Chapter 3

At that exact moment, Dad mind-linked her.

“What’s taking so long? Ryan’s first shift has already started.”

Mom hesitated for two seconds and let go of the handle.

“I’ll deal with Ethan after the ceremony.”

Then she walked away.

Inside the cell, my body rested against the cold stone wall, one hand still frozen in the position I had died trying to knock on the door.

I floated helplessly behind her.

Mom.

One turn of your head. That was all it would have taken to find my body.

Late that night, Ryan finally completed his first shift.

When he changed back, he was so weak he could barely sit up.

But the first thing he did after opening his eyes was force himself to reach out to me through our mind-link.

“Ethan, can you hear me?”

“Mom hid the key behind the loose stone in the corner of the dungeon. Feel around for it. You’ll find it.”

“I snuck some food into the old wooden crate in there this morning too. First shifts take a lot out of you. Make sure you eat after you get out.”

Ryan had always remembered.

I had never been particularly strong as a child.

Whenever our parents punished me by refusing to let me eat, Ryan always found a way to sneak food to me.

That morning, before they locked me inside, he had hidden food in the dungeon without Mom and Dad noticing.

But I’m sorry, Ryan. I would never get to eat it.

The mind-link went silent.

The weakness after his first shift was worse than anyone had expected. Ryan had barely managed to finish speaking to me before he passed out.

He didn’t wake again until the following afternoon.

The first thing he asked was, “Is Ethan back?”

No one answered.

Ryan immediately turned to Mom.

“I told Ethan where the key was, but he never answered me. What if something went wrong during his first shift?”

“Mom, there’s a camera in the dungeon, right? Please. Just let me see him.”

Mom frowned.

“He knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s ignoring you because he wants you to worry.”

Still, she pulled up the live feed from the dungeon.

On the screen, my back was turned to them.

Ryan leaned closer.

“Ethan! The key is behind the loose stone in the corner. There’s food in the wooden crate. Come out!”

I didn’t answer.

Mom frowned.

“If you’re done sulking, let yourself out. Your brother just woke up. Stop making him worry about you.”

I remained with my back to them, completely still.

Ryan panicked. He leaned so close to the screen his face nearly touched it.

“Ethan, are you sick? Please turn around and let me see you.”

Mom’s expression shifted. She immediately enlarged the image.

In the dim cell, my body was curled in the corner at an unnatural angle.

She stared for two seconds.

Then she relaxed and gave a cold laugh.

“He’s pretending again.”

When I was younger, I had sometimes played sick just to get her attention.

She assumed this was no different.

“Ethan, you know where the key is. If you have any conscience at all, get out of there! Ryan just awakened, and you’re still making him worry about you.”

Then she turned off the monitor.

I smiled bitterly.

Mom, if you had watched for three more seconds—if you had zoomed in just a little farther—you would have seen that my chest wasn’t moving.

You would have seen the blackened skin around my wrists.

You would have known I was already dead.