“It was a joke,” I say, though my voice sounds like no more than a squeak. William jerks his gaze over to me, and everyone in the room stops and looks at me. I place my hand on Number Three’s arm, squeezing it to warn her to stop crying. “She is a bit of a trickster, and likes to play with people. I’m very sorry, sir, sometimes she takes it too far. We’re just servers here. William only hired us for the night. I apologize.”

William is staring. I can feel his gaze burning into me. I tug Number Three s Nud us, muttering an excuse me and taking her out into the kitchen. The minute we get out, I spin to her. “Why would you do that?”

“Because he’s holding us here against our will,” she cries, waving her hands around. “I don’t want to be here. All of you have stopped fighting; already you’re just doing as he asks. He’s sick; do you hear me? No one keeps girls against their will if they’re not sick.”

“I haven’t stopped fighting,” I hiss, leaning in close. “I’m just doing the right thing so I don’t get locked down in that basement. How do you think we’re going to find a way out of this place if we keep making mistakes?”

“You’re not going to find a way out,” she snarls, reaching out to shove me lightly. “There is no way out.”

I grind my teeth together, desperately trying to keep my anger at bay. “You don’t know that.”

Before she can say anything else, Bill comes charging in. His face is tight with rage as he stops in front of Number Three, and his hand lashes out, curling around her arm. She cries, and tugs, but it’s no use. He’s not letting her go.

“That was a foolish thing to do. Come with me.”

“Please,” I say, as he begins to drag her off. I don’t know why I’m about to defend Number Three when she won’t listen to me, but I know I have to. No one else is going to speak up. They’re all so afraid. “She didn’t know.”

He spins around, glaring at me. “You all know,” he snaps. “You’ve all been told the rules; they’ve all been made very clear to you. Now get back to work, or you can join her.”

I close my mouth, but my eyes burn with unshed tears. Number Three is too weak to take punishment. There is something missing in her eyes, I can see it. She’s stopped fighting. She believes there really isn’t anything left for her. She can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, and that scares me. When you give up, you stop fighting, and when you stop fighting, there is nowhere to go.

“What happened?” Number Twelve asks, her voice frantic.

“She tried to out Master William in the middle of all those people,” I whisper, knowing my voice is too shaky to use.

“Oh no.”

I swallow, and stare at the empty door.

What is going to happen now?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“Master William wishes to see you, Number Thirteen.”

I’m just in my bed that night, finally beginning to settle when Bill comes in. I don’t want to see William. He’s hurting my friend, and because of that, I don’t want anything to do with him. He’s a monster, albeit a beautiful one, but a monster is a monster, all the same.

“Of course,” I whisper, getting to my feet.

They’re aching, because I worked well into the night. Now William wants to see me. I don’t understand why. Is he going to punish me, and the other girls too? Isn’t that the rule? I’ve been waiting for him to call on me, but when bedtime came around, I figured we were okay.

I guess not.

Bill takes my arm, and leads me out and directly to William’s door. He knocks a few times, and a second later the door swings open to reveal William, still wearing his mask. I guess he just finished up. I lower my head, staring at my f sarid aeet, not wanting to look into his eyes and feel that pull towards him. Not when he’s punishing a broken girl.

“Enter, Number Thirteen.”

He’s calling me that, which means he must be angry.

“I’ll wait outside, sir,” Bill says, closing the door after I step in.

I still don’t look at Master William. I just continue to stare at my feet.

“Look at me,” he orders.

Clenching my jaw, I lift my head and stare into that one mesmerizing eye.

“Why am I here?”

He tilts his head to the side, studying me, and then he speaks. “You’re here because I want to discuss tonight.”

“There’s nothing to discuss,” I say in an empty voice.

His brows scrunch together. “And why is that?”

“You took my friend, you’re likely hurting her. She doesn’t deserve to be hurt. She’s broken, she’s damaged, she’s weak. She doesn’t need someone to break more inside her. She was desperate. Wouldn’t you be? If you got taken from all you knew and had your memories wiped, wouldn’t you feel like there was no escape? She was taking a chance, and you’re punishing her for that. So, unless you’re here to tell me you’re not, then there is nothing to discuss.”

He’s silent long enough for me to hesitantly lift my gaze and stare at him. He’s glaring at me, and boy, does he look angry.

“Your friend made a mistake tonight.”

“She’s scared,” I scream, losing the lid on my anger. “She’s scared, and you’re making it worse!”

He sighs, running his hand over his hair. “What are the rules?”