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His hands are tense on ers shift doard and dig into my hips As his head leans in, his lips brush the crook ofbut not entering For a ood and I feel like a complete asole when he’s the one that pulls away

"Sorry," he says, setting ood and I… o back and I’ll come here by myself"

"Laylen, it’s fine" I find his ar or there’s nothing around us but dark "I know you won’t hurt ht" He pulls his hand out froht

"Can you see?" I ask "Because I can’t"

"Barely" With reluctance, he takes my hand and leads o on forever Just when I start to think that there’s no end to it, it opens up to a rooain at the sight in front of me A torture chamber with chains and whips and bars And in the center of it all, fastened to a rack, is a girl

Chapter 14

"What is this place?" I whisper, staring at the girl who appears to either be asleep or unconscious She has to be only about eighteen or nineteen, younger thanthe chains hanging fro "I have no idea… I’ve never been down here before"

"Should we…" I irl bound by ropes to the rack "Should we free her?"

Laylen looks skeptical but slowly makes his way over to her I follow closely at his heels The girl looks dead, eyes sealed, her body still

"Is she… is she alive?" I ask Laylen as examines her

He assesses the ropes around her wrists and ankles "Yeah, I can hear her heart beating"

"Should we…" I move my hand for one of the ropes that’s around her wrist "Should I untie her?"

Laylen hesitates then nods, extending his hand for the rope around her other wrist The rack isn’t stretching her liht and shows each one of her bones Her curly black hair is es Her blue dress is faded and frayed and she isn’t wearing any shoes

She remains still as Laylen and I untie her wrists and ankles and she doesn’t budge even when she’s free, her eyes staying shut as she breathes in and out softly

"Maybe she’s--" I start to say, but then the girl’s eyes open

She looks at us then pulls her arms in and bends her knees as she leaps from the rack and backs herself up into the corner where an array of whips hang from the wall

"It’s okay," Laylen says with his hands up in front of hi screaently as possible and covers herto hurt you, but you have got to stop screaht yellow, cat-like eyes scan the roo profusely, then land on rabs onto Laylen’s arms and draws them down so his hand uncovers her mouth

"It’s you," she says in aive Laylen an is-she-crazy look and he shrugs, unsure

"You think you know her?" he asks her

She nods, slipping froets nervous and places himself in between us "She’s the one he talks about all the tiirl with the violet eyes--the star"

"Stephan told you about irl

She glances apprehensively at the top of the spiral stairs and then nods "Yes, the man with the scar"

"Why are you here?" Laylen wonders "Does he have you trapped?"

She cocks her head to the side, exa me over with her unnatural yellow eyes "I’m the half faerie, half Keeper he needs for his plan, so he told me I had to live here" She motions at the torture chamber we’re in "This is my ho at everything "But it’s okay…" she says it as if she’s trying to convince herself "Because I’hter"

Chapter 15

Time freezes No one , but then I see the shock on Laylen’s face and realize itif Aislin and Alex know about her

"No, there’s no way" Laylen shakes his head in denial "Aislin and Alex don’t have a sister"

"I’ely, as if conversing is foreign to her "And they don’t know about estures at the rack "This is kind of like my bed" She says it as if she’s oblivious to the fact that it’s so warped and wrong

"Of course he does," Laylen usted

"Why would he keep you hidden?" I ask,around to Laylen’s side

"Keepers aren’t supposed to mix like that with fey," Laylen explains to ly "There’s so about the blood… too h on the other that creates an iirl and lowers his voice "It s a little off"

"Yeah, I can see that," I say, then turn to the girl "What’s your name?"

She sticks out her hand aardly to shake Laylen’s hand "I’m Aleesa"

Laylen shakes her hand politely "Nice to meet you Aleesa"

I eye over Aleesa’s yellow eyes, dark hair, sharp features and so doesn’t add up "You don’t look like theet my looks from