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didn’t trust me not to turn around and free Charlie, but he didn’t have to worry. There was no way I’d help Charlie.
    It was dark inside the back of the van, and that made me ultimately embrace it, letting it cover me like a warm blanket.
    Charlie hadn’t moved at all. That didn’t mean he wasn’t awake and I wondered what he’d say if I answered all the questions Mathias and Bishop asked.
    He’d have you arrested. Which was better than him trying to sell me.
    My belly was a tight knot, especially as I realized how close I’d been to being sold... “Who would that man have sold me to?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
    Bishop and Mathias kept their eyes straight ahead, but Mathias put a hand up and signed and, after a beat, Bishop translated. Keller typically sells the women he gets to the Albanian mafia. In Albania. Because you’re important ...
    “I’m going to be sick. Please pull over.”
    They didn’t—not right away—and I held a hand over my mouth and tried to keep the bile down. These were suspicious men who no doubt thought I was trying to escape. “Please,” I managed and Mathias jerked the van to a stop.
    I lunged for the door and Mathias was next to me, holding my hair and rubbing my back, a silent presence far stronger than any words could’ve been.
    When I finished getting sick, he handed me a towel and water. He pulled the bottle from my lips when I started gulping. And finally, he handed me a piece of peppermint candy, the kind my grandmother used to keep in a dish on her dining room table. There were always butterscotch candies in there too, but the signature red-and-white candies were my favorites. Grandma always used to sneak them to me, then say, “You and me, Jessa, we’re so alike.”
    We were, right down to our names. I thought about what she’d tell me now, how strong she’d had to be growing up and I knew that she was rooting for me. That she’d guide me, if I’d let her.
    I’d never believed in that before, but I needed something to believe in out here, in the desolate world where everything I’d once known had changed. And even though I hadn’t liked my life before the Chaos, at least it had been the devil I knew.
    Now, there were far too many devils and not enough angels. The man next to me was definitely a mix of both and my cheeks heated as I realized I’d been staring at him, studying him. He gave me a small grin, like he knew, like he was used to women staring at him that way, and I let him help me up off the dirt and back into the van.
    Mathias finally unwrapped the candy for me and held it in front of my lips until I took it from him. The peppermint flooded my mouth, a comfort and a practicality for the nausea and the nasty taste in my mouth all at once. When he helped me back to the van, he put me into the passenger’s seat. Bishop was sitting where I’d been.
    “Sitting up front makes you less carsick,” Bishop offered, even though we all knew that carsickness hadn’t been the only issue. But the more space I could put between me and Charlie, the better. I kept waiting for Mathias to tie my hands but he didn’t. When I drifted off to sleep, I thought maybe they’d drugged me with the water. The more likely culprit was the slow rock of the van, the radio, my head resting on the seat that was already in a perfect semi-reclined position.
    For all I knew, these guys worked for my parents and were bringing me back to them. When I caught myself praying that wasn’t the case, I knew there were a lot of things I needed to figure out, and fast.
    I woke, screaming and kicking. It only took a few moments to realize that I wasn’t gagged or in chains, the way I’d spent most of the past two weeks, at the LoV’s mercy.
    Mathias was the first one to come into focus. He was signing to Bishop’s voice. You’re all right , Jessa. Take a breath.
    I did. And I realized I was holding Mathias’s hand, his palm warm in mine. Holding it like we were lovers,