“I think we’re heading back to the US tomorrow. Thank God.”
“You don’t like it here?” I ask, pulling my knees up to my chest while refusing to look at her.
“I hate it in Kiznitch. I’d much rather be performing.”
I giggle, lightly pushing the swing with my body. “Me too, actually. This whole ordeal has been nothing I ever expected.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure, if I can ask you something, too.”
She waves her hand in front of herself, completely turning to face me while curling the ends of her sleeves into the palm of her hands. “Were you ever working for Patience while you were here?” I pause. I know how I should answer this, and that’s probably with a lie, but you can’t run from the lies you speak, because they already have a head start.
“Yes, when I first arrived. I didn’t know it at the time, not until I received a series of text messages. I knew straight away it was Kij. His terminology and the way he texted gave him away.” She remains silent. “From then, I knew what was expected of me as Patience. I entertained it, but not for long. Without even realizing, I found myself enjoying this world.” A sinister laugh slips from my mouth. “Enjoyment wasn’t something I ever thought I would have the honor of feeling.”
Saskia’s hand comes to my thigh. “But then you stopped?”
“I did. I just didn’t know what I was going to do about Kij. Which brings me to my question.” Sass’s eyes flicker to the side. “And you can’t lie to me.”
“I won’t. But whatever I tell you must go in a secret vault.”
“Done.” I go back and forward on whether or not I truly want to know the answer to what I’m about to ask her. “What happened to everyone from Patience” —I bring my eyes to hers—“because you and I both know there’s no way even Mayhem would drop that many bodies at once.”
Sass breathes out a loud sigh, pushing the swing back and looking out to the maze. “The honest to God truth is I don’t know, but what I do know is that you’re right.” She comes back to me. “There were only five bodies that came off that island.”
“And there was over one hundred on there.”
“Hey.” Sass rests her head on my shoulder. “Let’s work on finding out why Patience did what they did, and then we can worry about that.”
The flight back wasn’t as long as the flight here. Apparently, we left people behind to keep an eye on whatever is happening on Patience. At least, that’s what they told me. I still don’t know where everyone from Patience has gone and I find myself panicking every now and then, worrying about Bear and the other girls. The Dolls aren’t bad people, as Kiznitch thinks. They’ve just been broken over and over again without being allowed the time to heal. I doubt any of them would want to listen to my reasoning, but I plan on making them listen anyway.
I’m flicking through my phone to find a song to dance to. I need to shake out all of the emotions that are running through me. Not just Patience, but for everything that has come to the surface when it comes to Kyrin and Eli.
I push play on “Cirque” by Sub Urban, tossing my phone onto the floor in front of me. Saskia told me this is the tent they all use to train in when they are on home soil, so it’s equipped with everything that is in a Midnight Mayhem show, but also has things I’m familiar with. Things they don’t know I can do. Everyone knows me as the sorcerer, sure, but unlike Kiznitch, Patience needs you to be an “all-rounder”. We have to look like we are made of porcelain but ruin people like we are made of steel. The Dolls are Patience’s ultimate weapon. Now I don’t know where they all are…
I can fight.
Better than most, trained by the best, but so are they. I don’t know how I’m supposed to tell Kiznitch this without them spiraling into a panic, or maybe they already know and that is why they have them caged. Do they have them caged? The Dolls are smart. Too smart. No, they wouldn’t have them caged, which means they are loose and most likely lost. Maybe angry. Having six homicidal girls who can all pass as runway models is an absolute problem for us.
I wrap my foot around the aerial silk, pulling myself up and up until I’m almost at the top. The music plays around me like a trance, the perfect distraction from my frail thoughts. Inverting into a straddle, I twist myself into an S-wrap, and once I have my legs wrapped, I bring the silk around my belly before opening my arms wide and dropping all the way to the ground as the beat hits.