The last word is a scream, ripped from my lips in spite of myself. He looks up, shocked anger distorting his features. Then he takes a few steps toward me, and I jump backward, my back hitting the door of the bedroom.
“You need to be careful who you raise your voice around,” he says quietly, stopping a few inches away from me. “I doubt Damien would accept it. And I certainly don’t.”
I nod, swallowing hard, and his face relaxes as he notes my fear.
“Believe me,” he adds, his voice warmer, “he wouldn’t break a promise unless he was forced to. This trip is necessary. He’ll be back soon.”
I nod again, willing him to leave.
“Are you afraid of me?” he questions after a moment’s pause.
I keep my eyes down, focusing on my breathing, hoping he’ll go away.
His voice grows quiet, so quiet I can barely hear it. “I give you my word I won’t harm you again.”
I barely hear his words, my body tense with awareness of his presence. He waits a while longer, apparently hoping I’ll say something, but when I don’t, he turns around.
He crosses the living room and I pray that he means to leave. But he retrieves something from the hallway and returns. It’s a very large package wrapped in gold foil and a velvet ribbon.
“I have something for you,” he says, leaving it in the middle of the living room. “Damien’s orders. I have no idea why he asked me to buy this stuff, but I guess you do.”
Then he leaves, locking the door behind him.
I take a deep breath as soon as I’m sure I’m alone. I’m torn between anger, disappointment, and curiosity. The latter takes over, just for a moment, and I sink to my knees in front of the package. There’s a card, and it reads:
Rain check. – D.
I toss it aside angrily, but I’m too curious about the package to ignore it. I tear off the wrapping paper. Underneath, there’s an old leather book with gilded letters.Peter Pan and Wendy. Beside it, a wooden figurine of a polar bear. And underneath, a massive circular tank in which floats a live jellyfish.
For a moment, I stare at it all in confusion. I wonder what it means. A gift? An apology? A taunt?
Whatever it is, I don’t care. Anger takes the place of all else, nearly throttling me. I’ve dealt with so much shit in my life. It’s absurd to think that what breaks me is a canceled dinner date.
But absurdity doesn’t matter to me right now. The endless days of captivity, the lonely nights, every moment punctuated by the hope he’ll come see me. My starving heart latching onto any sign he cares. All of it suddenly feels unbearably stifling.
He doesn’t care. That much is obvious.
He’s just another Monster, another Beast, but I’ve been too blind to see it. I probably amuse him. I bet he thought it would be funny for Logan to throw me in the water. And now, he’s probably laughing his ass off as he watches me on the cameras, devastated at his broken promise.
Anger boiling in my veins, I grab the polar bear and hurl it at the stretch of white wall, making a tiny bear-sized hole in it. Then I lift up the leather-bound novel. My two books were always sacred to me, but now, I don’t care. I want to hurt. I tear out the pages blindly, scattering them about the room.
At last, I turn to the jellyfish tank. I hesitate for a long time. I’ve never hurt an innocent creature before, but this isn’t an innocent creature. This is me. The sad, invisible girl who lets others walk all over her. The pathetic jellyfish. She doesn’t deserve to live.
I slide open the glass doors, feeling a thrill as I step onto the forbidden balcony, and lift up a potted plant. It’s the heaviest one I can find, and I keel under the effort of bringing it inside. Then I make my way over to the jellyfish tank and, after another moment’s hesitation, let the plant fall on it. It crashes into tiny shards of glass, and the jellyfish finds itself on the floor, spasming helplessly.
I stare at it numbly until its lifeforce has drained.
I guess Damien didn’t know it before, but he does now.
His pet, his captive, his girl. Her name is Seraphina Connor, and she’s a coldblooded killer.
20
Damien
“What the fuck?!”
The room around me goes quiet. I look up, gritting my teeth as I realize I’ve just spoken out loud. Everyone at the table is staring at me. The governor, his wife, and the four other influential politicians Vale invited to dinner. The latter has also turned flashing eyes toward me.
