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I shook my head. “Why would anyone fall for that?”

Jackson looked down. “Zane has a way with people. He’s good at getting inside your head, making you feel special. He’s so manipulative it’s almost … almost animalistic. In the end, you
want
to do things for him.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t care how sweet someone is to me. I would never agree to have sex for money that I can’t even keep!”

“It doesn’t work like that, Addie,” he explained. “Zane picks out girls who already have issues, family, self esteem … that kind of thing. He builds them up and makes sure they depend on him. Then he’ll start asking for favors, but they’re small at first. He makes these girls think that he loves them … ” Jackson trailed off, shaking his head. “And a lot of them are young. They believe what he tells them. And they keep the money at first. He buys them stuff.” He sighed, looking at the card table. “Plus, if you haven’t noticed, Zane exceeds the definition of ‘attractive.' You girls eat that shit up.”

I gently kicked his foot. “Don’t group me with ‘those girls,'” I told him with a small smile.
 

“Sorry,” he said, his eyes smiling back at me. “But you know what I mean.”

“I do,” I said and shook my head. I thought of Arianna and how impressionable she was. I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew she could easily be lured to a party with alcohol, and even drugs. I hoped she was smart enough to see the red flag in Zane’s ‘favors.' I knew many females, not just young teenagers, were willing to turn a blind eye for a guy that showed them even minimal affection.

“What’s going to happen to them?” I asked.

Jackson shook his head. “I don’t really know. Not yet, at least. A lot of them end up running away from home. Zane takes them in and …” he trailed off. “You know the rest.”

I shivered and turned to the milk carton next to the cot. Jackson had placed my plate of food on it. I leaned over and picked up the peanut butter sandwich.

“What if I was allergic to peanuts?” I asked and then felt a little embarrassed at the dumb question.

“It happened before,” he said, knowing exactly what I had meant. “Her name was Jackie. She didn’t even eat it. Just being around peanuts made her throat swell up.”

“What happened to her?”

“She went to the ER and got shots or something. I don’t really know.”

“Nate will let us go to the ER?” I asked.

Jackson tipped his head to the side. “Some girls. It depends on who, and they always use fake names.”

“Oh,” I said and felt a little sick. “So, Zane and Nate.”

“What about them?”

“Nate seems to like Zane.”

Jackson nodded. “Yeah, he does. I have no idea how that relationship started,” he stated, answering my next question. “I always thought Nate liked Zane from the start because he had the looks to bring girls in. Now he has the personality too.”

I moved my head up and down as I took another bite of the sandwich. Jackson yawned, and I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. They were covered up with a fading bruise. “What exactly do you do?”

“Work,” he answered with no hesitation. “I clean, cook, do yard work, drop off and pick up girls, bartend at the club sometimes, work in the restaurant if someone calls off.”

“And you never get paid?”

Jackson let out a snort of laughter. “Oh, sorry. You’re serious?” he asked when he saw my face. “No. Never. That’s not even an option.” He sighed. “Basically, I do whatever Nate tells me to do.”

“Like with Rosie,” I said carefully, knowing that Nate forced Jackson to do things far more unpleasant than housework.

His eyes darted to the ground. “Yeah,” he said quickly and changed the subject. “What kind of dogs do you have?”

“German shepherds,” I answered, and thought of my two over-sized lap dogs.
 

“What are their names?”

“Scarlet and Rhett.”

Jackson smiled. “You like
Gone with the Wind
?”

“Oh my god!” I exclaimed. “You’re one of the very few people my own age who knows who Scarlet and Rhett are! I love that movie.”

“I’ve never seen the movie,” Jackson admitted. “Just read the book more than once.”

“I haven’t even read the book,” I said and looked at Jackson with admiration. His eyes lit up. “Is it good?”

He nodded. “It’s long.”

“Do you like to read?” I asked and took another bite.

“I do. That’s what I do whenever I’m not working.”

“That’s how I used to be. I always had a book with me.”

He smiled at me. “I like the way books smell. Is that weird?”

“Not at all.” I leaned forward. “I have like a million books on my e-reader that I really want to read, but I keep going for my hard copies first. I have a serious addiction to buying books. You should see my bookshelf. It’s overflowing. Literally. Books won’t even stay on it anymore.”

