No. You can’t think this way. Your survival is worth a few days of discomfort.
A few days.
Something tells me that I’m going to be stuck here a lot longer than that, but one can hope. After all, I’ve already found evidence of Valentine’s horrific crimes … I just need to figure out a way to let Dante and Seven know.
Assuming they’re still alive.
Assuming I didn’t murder them.
These thoughts send me into a whole new spiral as I suddenly realize what it will mean for me if they’re dead.
Keep yourself together, Evelyn. This isn’t the end. Not yet.
I have to hold onto hope. After all, my father knows I’m here, and so does Luci. If Dante and Seven are alive, they’ll know where I am before too long.
All I have to do is stay alive. That should be simple enough seeing how I have eighteen years of experience of doing just that, right?
I have to hold back a snort of laughter at this, and just in time too, as Valentine suddenly turns to look at me.
“Take your pick,” he says, waving to another case.
I step toward it, eyeing the items within. Though the bras and underwear inside are much less revealing, there are still no corsets in sight.
I let out a little sigh, stepping back from the case.
“You seem disappointed.”
“No, not at all,” I say hastily. “Everything in here is exquisite.”
“But?”
“But I was hoping for something a little more … structured?”
Valentine raises an eyebrow at this. “Such as?”
“Something like a corset?”
He eyes me for a long moment, his expression unreadable as he considers my suggestion.
“You continue to surprise me. Perhaps my son isn’t as much of an idiot as I thought. Come.”
I have to bite my tongue to keep myself from trying to defend Dante.
We continue on, winding our way through the maze of cases until we reach what I can only guess is the back wall of the room where there’s yet another black door. Valentine pulls it open, and waits for me to step through. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t to be back in the main hall.
I spin around, confused, as Valentine moves into the hall to join me.
“What, how?”
“You’d be surprised how many girls fall for the charms of that room,” Valentine says, not really answering my question as he guides me further down the hall and around a corner. The next door he stops in front of is so inconspicuous, I almost miss it in the dim light of the corridor.
Pulling out a key, Valentine unlocks the door before stepping back and motioning for me to open it.
I hesitantly step forward and reach for the doorknob. Turning it, I slowly open the door to reveal a room unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
My heart skips a beat in my chest, my stomach knotting as I take a step backward only to be met with Valentine’s body blocking my escape.
“No,” I whimper as he walks me forward into the room. I struggle against him, but of course, it’s of no use.