SAGE
Islid my phone into my front jeans pocket before grabbing my small duffel bag. I glanced at the open door and debated running across the hall to the bathroom. My car key had been in the tampon box ever since I’d hidden it there months ago. A thump came from the living room, and my chest constricted, not knowing what was going on.
My hands trembled as I grabbed some clothes from the dresser. This wasn’t supposed to happen. I had a plan, and now it was torn to shreds. I had to disappear again before Geo told Alex everything. Fear racked my nerves as I thought about Niko. He was in as deep as me now.
I froze when the screen door creaked open. Someone had either left the house or come inside. What if Alex had come home? I waited to hear anything else, but it was silent. Creeping to the doorway, I peered down the hall. All I could hear was my deafening heartbeat. I tiptoed down the hall, a lump growing in my throat when I saw Niko slumped on the floor.
Running to him, I fell next to him and rolled him onto his back. I blinked back tears when his chest rose and fell. Blood ran down the side of his face from a gash on his temple. Fuck, I couldn’t handle any more death.
“Niko. Wake up.” I shook him hard, but he didn’t move. “Come on. Get up.”
The screen door creaked again, and I scrambled to my feet, spinning around. Geo was already rushing toward me, and I didn’t have a chance to move before his arms wrapped around my waist, knocking me down. Pain ricocheted through my skull when the back of my head smacked the floor. I flailed my arms, not seeing where I was swinging as the room spun.
“Don’t make this worse on yourself,” he grated out when my palm connected with his ear.
“Fuck you,” I screeched, knowing I wasn’t going to get out of this alive if he did whatever he was planning.
Panic suffocated me when he got a hold of my arms. A ripping sound filled the room before something sticky wrapped around my wrists, securing them together in front of me. His weight shifted on top of me before he grabbed my ankles and taped them together too. He climbed off me, and I struggled against the duct tape as he moved toward Niko.
“What did you do to convince my brother to protect you?” he asked as he started dragging Niko toward the front door. “To turn his back on everything he’s ever known?”
“He hasn’t,” I forced out. “He refuses to tell me anything about your society.”
He stopped and stared at me. “He was about to let you walk out that door, Sage. Don’t fucking lie to me.”
Before I could respond, he dragged Niko onto the porch, and I heard the duct tape ripping again. Wriggling around, I managed to sit up. The tape wouldn’t budge when I tried moving my wrists. Reaching down, I began tugging at the tape around my ankles but got nowhere before Geo came back into the house.
“I’m not sure Alex will be surprised when he finds out.” He crouched down next to me, one of his eyes swollen from Niko’s hits. “His patience with you warming back up to him was already at the breaking point.”
I screamed in protest when he flipped me over his shoulder. He carried me outside and set me down on the porch with my back leaning against the side of the house. Looking to the other side of the porch, my gaze landed on Niko. His hands were taped above his head to the metal railing. Guilt washed through me. I’d heard what Geo had said earlier. The society would never trust him again. His life was on the line as much as mine was.
Geo went to Niko, and I flinched when he hit him across the face. Niko groaned as his head snapped to the side.
“Come on.” Geo hit him again. “I want to talk before Alex gets home.”
“Stop,” I cried out when he punched Niko for a third time. “Please.”
He turned toward me, curiosity flaring in his eyes. “Are you worried about him? I thought you were using him to get out of this. But the look on your face says differently.”
I bit my tongue, not saying a word. Niko’s head rolled as his eyes fluttered open. His gaze was unfocused until they landed on me. He saw my taped wrists and ankles and tried bolting up before realizing his hands were bound above him.
“You know this hurts me as much as it hurts you,” Geo murmured as rage covered Niko’s face. “You’re my brother. My twin. Hurting you goes against everything.”
“The piece of wood in my leg says differently,” Niko snapped.
Geo grabbed my arm, hauling me to my feet. I gritted my teeth, refusing to acknowledge the pain his bruising grip was causing.
“I had to stop you,” Geo said, shaking his head. “Because the group—the secret of our belief—comes before anything. You know that. And you chose to ignore it.”
“I haven’t told her shit.” Niko’s eyes went frigid. “We were fucking. You realize how boring it is being stuck in a house for months? It was a way to pass the time.”
I was positive his words were lies, but they rolled off his tongue with ease. Geo’s gaze darted between us, a vile smirk forming on his lips. My mouth went dry as his free hand slid under my shirt. He grazed his fingers up my bare stomach while his other hand locked tighter on my arm as I attempted to twist away from his touch.
“If it’s only about sex,” he kept his stare on Niko, “then you wouldn’t mind if we shared. Would you?”
“Get the hell off me,” I shrieked, disgust rolling over my skin. A whole new type of terror seized me when he let go of my arm, only to use that hand to fist my hair, wrenching my neck back painfully. I swung my arms toward his gut, but his hand left my stomach and grabbed my wrists.
“Stop,” Niko snarled. “You fucking touch her—”
Geo’s cruel laugh cut him off. “You just can’t stop with the lies, can you? You do care about her.”