Run? Fight?
But the moment fractured when she found her voice again, biting and familiar.
“Who else knows?” she asked, chin lifting. She tried to stand taller, shoulders squaring. “I know I’m far from the only secret you’re holding captive.”
“No one else,” he said. “Not yet.”
Ella took a moment to think but held her ground.
“Then why treat me like a guest?” Her voice trembled with fury now. “Why not throw me in chains the second you discovered me?”
His expression didn’t change. “Because I wanted to see what you’d do…amongst other reasons.” He smiled coldly.
She glared. “And if I refuse to go with you?”
“Then you’ll make a scene,” Jakobav said evenly. “And I’ll have to chain you anyway. Is that what you want?”
Heat bled up her neck, painting her fury in shades of pink. He let go of her wrist and took a slow, methodical step back.
“Pick it up,” he said, nodding toward the fallen cloak.
Ella lifted her chin but didn’t move.
“I won’t ask again.” His voice was deep and commanding, rolling through the room, eyes gleaming with cruel satisfaction.
Infuriated by how much he clearly enjoyed this, she let out a scathing sound.
Her next move would be calculated. Instinct told her it was in her best interest to obey.
His face darkened, clearly unwilling to compromise even an inch.
She crouched, then snatched the cloak off the floor, never breaking eye contact, and shoved it toward him like an answered challenge.
He didn’t flinch.
“You’re coming with me,” Jakobav said. “You can do so as a guest.”
His eyes hardened, but the side of his mouth twitched as if suppressing a wolfish smirk.
“Or as a prisoner. Either way…you're not staying here.”
Ella’s jaw locked and chest tightened, anger rising to an unsafe level for enemy territory.
He turned on his heel, already halfway to the door. Didn’t even bother to look back.
“We leave at dawn.” His voice, low and deep, reflected that his verdict was final.
It was still darkwhen the knock came.
She hadn’t seen him since he left her with that ultimatum.
No midnight footsteps. No dark shadow by the hearth. Not even the brush of his presence outside the door. Wherever he’d gone, whatever preparations he’d made, Jakobav had disappeared into the castle’s depths. And now he’d returned with the dawn to collect her.
Ella already stood cloaked, boots laced, every vein drawn tight with restless refusal.
“I’m not coming,” she said, the words bitten off like steel between her teeth.
His gaze was black as midnight stone, steady as the floor beneath her. “Then I’ll chain you myself,” he said, voice a low taunt. “You’ll learn how heavy Dravaryn iron feels…how well I use it.” His mouth curved, wicked. “I also enjoy biting. So if you’re choosing option B, consider that part of the package.”