“I would love that. You can never have too many books, right?”

“You are reading my mind.”

The floor creaked above us, and the sound of laughter floated through the air vent. Jackson flicked his eyes to the ceiling. “I should go,” he sighed but made no attempt at getting up. I looked into his eyes and wished he could stay with me.

“Where do you sleep?” I asked, the thought suddenly occurring to me.

“I have a room upstairs,” he said. “I used to stay down here, but Zane thought some of the girls looked at me.” He raised an eyebrow and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe anyone would ever look at him the same way they looked at Zane.
 
“There’s not much—” he cut off and quickly turned his head to look at the stairs.

“What?” I asked, nerves prickling.
 

“Someone’s in the kitchen.”

I stood and waved my hands. “Go! Before you get in trouble!” I walked with him to the stairs. He turned, our eyes meeting again. He gave me one more small smile and jogged up the stairs.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

“ADDIE,” JACKSON’S DEEP voice whispered, waking me up the next day. “Addie, wake up,” he said again and set a basket full of clean laundry on the floor. “You’re having another nightmare.”

He came over to the cot and knelt down, putting his hand on my shoulder. I shot up, breathing heavy. Jackson jerked his hand back, but I caught it, lacing my fingers through his.

“Thanks,” I panted and let go of his hand. I put my head in my hands and rubbed my eyes. I could hear Phoebe shuffling around near the shower. I sat up and blinked in the dim, late morning light. I noticed that Jackson looked absolutely ragged. “Are you okay?”

He slowly blinked, looking as if he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. He nodded. “I’m really tired. Nate wouldn’t let me sleep until those bushes were dug up.”

“Oh,” I said, not knowing what else to say. I slowly shook my head. “That’s horrible!” I finally said. “Why didn’t he make me go out and help you?”

Jackson shrugged. “He said he was punishing me for something I did. That, and I think he’s afraid you’ll try to run again. It’s hard to find people in the dark.”

“I will run again,” I said with no hesitation. “The next chance I get.” I bit my lip and looked at Jackson’s tired face. I whipped around to face Phoebe. “We should leave. The three of us,” I whispered. I turned back around and locked eyes with Jackson. “There’s three of us and two of them. We can do it. We can leave.”

Jackson’s jaw tightened, and he crossed his arms but something sparkled in his eyes, bringing his run-down face back to life.

“Addie,” Phoebe said, her voice monotone. “There no way to leave. We all try, and we all get hurt. It better to stay.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “No! I’m not for sale. You’re not either. Phoebe, don’t give up.”

She gave me a feeble smile. “I no want to get hurt. Not anymore.” The smile faded, and she shook her head. “We have no choice.”

I stood up, my hands curling into fists. “Yes, we do! We always have a choice.” I shook my head, causing my hair to fall into my eyes. “Okay, maybe we don’t have a choice in what is done to us, but we can chose to not give up!”

Jackson took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. Despite looking like he wanted to fall to the ground and sleep for twelve hours, he nodded. “I wish we could, Addie, but it’s not that simple.”

“All we need is a head start.” I continued.

Jackson crossed his arms, deep in thought. “Maybe if we—”

“No!” Phoebe said suddenly. “It won’t work. It never work! You try, I try, she try. We all caught!”

“If we have a plan,” Jackson said, “it could potentially work.”
 

The basement door slammed against the stairwell. We all jumped, wondering who opened the door so quickly. Rubber soles echoed as someone descended down the stairs. The door clicked shut behind him.

“What’s going on?” Zane asked, his voice smooth and seductive.
 

Jackson tensed and picked up the laundry basket, taking a few steps toward the dresser. I hoped Zane would think Jackson was only down here to do laundry.

“Nothing,” he mumbled.
 

“Really?” Zane questioned. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He was holding a white plastic bag. I recognized the logo to be that of a pet store I used to frequent. Scarlet loved when I took her inside. “Because it sounds like you were talking to the girls.” He stepped closed to Jackson. “Did I say you could talk to the girls?”

Jackson’s cheeks flushed as he shook his head. I sensed that he didn’t like me seeing him submit to Zane.

