"Don't let this go on. Look at your wounds. Without treatment, you're going to die," she begged. "Give me the cipher key, and I can take you out of here. We'll give it all up. We'll find somewhere to disappear, and I'll take care of you for the rest of our lives. Please."
"The rest of our lives." I repeated the words and laughed, a bitter sound. "Evelyn, the last time you said that was three years ago. You said we were soulmates, that you wanted to spend the rest of our lives together. And then you sent me to this place."
Her tears soaked the front of her dress.
"I'm sorry. I know I was wrong. But Victor, he..."
"Victor needs me," I finished for her. "Victor needs you to take my research, to take my position. And he needs your mouth to coax the cipher key out of me and unlock the data.
