I’m setting her free when she’s healed,” I reply. My grip on her wrist grows tighter as I pull her closer to me. “Now tell me exactly how you two escaped.”
“Or what?” she retorts. “You’re going to force me to stay in this room until I die of old age?” Her chest rises and falls faster and faster as her eyes search mine for a hint of mercy. I’ve certainly hit a chord.
A pearly bead of sweat rolls into the crevice of her tits. My eyes can’t help but traipse down as my tongue dips out to lick my top lip. Her body quivers as her eyes pull away from mine to look back at that spot she was standing at mere seconds ago when she was fumbling with the curtains.
My eyes narrow, and I step aside quickly to tear them away. Behind it is a vent leading to the other room. So this is how they forged their little plans.
I grab her shoulders and shove her against the wall. “You were talking with her.”
She makes a face. “I did what I had to do to survive.”
“Survive?” I repeat, grasping a strand of her hair to twist it around my finger. “Is that what you think this is?”
“You’re punishing me for something I can’t even remember,” she hisses through her teeth.
“You asked for this. Yet you refuse to behave like the others,” I reply.
“Because you make it impossible!” she spits back. “I’ve been kept in this room like some pet, and you think it’s strange I’d want to talk to someone?”
I cock my head. “You wanna talk? Talk. I’m listening.”
She slams her lips shut. “As if it’s that easy.”
“It is,” I retort. “If only you would let yourself open up to me …” I tip up her chin, forcing her to look at me instead of trying to look away. “Anna did to Tobias.”
Her pupils dilate. “I don’t believe it. This is all just more mind games, isn’t it?” Tears well up in her eyes. “You had her killed, didn’t you?”
I laugh, and it makes her face contort even more.
“I know you’ve killed people. I just know it,” she says.
I lean in, my grip on her body growing firmer and firmer. “How can you tell?”
Her eyes flick back and forth between mine. “I …”
A fully-fledged smile forms on my lips. “Or is it just that you see”—I tap her forehead—“what you want to see?”
She swallows, visibly shaken by her own confusion and betrayal of mind. She’s unraveling before me, and I want to swallow every delicious speck of her destruction.
Oh … she’s really outdone herself now.
Amelia
I stare into those fiery eyes filled with ruin and pain. Behind those eyes, a monster hides in plain sight. But something else is there too, something beyond that anger and domination … something I can’t quite decipher, but I know it’s the key to unlocking all of this madness.
A part of me wishes I could undo what I just did. That I could stop myself from trying to hide that vent. That I hadn’t ever spoken to Anna in the first place so she’d be safe. So she wouldn’t try to run into the water all by herself just to end things.
But I can’t change the past, and now Eli is here, and we’re facing off again. And for the first time, I feel like I’ve finally taken a bit of power back from him.
I managed to deceive him. Not for long, but long enough to bolster some defiance and show that I’m resourceful. Cunning, even. And the smile on his face proves that I surprised even a man like him.
“You’ve been lonely, haven’t you?” he asks. “Longing for my presence like a solemn little angel.”
The urge to slap him again grows too strong. My hand rises, and he doesn’t intercept this time.
SLAP!
The sound is harsh. Brutal. It even surprises me.
A red mark appears on his skin as my hand lowers, my lips parting in shock at what I just did.
I swallow hard, staring at him, wondering what he’s going to do. If he’s going to punish me. Yell at me. Hurt me.
Instead, he leans in and smashes his lips against mine.
My eyes widen, and I just stand there, accepting this kiss as though I’d been waiting for it all this time. His mouth on mine feels almost natural, as though it was always meant to be there, and it shakes me to my core.
I should fight him, punch him again. Instead, I only