“Good. Put those clothes away.” Zane then turned to face me. “If I’m not mistaken, I believe I heard this one talking about running away. Again.”

I squeezed my hands shut, digging my fingernails into my palms so hard it hurt. “I will run away,” I said through gritted teeth. “And turn you in.”

Zane laughed, dismissing my threat as if it was nothing. “Sure you will.”
 

He brushed past me and set the bag on the card table. He pulled out two plastic dog bowls, making a show of slowly placing them on the floor. He opened a can of dog food and plopped it in one of the bowls. Then he pulled out a metal choke-chain and a brown leather leash.
 

“You,” he said to Phoebe. “Fill this up with water.” He pointed to one of the bowls on the floor.
 

Phoebe tipped her head down and walked over. She leaned away from Zane, trying to stay as far away from him as possible, and picked up the bowl. She pulled back the shower curtain, ready to turn on the water when Zane stopped her.
 

“No,” he said. “From the toilet.”

Her dark eyes twitched but she did what she was told. Jackson took several small, tentative steps toward me. Phoebe carried the full and dripping bowl back to Zane. I wanted her to throw it in his face. She set it on the floor and wiped her hands on her pants.

“Adeline,” Zane said, drawing out my name. He clipped the leash to the chain. “I hear you like dogs.” He looped the chain through itself, making a self-tightening circle. He flicked eyes up at me. I used to think demons only existed on the pages of fantasy books, but in that moment, I knew they were real. I looked into Zane’s sky-blue eyes and saw into his dark, empty soul. A twisted smile pulled his lips up.

He pulled the chain, opening the loop. Then he lunged forward and grabbed my arm. His fingers dug into a sensitive spot behind my shoulder, and pain rippled through me, rendering my body useless. I felt my knees begin to buckle, and he pressed harder on the pressure point. He slipped the cold metal collar around my neck and pulled. I coughed, gasping for air. Using his foot, Zane shoved me forward and onto all fours.
 

“Good dog,” he spat and yanked the leash. My hands flew to my neck and I tried to slip my fingers under the collar. Zane let the leash go slack and I could breath again. “Get a drink, dog,” he said and used the toe of his shoe to strike me on the tailbone.

“Stop it!” Jackson said, rage taking over his broken demeanor. “Let her go!”

“Or what?” Zane laughed. He picked up his foot again, ready to kick me.
 

Then Jackson lunged at him. Zane fell back. The leash was still wrapped around his hand. The chain tightened, and I was yanked back.
 

“Get the hell off me!” Zane yelled.

I twisted around, trying to scramble closer to Zane so I could breathe. I couldn’t see what was going on, but I heard the distinct sound of someone getting punched in the face. I could only hope it was Jackson doing the punching.

Zane moved his arm up, blocking Jackson’s blows. As his arm raised, the chain tightened around my neck. My eyes bulged and I heaved forward. I couldn’t breathe. It wouldn’t take long before I would pass out. And then die.

I tried to stick my fingers behind the chain, but I only scraped away a layer of skin. The chain was too tight. Black dots speckled my vision. I needed air, I needed to breathe. I planted my feet and pushed myself toward Zane where I could see Jackson on top of him. Jackson raised his fist and brought it down, hitting Zane in the mouth. He grabbed the neck of Zane’s shirt and lifted him up before shoving his head down against the ground. He scrambled up and kicked Zane hard in the ribs before scurrying to my side.

“Fuck,” he breathed and shook his head. He grabbed the leash and yanked, making Zane slide forward. As soon as it was loose, Jackson unclipped it and pulled the collar over my head. I put my shaky hands against his chest and looked into his eyes. Jackson placed his hands on my arms and nodded, understanding my unspoken question. He stood and pulled me to my feet.

“Phoebe,” I panted and looked behind me. “Come with us!”
 

With his hand still wrapped around mine, we ran up the stairs. My heart was pounding when I reached the door. The knob slipped from my grasp as I madly turned it. When I finally got my trembling under control, I threw the door open.

“What the hell is going on?” Nate demanded, standing in our way. The air slipped out of my lungs and I suddenly felt dizzy. My head swam as my choices buzzed through my brain. In a split second, I decided to push past Nate and run.

But he was faster.