Chapter 6

Ava POV

I was trying to heal. Or at least, I was going through the motions.

The safe house was quiet, more of a tomb for the woman I used to be than a sanctuary.

Then the door burst open.

It wasn't an assassin. It was Ethan.

He strode in like he owned the very air I breathed, bringing the sharp scent of rain and expensive leather with him.

Ben Carter trailed behind him, eyes fixed firmly on the floor, clutching a medical bag like a shield.

"You look terrible," Ethan said.

He didn't sound concerned. He sounded annoyed, like a mechanic looking at a broken engine.

"Get out," I said. My voice was raspy, scraped raw from disuse. "We have an agreement. I signed the papers."

"Papers are for lawyers, Ava. Blood is forever."

He signaled to Ben with a sharp jerk of his chin. "Check her."

"No." I backed away until my legs hit the metal edge of the cot. "I don't need a checkup. I need you to leave."

Ethan erased the distance between us in two long strides. He clamped a hand onto my shoulder, his fingers digging mercilessly into the bruise from the fall at the gala.

"Don't be difficult," he hissed. "Ben needs to make sure you're... viable."

Viable?

I looked at Ben. "What is he talking about?"

Ben finally looked up, his gaze trembling. His eyes were wet. "I'm sorry, Ava. He didn't give me a choice."

Before I could scream, Ethan pinned my arms to my sides. He was strong, terrifyingly so. I struggled, kicking at his shins, but he didn't even flinch, like I was nothing more than a tantruming child.

"Do it," Ethan commanded.

I felt the sharp bite of a needle in my neck.

"No!" I tried to twist away, but the room was already tilting sideways. "Ethan, please..."

"Shh," he whispered, smoothing my hair as my knees gave out. He caught me, lowering me onto the bed with mocking gentleness. "It's for the greater good. You'll understand."

The world went black.

When I opened my eyes, the smell hit me first. Antiseptic. Bleach. Old blood.

I wasn't in the safe house.

I was in a room with concrete walls and fluorescent lights that buzzed like angry hornets. I tried to move my arms, but heavy leather straps bound my wrists to the metal rails of a hospital bed.

Panic, cold and sharp, flooded my veins like ice water.

"She's awake," a voice said.

I turned my head. Ethan was standing there. Next to him was a gurney.

And on that gurney lay Chloe.

She looked pale, sickly. But when she saw me, her lips curled into a weak, triumphant smirk.

"Hi, sis," she rasped.

"Ethan," I choked out. "What is this?"

Ethan walked over to me. He looked calm. Rational. It was terrifying.

"Chloe is in renal failure," he said simply. "The years of... lifestyle choices. Her kidneys are shutting down."

My blood ran cold.

"And?"

"And you're a match," he said. "We checked your file years ago. Just in case."

"No," I whispered, horror clawing at my throat. "You can't."

"It's just one kidney, Ava," he said, casual as a neighbor asking to borrow a cup of sugar. "You have two. You owe this family. You owe me."

"I owe you nothing!" I screamed, straining against the straps until the leather burned my skin. "I saved your life! I gave you ten years! You killed my baby!"

"Don't start with the hysterics," he snapped, dismissing my agony with a wave of his hand. "This is happening. I'll compensate you. A million dollars. Cash."

He was buying my body parts. He was harvesting me like livestock.

"Don't struggle," Chloe said from the other bed, her voice dripping with venom. "You're just property, Ava. You always were."

Ben Carter stepped into my line of sight. He was wearing surgical scrubs. He looked like he wanted to vomit.

"Ben, please," I begged. "Don't do this."

"If I don't," Ben whispered, leaning down to check the IV line, refusing to meet my eyes, "he'll kill my sister. I'm sorry, Ava."

Ethan leaned over me one last time. His face was close, too close.

"This is your final service," he said. "Do this, and we're square."

He nodded to Ben.

Ben injected something into my IV.

"Ethan!" I screamed, the darkness rushing in fast this time, a tidal wave of nothingness. "I will kill you! I swear to God, I will-"

The words dissolved into silence.