I fingered the cord attached to the blinds. “Do you have any idea how to get to the brothel from here? Or hell, do you even know where here is?
“No.” Flora perked up. “Tell me where we are.”
Glancing at her, I said, “New Jersey.” Her face screwed up like she was in pain. I quickly added, “Come on, this state isn't that bad.”
Shaking herself, she watched the floorboards. “No. It's just that... I'm further away from home than I realized.” Before I could even ask where 'home' was, she fixed a heated stare on me with renewed vigor. “It doesn't matter. I'll find a way back to that brothel somehow.”
In spite of my wishes, I was curious. “How did you get to the brothel in the first place?”
For a second, her eyes unfocused, perhaps deciding if she should answer me. “I went looking for Claudine at her boyfriend's house and...” Flora's lips tightened in disgust. “He drugged me. Fiddle must have been working for those men. I guess he was some sort of, I dunno, one of those guys who picks out the girls who get kidnapped. Sold.” She spit out the last word. I could see her heating up. This Fiddle-guy must have really gotten under her skin.
“Chloroform?” I asked tentatively.
“No.” She looked down at her blanket. “He put something in my drink.”
“Your drink? Hold up, lemme get this straight. You went to a strange guy's house to get answers for your sister's disappearance, he gave you some mysterious liquid, and you actually drank it?” I chuckled at how hopeless Flora was.
Hopeless... The laughter decayed in my mouth. The deal with Roach and the Knights was festering. This growing doubt was becoming an infection. If I didn't find a way to kill it soon, the poison would spread to the rest of me.
Flora's eyes flared wildly. She flew into a defensive anger. “You don't think I know how fucking stupid that was? I've had nothing but time to think about that!”
She was right, I hadn't stopped making assumptions about her since the moment I'd first laid eyes on her. I didn't know a damn thing about this girl, so I held my tongue and let her speak.
Seeing that I wasn't on the attack, she calmed down a bit and continued, this time more earnestly. “I get it. I know how crazy this sounds, I do, but you don't understand. I need to save her. No one cares about people like Claudine.” Flora looked down at her arm and ran a thumb over the fading pink dots. “Or, I guess, me too, now.” Her haunting gray eyes were glossy with water and a deep sadness that felt like more like an old wound than a fresh cut. “If I don't save her, no one will and...”
The finality that seeped into Flora's tone choked the last few words off, but she didn't need to say them for me to know what they were.
And she's all I have.
Flora's words from earlier reverberated within me, punching me in the chest so hard that I skipped a breath. “Yeah,” I said, stopping her from continuing. I needed to swallow the black lump in my throat before I could follow that up with anything.
This is a bad idea, Flora. The Knights are fucking monsters, and what they don't do to you, the people who hired them will. Your sister is gone. Do not go through with this. Those words burned in my mouth, but that's where they stayed. What could I say to her that wouldn't jeopardize the deal I'd set up?
I walked past her, opening the door to the hall. I needed some space from her and my conscience.
“Wait!” Flora cried after me. “You said I could go?”
“I said that I was giving you what you think you want. The Knights will be here to pick you up tonight.” I couldn't look her in the eyes, nor could I contain the somberness in my voice.
“Thank you—”
“Don't.” I put a finger up to stop her. “I'm no better than the rest of them.” I tossed my cellphone into her lap. “Here, call your parents. You have to at least tell someone where you are and where you're going. What you're planning on doing. All of it. It'll be damn near impossible for people to find you, otherwise.”
Flora looked at the phone thoughtfully, then snorted at the mention of her parents. She raised her eyebrows and cracked the saddest little smile I'd ever seen before looking at me wistfully. “I don't have anyone to call.”
She tossed the phone back.
For the first time in my life, I was at a complete loss for words.
Crushing the cell in my fist, I forced myself to stop at the first audible cracking noise so as not to destroy the thing. This girl didn't stand a chance with the Knights, let alone with whichever fucking scumbag slavery ring hired them for transport.
Frustration couldn't begin to explain how I felt at that moment because, even if I wanted to do the right thing, whatever the hell that was, how do you save a person that refuses to be saved?