“You said you don’t lie.” There’s a desperation in my voice that I wish I don’t have.
He presses closer to me. His hand comes to rest on my thigh and I feel the shock of it zap right up my spine. “I don’t.”
I lick my lips. He tracks the motion. “Are you going to kill me?”
Silence hangs between us and I could choke on it. Perspiration trickles down my back as the blood drains from my face. Fear. It’s been so long since I’ve tasted it. It’s vile.
His fingers squeeze the tender flesh of my thigh as he leans in. I suck in a shaky breath but I keep his gaze. He then does the unthinkable. With his cheek almost kissing mine he breathes me in. So very much so how a predator would their prey before devouring them.
“You do fear death,” he states calmly.
“Yes,” I confess. “I fear death if it’s not by your hands.” It’s a terrifying truth. I believe for an unmerciful man he would bestow that upon me.
I feel his breath against the shell of my ear. “You’d think I would spare you pain?”
“Yes,” I breathe.
“How presumptuous of you. What makes you believe I wouldn’t torture you for hours? Or send you back to your mother land in pieces like I did Dougal?”
It had been him. Whispers of horror had infected the region. What man could do such a thing and not be more animal than man? Piece by piece he had come back. Wrapped like meat you would buy at the butcher shop. Every piece of him went to an integral member of The Murphy Family. A message was certainly sent. It just wasn’t enough to stop what my Pa and Niall had already begun.
“You wouldn’t,” I tell him. He tilts his head waiting for an explanation. “You treated my wounds. Despite my pride you’ve been trying to keep me well fed. Not to mention you just threatened one of your own for being near me. So, if I am to dieand it’s by your hands I believe you will show me the mercy of a quick death.”
He considers my words. Mulls them over in his head. Dissects them. Then he seals both of us fates as he declares, “My death is a promise by you as your death is a promise by me.”
One shouldn’t find comfort in that. Yet a weight lifts from upon my shoulders.
He removes his hand from my thigh and I feel the absence of it, the lack of warmth he unknowingly provided. Before he walks away from me he tenderly traces my jugular vein. It pulses wildly. His lips kick upwards. Then he returns back to the shadows. But I can still see the ghost of a smile on his face.
Death is smiling at me and I’m smiling back.
CHAPTER 15
Imogen
Ifound trust in the enemy.
Foolish, I know. Believe me. But if I can find a slither of common ground maybe I can manipulate him into a false sense of security. It’s a long shot. A hail mary. I’m exhausted from all other options. This is the only one. This is my only play to win my freedom.
The smile slips from my face as the light fades and I can clearly see my parents on the screen.
My heart shatters into millions of pieces as I look at ma.
Reddened and swollen eyes with heavy bags underneath. Cheeks flushed. Nose a blistering red. In the three days of my absence ma looks as if she’s aged twenty years. Worry lines etch her forehead. A visceral pain and sorrow shrouds over her, dimming all the light and hope she carries.
“Ma.” My voice cracks. I stifle a sob.
“My sweet deary,” she cries. Just hearing my term of endearment when I never thought I would again breaks me.
“You’re alive,” Pa breathes with relief. He has ma tucked in his side protectively and tenderly. His eyes that hold so much strength are weary. His face weathered. I don’t think he has caught sleep since I’ve been gone. From his shoulders droppedto the disheveled hair and unkempt attire it’s clear pa has been working endlessly to find me. Even after our huge fight the night before the wedding.
“You see she is alive and well.” The flat tone of Rico comes from behind the camera pointed at me. His eyes flick to mine briefly before he steps in front of the camera. As he does he materializes into something else. More sinister. Darker. A man to fear. “Now it’s time to talk business.”
“Business?!” Pa seethes. He clenches his hand. I notice his knuckles are busted open. “You have my fuckin’ daughter tied to a fuckin’ chair like you would an enemy?—”
“She is an enemy.”
Pa flusters. His vein is about to burst on his forehead. “She has done nothing to you to deserve this, you sick bastard!”
