I shut my eyes tightly and tried not to let the oncoming tears fall.
Done pacing around, Silas stormed up to me. “Omega.”
“Yes?” I mumbled.
“I have business to take care of. You are going to stay put.”
My brow raised in defiance before I could stop it, but thankfully my tongue held back on the retort of,Oh, really? I am?
“I see that smug look on your face,” Silas snapped. “Don’t even think about trying anything.”
He paused, his eyes drifting to my hands, which were still in shackles.
“Is your magic back yet?” he asked.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I muttered.
Silas raised the back of his hand. I flinched. I braced myself for the hit, but it didn’t come. Cautiously, I opened one eye to see him lowering his hand with a satisfied smirk.
“I see. Still not at your best, then,” he commented. “If you were, I’m sure you wouldn’t let me hit you like that.”
I scowled. I hated being in this weakened state, but even more I hated knowing he thought he was better than me.
“Good. Let’s hope to keep it this way,” Silas purred.
He sauntered to a heavy-duty drawer on the other side of the cabin and returned with a hammer and a handful of frighteningly large nails. My blood ran cold.
“What are you doing?” I asked, panicked.
“Relax, I’m not going to do anything to you,” Silas replied with a frown. He kneeled on the old wooden floor in front of me, then grabbed the chain attached to my handcuffs. I realized he was going to nail the chain leash to the floor. I grimaced, hating it, but I didn’t know what to do. I accepted it.
When the chain was knotted and nailed into the floor, I had a restricted range of motion. Both my hands were in cuffs, and the chain between them had only a few feet between me and the floorboards.
Great,I thought.
“There,” Silas said, examining his handiwork. “Now, you’re going to be a good little omega and stay put while I tend to business. Isn’t that right, Halo?”
Drop dead.“Yes.”
He narrowed his eyes, then slowly said, “Good. I shall return shortly. I’ll even bring you something to eat.”
My appetite was long gone. I probably couldn’t even stomach anything Silas tried to feed me anyway.
Silas left the cabin and shifted. The man disappeared, replaced by a deep purple wyvern. His black eyes watched me suspiciously for a moment, then he slammed the door shut with his tail. I flinched again. Outside, I heard the beating of his wings, then they gradually faded as he took to the sky.
Angel fussed awake again from the noise. She still looked exhausted from crying earlier, and now her face was a miserable frown. I longed to reach out for her, to hold her and soothe her properly, but I couldn’t - my hands were chained to the floor.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” I said to her. “I wish you could understand what was happening. But maybe it’s better that you don’t. I hope you forget all of this ever happened.”
Angel frowned, her lip wibbling, and tried to crawl over to me. My heart shattered.
Fuck these chains,I thought. If I was going to get Angel to safety, I needed to hold her first.
Using all the force I could muster, I reached for her carrier. My muscles ached, and the chains strained painfully against my skin, but with a ton of effort I finally managed to grab the edge of the carrier. It toppled down and I caught it clumsily, then unbuckled Angel before pulling her into my lap with a relieved sigh.
“There we go, baby, I’m right here,” I murmured to her. She instantly clutched my shirt and grumbled, happy to be in physical contact with me again.
But not for long,I thought with heartbreaking agony. I took a quiet moment to simply enjoy holding my daughter. I wished it never had to end.
