I claw at it, digging my nails beneath the edge, pulling at it. It doesn’t move.
“What … what did you do to me?”
A smile curves his lips, eyes gleaming. “I put a leash on you.”
“Take it off!” I’m still clawing at it. “Take it off!”
“I don’t think so.”
“I can’t …” My breath is coming too fast again, panic clawing its way up my chest. It’s choking me. “Please. I can’t breathe.”
“You can breathe fine.” He turns away from me, crossing to the chair he was sitting in before.
I suck in gasping breaths, trying to prove to my mind that I can breathe, that I’m not dying, and push myself upright. I can feel the collar with every swallow, every breath.
He settles into the chair, one ankle crossing over his knee, and watches me. And there’s something in his expression—not triumph exactly, but something close to it. Satisfaction, maybe. The look of someone who has put something exactly where he wants it.
My skin crawls under his gaze. I want to hide from it, but I force myself to stay still.
“You can’t do this. When my father finds out?—”
“He won’t find out.” His voice is calm and certain. “Because he won’t find you.”
Before I can respond to that, the entrance moves, and a figure steps through. A woman, tall and sharp-featured, with dark-hair cropped close to her skull. She moves with the coiled grace of someone who knows exactly how much damage she can do.
I know her.
She was in the cages at the Dell. She was standing at the bars, and when I got close, she spat at me.
Her eyes find me, touching the collar around my throat, then up to my face, and her lip curls.
“Serath spoke a little more this morning.” She turns her back on me, dismissing me as no threat. “She asked where you were.”
“What did you tell her?”
“That you were handling something.”
They’re talking as if I’m not here. A moment ago, Cairn’s attention was focused solely on me. Now it’s gone, shifted completely to the woman in front of him.
Cairn nods. “Any change in Caelum?”
“The same. Maybe it’s time?—”
“No. We have time yet. He’s still in there somewhere.” Cairn’s voice is softer than I’ve ever heard it.
“What are your plans for that?” The woman jerks her chin toward me.
Cairn’s eyes move to me again. “I haven’t decided yet.”
The woman makes a sound, not quite a laugh but close. “I remember her. Walking past my cage with her soft hands and her clean clothes. Looking at us like we were animals in a menagerie.” Now she does turn, her eyes finding mine, and her lip curls. “Funny how things change.” She holds my gaze for a second longer, then turns back to Cairn. “I’ll leave you to your …” With one more glance in my direction she walks out, the flap falling closed behind her.
And then it’s just me and Cairn again. And he’s still watching me. I canfeelhis eyes on me, even though I’m not looking at him. I’m staring down at my bare feet, toes curling into the fur.
“You can’t leave this shelter. You can move freely inside. Outside is not an option.”
I lift my head. “For how long?”
“For as long as I decide.”
