“No,” I say simply, and the word feels strange and powerful on my tongue.
His eyes widen, disbelief flashing across his battered face before it twists into anger. “What did you say to me,” he growls, jerking the bars again, “I said get me out.”
I shake my head, the motion small but deliberate, and step back just enough that he can’t reach me even if the bars weren’t there. “You’re not going anywhere,” I tell him, my hands clenched at my sides, “not yet, and not because you say so.”
For a moment he just stares, his chest heaving as he tries to process the shift, the way the balance has tipped against him, and then his mouth curls into something ugly. “They’ve gotten to you,” he says, voice thick with contempt, “filled your head with their lies.”
A bitter laugh slips out before I can sto
