As soon as that slimy, freckled dickhead strutted away down the corridor, whistling of all fucking things, I was on my feet and at the door to my cell. I couldn’t see everything from my position on the floor, faking unconsciousness, but I’d seen more than enough. I would rip his nuts off and shove them down his throat.

I pulled a couple of long pins from the hem of my jeans, which got missed in the sloppy pat down they’d given before my asskicking started. Studying the lock, I found no keyhole on the inside. That meant I needed to pick it from the outside.

It only took a second of trying before I realized there was no way in hell my giant fucking mitts were fitting through the tiny squares in the mesh to be able to reach the lock. Shit.

In the cell opposite me, Christina seemed to have woken up slightly from her blackout but flinched at unseen blows and whimpered, begging her memories to stop.

Of course our best hope of escape would be with the Princess, who was right now in the middle of a psychotic breakdown.

Fuck.

Why the hell had I decided to follow her from the house? I could have just as easily woken the boys and left them to deal with their idiotic little girlfriend, but no, Austin the stupid fuck just had to try and save her stupid, sexy ass.

God fucking damn it.

“Christina!” I hissed across, not sure if there were any guards within earshot. When none came to investigate, I tried again. “Christina!” I barked this time, but still she didn’t respond.

What was it with this chick and needing to be saved constantly? Talk about pathetic. I didn’t know how my brother could stand her, let alone Cole and River. Even Wesley seemed to actually enjoy her company, which made me think they’d all been drinking the same Kool-Aid or all suffered some sort of group aneurysm or something.

“Hey!” I yelled this time. “Princess, I need your help with escaping here!” Still nothing... Jesus fucking Christ. I wouldn’t put it past the little drama queen to be doing this to me on purpose. Okay, I didn’t actually believe that. I wasn’t that conceited, but it might just piss her off enough to snap her out of the panic attack.

“I swear to fucking god, Princess, if you are faking your panic attack deliberately to make me worry, then you are the most selfish, conceited, stuck up little bitch that I have ever had the displeasure of knowing!” I yelled again. Hope spiked when her flinching and whimpering seemed to die down a little. She mouthed something, but I couldn’t hear her.

“Speak up, you spoiled brat; I can’t hear you,” I sneered at her. Could she even hear me, or was she still lost wherever it was she’d gone?

She mouthed something again, and it was a weak, raspy word. But I heard it.

“Asshole.”

“Yeah, Princess, it’s me. Asshole.”

She squeezed her eyes tighter shut, huge, wet tears running down her cheeks, and she started to toss her head, as though fighting someone off. Dammit, I needed to keep her focused or she’d go right back into that panic attack.

“Hey, stay with me Christina! Stop ignoring me, you fucking airhead!” Okay, I was scraping the barrel on insults here, but I was pretty sure she wouldn’t remember any of it later. Pissing her off seemed to be the most effective method of getting through to her.

She mumbled something new, but her eyes cracked open just the tiniest bit. Progress.

“What did you say? I don’t speak pathetic,” I jeered at her.

“I said,” she rasped, “stop calling me Christina, you fuck!” The more she spoke, the wider her eyes became. She blinked several times, maybe clearing away the ghosts. I laughed; she was coming back—pale and trembling—but coming back.

“Okay, keep talking to me, Christina.” A tiny spark of relief flared, but she wasn’t near her usual feisty self yet. “You do understand you’re giving those fuckers exactly what they want?”

She frowned. “Huh?”

“Yes, great comeback you ditz. That freak said he’s doing this to break you. Is that what you want? To be broken?”

“What? No... I....” Her trembling subsided, but she was still foggy. I needed to push a little more. Hopefully she wouldn’t kill me later.

“Maybe this is what you deserve. If you’re too weak to even get yourself out of your own memory trap, then you’re too weak to be a part of our team. I told Cal that you were a waste of time from day one, and it looks like I was right.”

I used a deliberate sneer of disgust in my tone and prayed it came out believable. “All you do is put other people in danger trying to save you from your own idiocy. I bet right now the guys are planning some sort of jailbreak for you, and they’re likely to get hurt, just like me, all because Princess Christina is too fucking weak to get herself out.”

She stilled completely, then her eyes snapped open. She focused on me, glaring daggers. The intense rush of relief at seeing her usual fire almost made me stagger, and I leaned against the cell door to stay on my feet.

Come on baby girl, time to kick some ass.