Siren Awakened - C.R. Jane Page 0,28
grip.
“Sorry, gorgeous, it’s just that in here, no one needs an excuse to start up a fight. It could be that they woke up on the wrong side of the bed, they were bored, someone beat them up. Who the fuck knows? But they were just preying on you.”
“Maybe,” I answered, unsure. The witches seemed so specific in what they accused me of. And I’d never laid eyes on them before, so how would they know me? And what in the world would I want with their witchy things?
Movement caught my attention to the couple walking right past us, staring our way, then vanished around a corner.
“I know where we can go and be alone,” he suggested.
My knee-jerk reaction was to reject him and walk away, but then I remembered my plan was to make them think I had forgiven them, to gather information about them I could use later. Of course it sucked that he’d just saved me, but that didn’t change anything. He’d lied and used me, so I looked up at him and smiled. “I’d like that.”
He didn’t respond at first, clearly surprised by how easily I gave in. I cursed myself for being so obvious, because in truth, it was so much easier to give in to him than push him away. Maybe this was going to be harder than I anticipated.
Taking a deep breath, I said, “Are we going to just stand here and stare at each other?”
He nodded, and his curious expression cracked with a hint of a smirk. “This way.”
Before long, we were going down stairs, then back up another set, the scenery the same—stone walls and dimly lit corridors.
“Do you know where you’re going?” I asked, gaining myself a mischievous grin. “Or is your plan to make sure I don’t remember my way back? Fooled you, because I’ve been keeping an eye on all the turns we took,” I lied but wanted to see his reaction, which came in the form of him chuckling to himself.
I wasn’t sure how to take that, but I didn’t overthink it. If I let myself go there, I’d have found thousands of reasons to turn around and head back to the main prison sector.
“Do I scare you?” he asked over his shoulder.
“Really? That’s what you think?” I fake laughed.
He shrugged nonchalantly.
“Of course not, but it does feel like you are taking me somewhere far away.”
“You lack trust,” he told me bluntly. Then he paused in front of a wall and set his palm flat against it. He mumbled something under his breath. Next thing, the wall shifted right before my eyes, and the stone evaporated as a black door came forward.
“Whoa, how did you do that?” I stepped forward as he pushed the door open.
He waved me inside, and I entered a large room with no windows, but it had lights overhead. There was a leather couch sitting in front of a large screen television on the wall. In the other corner sat a small counter with drawers and a small fridge.
“What is this room?” I wasn’t sure where to look first but naturally drifted over and flopped down on the couch.
“It’s a secret I created with a lot of magic I borrowed from others in the prison for favors.”
“What sort of favors?” I glanced over the back of the couch at him as he shut the door and wandered over to the make-shift kitchen.
“Mostly stuff from outside these walls. You’d be surprised how much some people will pay for chocolate. Anyway, it’s my small room away from everything when I need to escape.”
“If I had this room, I’d stay here all the time.”
“Well, it’s a secret room for a purpose, and if I want to keep it, I can’t let the guards find out.”
I nodded and slid back into the soft embrace of the couch, suddenly feeling more comfortable than I had in too long. My bed was lumpy and hard. It seemed I’d forgotten what comfort felt like.
Alaric returned, handed me a can of coke and tossed me a bar of chocolate.
I caught it with one hand as my mouth fell open. “Are you kidding me?” Not waiting for a response, I ripped the packet and bit right into the block. Velvety sweet heaven danced on my tongue, and I almost wanted to cry at how badly I had missed this.
Alaric just stared at me, and I gripped the chocolate tighter. “Oh, did you want some?” I took another quick bite.
He chuckled as he