I frown. “Why not? You care about me. You definitely care about Enzo. He’s in the other room right now, torturing Liesel. She’s suffering. He’s suffering. You can end it all if you just tell me.”
“I can’t,” he repeats.
“Why not?” Maybe the secret is truly so big he can’t spill it. Even to save himself. To save me. To save Liesel. To save Enzo.
We don’t speak, just peer into each other’s souls. What are you hiding, Zeke? What is so important you can’t tell me to stop the pain?
“Because you can’t win,” he finally says.
“What?”
“I can’t let you win.”
I frown. “But I thought…”
Zeke walks over to me and puts his arms on my shoulders, like I’m the one who needs comforting instead of him. He’s the one about to be tortured.
“I can’t let you win because I love you, Kai. And I love Enzo too.”
I nod. “I know that.”
“And I can’t let you win, because you deserve better than this life. Enzo doesn’t know anything different. He doesn’t know how to handle his problems without using his fists or a gun. You haven’t killed anyone. You are still innocent and pure. You can be free when these stupid games are over. You can find a life with true happiness. And if I tell you my secret, then you will be one step closer to being trapped in this life forever. I would never forgive myself if I did that. Enzo would never forgive me. And if you are being honest with yourself, you would never forgive me.”
“Will Liesel give away her secret to help Enzo win?” I ask, my voice filled with hope.
“No.”
“Why not? She’d rather him win than me.”
“Probably, but I know what her secret is. She’d rather die than share it with Enzo.”
“Enzo won’t torture her. He loves her,” I say.
He doesn’t blink as he says his next words, “Not as much as he loves you.”
My eyes water. I’ve wanted Enzo to show me he loves me this whole time. I want him to tell me he loves me. But not like this. Not by keeping me from torturing a man. Not by keeping me innocent. Not by hurting the only woman he ever loved before me. Not by breaking his own promise to her to keep her safe.
“Don’t hurt her,” I send out a plea to Enzo. If neither of us tortures our prisoner, then neither of us can win. But then I’m pretty sure we’d all die in these cabins, because I’m sure the rules that Archard is following states to not let us out of these rooms until one of us has extracted the secret.
“What do I do?” I ask Zeke.
He opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted by another horrendous scream. Liesel’s scream.
Fuck, I’m out of time to decide. Enzo has chosen. And he chose to torture Liesel.
I feel the tears drop down my cheek as a tiny crack in my heart forms. Enzo isn’t perfect. Far from it. But I love him. I love how fiercely he protected me, even from himself, but can I forgive him for hurting a woman as broken as I am?
Zeke’s eyes are filled with moisture too, and I know his heart is breaking just as mine is, but he won’t relent. He won’t tell me his secret, because he needs Enzo to win, at all costs. And the cost this time, might be too great.
“What do I do?” I repeat my question.
“Whatever you need to,” Zeke answers.
Whatever I need to.
What I need to be able to live with myself.
What I need to do to save Enzo.