Prologue

PROLOGUE

Gritting my teeth, I swallow the taste of my own blood, my nails breaking as I claw at the rails of the bed. My legs thrash against the restraints, my arms too.

My head is thrown back in agony as it blisters through me like a flame.

The blade slides deeper into my stomach, and I lift to watch the blood well on my abdomen before I glare at the scientist above me.

He doesn’t spare me a glance.

“You’re dead,” I warn, my voice choked.

He ignores me as he plunges his hand into my stomach, making me fall back, and finally, the trapped howl of agony rips through the lab before I pass out.

When I wake up, I feel him above me, watching and judging.

He pulls me apart just to put me back together again like a cat playing with a spider. Forcing my swollen, grimy eyes open, I find my stomach stapled, but I’m still tied down and coated in sweat and blood.

My father stands there with a pen poised above a notebook. “How do you feel, Novaleen?”

“Fuck you,” I croak, my voice raw from screaming.

His eyes narrow impatiently before he repeats the question harder.

“How do I feel?” I echo, my tongue thick. “Like when I get free, I’m going to rip you apart to see how you like it.”

Dropping the pen, he leans in with a cruel twist of his lips. “Oh, but you won’t be getting free, will you? Not again.” With those parting words, he departs.

He leaves me screaming and fighting, trapped again.

Once again, I have been reduced to an experiment.