Forbidden (Blood Ties #7)

There was nowhere to go but backwards until my heels hit the wall.

“You wanted this. Youbeggedfor this,” He snarled.

I shook my head. The fog inside my head was so thick. “No.” I whispered.

You were the one who wanted this.

His grip around my arm eased, leaving the throbbing marks of his fingers behind. “Your mind is shattering and remolding into someone else. We tried to warn you this would happen. But you wouldn’t listen, Helene. You put your sisters above your own sanity.”

Helene?

Was that my name?

I tried to remember.

“My sisters?” I whispered.

The faint sound of voices drew his focus. His jaw clenched before he stepped backwards, dragging me with him. “Come with me. I need to push you harder. I need to make sure you can withstand this.”

My head snapped backwards with the sudden jerk. I staggered forward, dragged along as he turned and took me along a corridor.“Withstand what?”I urged, trying my best to yank my hand from his.

He didn’t answer, just pulled me through one more set of doors toward a door at the end of the corridor. There were no overhead lights down here, just faint white floor lights to illuminate the way.

“Withstandwhat?”I said louder as he opened the locked door and shoved me through.

I stumbled into the darkness. The slaps of my bare feet were the only sound, until they too were gone. There was nothing but total darkness and that chilling sense of eeriness…just like the blindfold.

Theclickof the lock sounded far too loud, making me jump before that low, throaty rumble came. “No one can hear you here. But they can see you.”

I spun around, searching for him in the pitch-black dark. “I can’t see…”

“It’s called a sensory deprivation room, designed to limit stimuli from the normal world. Everything in here is…heightened.”

I spun around, searching for him in the dark. “Where are you?”

“Here.” The whisper was in my ear.

I turned, swinging out my hand, and found nothing but air.

“I tried to program you along with the others, but you are determined to fight me every step of the way, aren’t you?”

My pulse was booming. Panic surged with every whisper. “Who are you?” I searched the room. “What is this place?”

“You know where we are, Helene, and you know why you’re here.”

But I didn’t…I didn’t know—

I was grabbed from behind and pulled backwards until I slammed against his warm, hard chest. His hand wrapped around my throat. “I never understood desire until I felt my hands here.” He murmured. “Every session we had, I envisioned it, and now…now, I can’t seem to get it out of my head.” He shifted, his other hand rising with a small remote in his grasp. “Now, you remember what I said. They can see you, but they can’t hear you.”

He pressed a button and a tiny red light came on in front of me.

From the washed-out blood red light, I caught sight of a camera. One that was pointed at me.

“You don’t have to smile.” That soothing voice murmured, his breath warm against my neck. “But you need to play along. After all, this is what you wanted, wasn’t it, Helene? For your sisters. You remember your sisters, don’t you? Ryth and Vivienne. You want to protect them. You want to keep them safe and far away from this place, don’t you? This is why we’re doing this.”

Memories collided.

Faces that should be familiar.