Player's Princess (A Royal Sports Romance)(131)

“Melissa?”

She looks up and stops mouthing the words and freezes, doe-eyed and pale as a ghost. She’s been cleaned up and wears her hair in a loose ponytail, and she has dressed in a set of white scrubs. She wiggles her toes under the sheets as I approach.

“Penny?” she says, as if she can’t believe it’s me.

She touches my arm and tugs lightly on the sleeve of my dress, testing to make sure I’m really real.

Her voice is tiny and thin. “I asked if you were okay, but they wouldn’t tell me where you were.”

“I’m alright. Have they been treating you well?”

“The doctors scared me, but they went away.”

There’s something childlike in her voice. If I was talking to her on the phone, I’d think she was a twelve-year-old.

“The nurses are nice. They gave me Band-Aids and let me eat lime Jell-O. I don’t think it’s real Jell-O.”

She lowers her voice.

“One of them told me you were with the prince. Is that him outside?”

“Yes.”

“Is he coming in?”

Her eyes. The look in her eyes crushes me. I feel like I’m going to sink through the floor. I gently take her hands in mine.

“No, he’s not. He’s not going to hurt you. Nobody is going to hurt you anymore, I promise.”

“They won’t let me go home. I can’t talk to my mommy and daddy.”

I bite my lip and strain to hold back tears. It’s like she’s completely broken. She notices the tension in my expression and starts to cry softly.

“I want to go home. I hate this place. I keep dreaming that thing is back.”

“What thing?”

“With the sword. It was a demon from hell. I saw it. I saw what it did to those men who were going to hurt us. You didn’t look but I looked. I looked.”

Suddenly her arms are around me. I pull her head to my shoulder and let her sob into my stupid poofy princess dress.

“Why did this happen? I didn’t want this. I only wanted to help people. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I want to go home, Penny. Will he listen to you? Ask him to let us go home.”

I can’t make myself lie to her, but I don’t want to tell her the truth.

“I hate it here. Please.”

I hold her tighter and let her sob until she quiets down.

“I don’t understand why God is punishing me.”

“He’s not,” I tell her. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Her voice changes a little. She sounds more like herself, but the question turns my bones to ice.

“Penny, are we in hell?”

“No, we’re in Kosztyla. They’re… They’re keeping us here for our safety.” I bite off the words, resenting every syllable. “We’ll be able to go home soon.”

I stroke her hair and lean my chin on her head until her breathing grows more even and she stops crying. She falls back on the pillows and covers her eyes with her hands.

“I’m sorry, Penny. Just listen to me. I’m losing it. I can’t take it much longer. I need to get out of here. I want my mom. I just want to hear her voice. Please.”

“I’ll see what I can do. I can’t stay.”

“I’ll pray for you,” she says with an earnestness that gives me shivers. “I pray he doesn’t hurt you.”

“I don’t think he will.”

“He’s evil.”

“I know.”

I stand up and hold her hands for a moment and try to look strong, but I’m going to end up on the floor myself if I don’t get outside. I try not to rush into the hall until the door closes.

As it clicks shut I fall back against the wall and slide down to plop on the floor and stare at nothing.

“Persephone?”

“Don’t,” I say coldly. I look up at him. “Was this supposed to impress me? It’s a nice prison, but it’s still a prison.”

“She needs psychological care.”

“She needs to talk to her mother.”

“I already explained this to you,” he says, clearly fighting to keep his voice even. “If I let either of you leave you will be in mortal danger.”

I point at the door. “That isn’t mortal danger? She’s going nuts in there. She needs real help, not whatever you’re doing to her. How can you be this cruel?”

I look around the hallway and blink a few times. The guards, a couple doctors and nurses, and a few orderlies are all staring at me wide eyed, like they just saw me give birth to a live chicken.

“Get up,” he says coldly. “Do not say another word unless spoken to.”

Shakily I lean on the bench and rise. He takes my arm and pulls me to my feet, not roughly but firmly.

“I was right about you,” I say very softly. “Completely right.”

“What did she ask you for?”

“To convince you to let her leave.”

He looks past me, at the door. “That will not happen.”

“Then let her talk to her family. Please. I’m begging you. She’s been through a lot. She needs to hear a familiar voice. She’s not a machine, my prince. You can’t just have them put her back together like repairing a broken generator.”