Thia opened the door to Jen's prison cell and called, "Jen? It's me." She shut the door and stepped inside but didn't see anyone. "Hello?"

She felt a whisp of touch on her shoulder and turned around. No one was there. She crossed her arms. "Jen, this isn't funny."

She felt something again on her shoulder and when she turned around, Jen was standing there.

"There you are," Thia said. "You didn't have to sneak up on me."

She saw him gulp. He stepped forward but didn't say anything. He grabbed her arm, pulled her close, and kissed her cheek. She was about to say something when she felt a prick in her leg.

She looked down and saw Jen holding a dart gun and tiny dart in her leg. She knew instantly that it was a sleep dart because she was suddenly feeling dizzy and off balance.

Jen murmured something in her ear. "I hope you'll forgive me for this. I had no choice."

Then, darkness.

---

Thia blinked the sleep from her eyes and tried to sit up. Bonds on her wrists did not allow her to get far. She looked around the room, but nothing was familiar. Her eyes landed on a shadowed corner where the ground looked darker than the rest of the room. When she squinted, she realized that it was dried blood. She gulped and hoped that whatever happened to that person didn't happen to her.

The door opened and slammed shut with an ear shattering sound. Thia tensed. She couldn't see who it was.

"Who are you?" she asked.

The bed creaked as the person sat down next to her. "It's me." The person spoke quietly, and she still couldn't tell who it was. They started fiddling with her cuffs.

"Who are you?" she asked again. "I want a name this time."

The person sighed. "Jen."

Thia thought of the dart in her leg. Her pain turned to anger as she remembered what had happened just before that. "How could you?" Her voice was sharp and slowly rising in volume, and she felt Jen flinch. "After... everything... after everything we went through? How could you?" Her voice cracked on the last word, and she felt hot tears running down her face, but she forced herself not to cry in front of Jen. When he left, she could cry and scream and let her emotions out, but for now she was stone.

I am stone, she repeated in her mind as she tried to take steady, even breaths. I am stone, I am stone. No emotions, no feelings... Stone...

Eventually it worked, but Jen still had not answered.

"Well?" she said sharply.

He sighed again. "I'm sorry, Thia. I really am."

"I don't believe you."

I am stone. I am stone.

"Is there anything that I can say to change your mind?"

"No." She responded sharply, without hesitation, yet she knew there was one thing that could maybe, maybe, change her mind. She squeezed her eyes shut and sent the thought away.

Jen must have noticed it because he said, "I think there is." Another sigh, this time softer and almost tender.

He leaned toward her.

She tried to get away, to escape, but her arms and legs were holding her in place. She screamed, and thrashed, and threatened, but he didn't move away. He only got closer.

When he was just millimeters away, she looked him in the eye and said, "It's not fair."

He blinked, concealing his mesmerizing dark blue eyes for a second.

"You can't force someone to love you. You can't force someone to want you. I would run away right now if I could, and you know that. Yet you still want to steal a kiss. Well let me tell you, if you do, you won't like it. It won't feel the same as if it were real."

He blinked again.

"I don't love you. I don't want you. So go away."

Jen turned away as if the blunt truth had just smacked him in the face. "I really am sorry." When he turned back toward her, she saw only pleading in his eyes. Pleading for her to forgive him. Pleading to make things right with her. Pleading for her heart.

She met his pleading gaze with steel in her eyes. She would not forgive him. She would not make things right. She would not give away her heart.

She didn't have to say anything for him to understand. He turned away without saying a word and walked out of her cell.

Thia clenched her fists and felt something dig into her palm. She opened her hand and caught the glint of a metal key.

Jen had provided her with a way to escape.

Did that mean he still cared... or was he setting her up?

I am stone.

---

"Where are they?" Cress's voice came out shrill and filled with panic. Thia, Rikan, Ruby, and the prisoners had gone missing, and no one found any trace of where they could have gone.

"We'll figure this out," Cinder said. She looked confident, but Cress knew she was also panicking.

"They were probably kidnapped again," Iko said.

Kai shot her a glare. "Like that makes it any better."

Iko cringed. "I'm sorry. But at least that means they're still alive."

"They could have been killed," Thorne pointed out.

Cress punched him in the shoulder. "You're not helping."

