of Everett, already fading too quickly into the distance as an echo. He was a remnant of a past—a life—that didn’t even seem like hers anymore. “And now he’s gone, and I’m stuck with a total stranger away from everything I’ve ever known. You’re really telling me you don’t get why I’d try to run?”
Indecision flickered across Eliza’s face, but then she pursed her lips and looked away. “He protected you. He won’t hurt you.”
Sage clenched her jaw. Sure, he’d protected her once, but he’d probably just done that so that he could have her all to himself. It didn’t mean anything. An image flashed to the front of her mind, an all-too-recent memory of Weston’s face contorted in anger the other night when another benefactor had tried to take her for himself.
“He already has,” Sage whispered, rubbing her bracelet.
She had no say in her own life anymore. She was tethered. His. He would continue to treat her as a possession—some sort of strange collectible that he could display on his shelf—until she could find a way to break free.
Silence fell between them, and Sage didn’t bother trying to make it any less awkward. Eliza had gone from friendly to hostile, and frankly, Sage thought it was unfair. Maybe being raised on an estate meant that Eliza didn’t really realize how lucky she’d been—how the rest of Eprah was a terrible, back-stabbing place where everyone did the best they could just to survive. Maybe she didn’t know that it was wiser to run from fights that couldn’t be won—that Jonah’s bruised ego was a small price to pay in the name of Sage’s freedom—or anyone else’s, for that matter. If it meant she could escape this place, escape the benefactor’s hold on her, she’d do it again in a heartbeat. And she had a feeling they both knew it.
“Come on, Sage.” Eliza nudged her foot. “I’m not just supposed to babysit. Mr. Bennick had a few other requests.”
Sage shot her a confused look. “Like?”
“Like making sure you can hold your own on the back of a horse.” A knowing smirk crept over Eliza’s face as she started walking down the hallway, not waiting for Sage to follow. She called over her shoulder, “Apparently, you’re not very good.”
“Thanks,” Sage muttered under her breath, hurrying to catch up.
It seemed Weston had thought through at least a few ways to keep her occupied in his absence. Unfortunately, that left little time for independent exploring.
But one way or another, she’d find a way to get into that locked room.
15. LOOSE LIPS
Wind whipped against Sage’s face as the horse’s hooves slapped the sand beneath the shallow surf. The sea’s spray nipped at the bottom of her pants, drenching her calves in a mist that chilled her to the bone, reminding her that the weather wasn’t as forgiving this time of year.
Her hair bounced against her shoulders, waving loosely behind her. She probably should’ve pulled it back to avoid having to comb through a tangled mess later, but she found she actually preferred it down when riding. Something about it made her feel freer—even if she was still stuck inside a tight loop within the estate’s boundaries.
Shivering, she pulled on the reins, directing the horse back to the stable. Maybe it had been a mistake to go for a ride along the beach before breakfast, but at least she could warm up in front of the fire when she got back inside.
This morning’s ride had been short, but she’d enjoyed it all the same. It was the only time she knew she’d actually be left alone. Eliza had been glued to her side ever since she’d discovered Sage going through Weston’s room, but her dutiful watchfulness didn’t seem to extend past the walls of the manor or the other buildings. Probably because there was nothing worth uncovering in the open fields or along the beach. Once Sage no longer needed help preparing her horse, Eliza had left her alone in the stable, giving Sage a lot more time to ride solo. She was pleasantly surprised to find she actually enjoyed it, and she’d spent a lot of her spare time practicing.
Originally, she’d planned to use her time alone to go through Weston’s bedroom suite and office, but when she’d tried again, the doors were all locked. She couldn’t so much as set foot inside his suite, let alone try to find a way into the room of tech he had hidden away in there. Martha’s doing, probably, and most likely at Eliza’s request.
When her horse clopped its way back into the stable, her breath caught in her throat. Weston. He was back and sitting atop his horse so casually that she had to wonder if he’d been waiting there just for her.
“You’re up early.”
“You’re back,” was all she managed in response.
“Indeed.” He swung his leg over the horse, dismounting.
“When did you—”
“Just now.” Weston tied his reins to the wall and moved next to her, stroking the side of her horse as he captured her gaze. “Though I’ll be leaving again shortly.”
“Oh.” A twinge of some foreign emotion pricked at her. Disappointment? Surely not. Other than another opportunity to find a means to escape, his absence meant nothing to her. “When?”
“In a few hours.”
“Oh.” She blinked, dismounting her own stead quickly.
“And you’re coming with me this time.”
Sage turned and looked at him sharply.
“Is something wrong?”
“I was under the impression…” She hesitated. “I didn’t think you wanted me around when you discussed business.”
A grin slid over his face. “This isn’t business. It’s pleasure.”
Her stomach gave a rebellious flip as she stared up into his eyes. She berated herself inwardly. He could mean anything by that—and whatever he did mean, it was probably nothing good. “I don’t—”
“Well, I’ve never had a pair before,” he interrupted, “but I’m pretty sure it’s a good idea to do something to acknowledge her birthday.”
Her lips parted in surprise at the teasing twinkle in his eye.
“I didn’t realize you knew,” she said dumbly, realizing even as she said it that her birthday was a relatively small detail compared to everything else he knew about her.
“Mmm. I am quite knowledgeable.” His lips twitched in amusement as he tied up her horse’s reins. He pressed a hand to the small of her back, guiding her toward the house.
Sage gulped, nerves building in her stomach as she walked beside him. She didn’t want to tell the benefactor about how she’d been snooping through his things, but for the sake of her san
ity, she needed to know how much he knew. “Did… did Eliza tell you?”
Weston stared straight ahead. “Martha did. I haven’t seen Eliza yet,” he said calmly.
Her heart beat faster in her chest. She’d brought up the fact that she’d overstepped her bounds, and he hadn’t even flinched. His coolness was more than a little unnerving. “I wasn’t—”
“I expected as much. You really didn’t waste any time.”
She licked her lips. “It was really a misunderstanding. I wasn’t trying to—”
“No lies,” he said harshly, grabbing her arm to pull her to a stop. A sudden fierceness flashed behind his eyes as he looked at her with obvious frustration. “I’ve dealt with enough half-truths to last several lifetimes. We can talk about your misguided curiosity later. Right now, I need you to get ready.”
Nodding, she fell silent, curling and uncurling her fingers at her side as she waited for him to continue. He said nothing more, simply steering them both toward the house once more.
As she fell back in sync with his stride, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was referring only to her lies or someone else’s.
***
“Are you excited?” Weston raised an eyebrow at Sage from across the table.
She swallowed the oversized piece of lamb she’d just shoveled in her mouth, wincing as it went down. “About?”
“Getting more Chances.”
Taking a sip of the pale gold liquid in front of her, she shrugged. “Didn’t think it really mattered anymore.”
Weston’s jaw stiffened. “I wouldn’t expect you to be so glib about your life.”
“I’m not.” She bit back the more sarcastic retort that rested on the tip of her tongue. “I just don’t see the difference between ten Chances or a hundred. Not as long as you’re my pair.”
“Meaning?”
“Simple.” She tapped the edge of her fork, then set it down against her plate. “You can take away all my Chances any time you want,” she began.
“I have no intention of doing that.”
“Unless I give you a good reason, right?”