"Sorry."

Cress scanned the room. Jacin and Winter looked like they were in a deep conversation, Torin was trying to comfort Kai and Cinder, Iko was talking to Kinney, and her and Thorne were, well, doing nothing. She felt that it was useless to try and comfort them because nothing they could say would make it better. As she stood there awkwardly, a guard burst into the room.

"Knock first," Jacin snapped before the guard could say anything. He sighed at his cold tone. Winter had taught him to be a little nicer. "I'm sorry. We're all just really tense these days."

The guard put a fist to his chest. "That is okay. I have good news though."

Everyone looked up and gave him their full attention.

"I know where they are."

---

"Rise and shine little princess!" a sing-song voice said.

Thia groaned and opened her eyes. She looked around the dimly lit room, confused. Where was she? As she looked at the owner of the voice, all the memories of the previous day came slamming back in a rush. She shut her eyes to block it out and opened them again after composing herself.

"Hello, Daeva," she said coldly.

Daeva smiled patronizingly. "Hello, little princess. I heard about your little talk with my brother yesterday. Are you not into him anymore?"

Thia grit her teeth and glared.

"I guess not," Daeva said. "I'll have to break the news to him later. You okay with that?"

"Yes," Thia spat. "Tell him whatever you want. Tell him that I hate him, for all I care."

Daeva studied her. "Alright then. Anyways, I need you for something." She walked over and pulled a key out of her sleeve. She unlocked her cuffs and let Thia stretch her ankles and wrists.

Thia sat up tentatively, not sure if it was a trap. But when Daeva made no move to stop her, she relaxed a little bit.

"Well, Princess, I'm going to go get your brother. Jen will be in here shortly to let you out."

Before she could respond, Daeva walked out, and Jen walked in.

"What are you doing here?" Thia said coldly.

"Escorting you out," Jen said softly.

"I don't need your help," she snapped.

Jen nodded and stepped away as Thia swung her legs off the bed and stood up.

As they walked out, she asked, "Where are we going?"

He pressed his lips together. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you."

"You can't or you don't want to?"

"Trust me, Thia. I would tell you if I could."

Thia snorted. "Trust you? Really? After everything, you want me to trust you? No, I'm good."

Jen said nothing as he opened the door and let her out.

Outside of the cell, it was much brighter and Thia had to blink multiple times to get her eyes to adjust. When her eyes were finally used to the light, she saw Rikan with Daeva standing beside him.

"Rikan!" Thia cried, and ran to hug her twin.

Rikan hugged her tightly and whispered, "How are you? I see you're with Jen."

"I hate him," she said curtly. She didn't need to say anything more for her brother to understand. He only nodded and released her. "I'm glad to see that you're okay."

He smiled. "You too." Thia subconsciously rubbed her wrists where the cuffs had dug into her skin. "If he hurts you again, I will knock the stars out of him."

She gave him a grateful smile. "Thank you. But I don't plan on being near him ever again if I can help it. I thought we had something, but it was clearly too early."

"If you two are done catching up, we have somewhere we need to be," Daeva said impatiently.

They stepped back from each other and followed Daeva into an enclosed room with no windows. The only door was the one they had come in from.

In the center of the room was a cylindrical tube with luminescent blue gel inside. Surrounded by the gel was what looked to be like a young girl. Her shirt and pants were torn, and her hair was a mess. Her skin was covered in cuts and bruises and her eyes were squeezed shut.

"Who is that?" Thia breathed.

Daeva smiled wickedly. "You don't recognize her?"

Thia noticed the red hair and gasped. "Oh stars. That's Ruby."

A/N:

Yay! Chapter 15 is finally out!! I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry that it took me two weeks to get this out. I was just having a little bit of writers block and was busy with school and stuff. I am also writing multiple other stories that I may or may not publish. I also felt that you deserved a longer chapter because it took me so long to publish.

All the Thia and Jen interactions make me cringe a lot, even though I am the one who wrote it. I feel a lot of second hand embarrassment and awkwardness. Do you feel the same?

On and unrelated note, today I drew LSOP329 on my arm because I am weird and obsessed with TLC. I am oddly proud of it.

Enjoy your day!

~Bookworm 😜