Alina merely stares back at me, her expression blank. I can’t tell if she’s pissed off or sad. She must be feeling those things if nothing else. Still, she doesn’t even make an effort to accept my offer, to write out a simple lie for Dominik’s freedom.
Is her refusal to punish him or to continue to deny me?
Air puffs out of my nose as my annoyance and amusement collide. How long does she really think she can keep this up? The silent treatment is for bratty children and doomed couples. This isn’t a game I enjoy playing.
I click my tongue at her as I pocket the key. She won’t be providing me any entertainment tonight, but tomorrow is a whole new day. She’ll soon see how things operate here.
“As you can see, I’ll be sleeping nearby,” I tell her as I gesture to the king-sized bed in the middle of the large room.
No one ever sleeps with me in my bed. Two nightstands are merely for aesthetic balance, along with the beige paint on the wall and the two tall windows on the left well covered by red curtains. Everything has a place and a purpose, even the position of the mirror mounted on the wall to the right of my bed so that I can see the bedroom door behind me in the reflection while I’m getting dressed.
Dominik calls it obsessive. I call it calculated.
That’s why he and his girlfriend are locked up right now on my estate, and I have all the keys.
“I’m a heavy sleeper, though. You don’t have to quiet your crying for my sake,” I tell Alina as I back away from the cage.
There’s the tiniest flicker in her eyes, but the rest of her face doesn’t reflect whatever emotion she’s feeling right now. Such a tease.
“I suggest you get comfortable. You’ll be here for a long time,” I remind her before turning my back to her and walking to the doorway of the bedroom, tension prodding the back of my neck.
Typically, when I have a guest, I feel a little more relaxed. Like everything is as it should be. But right now…things don’t feel as simple and straightforward.
The fact that it doesn’t only makes me want it more.
And wanting something this badly has always been the first step toward losing it.
2
Alina
This is goingto be the longest month of my life.
A dull ache grips my chest as I pace the small space, trying to make sense of my new reality.
My brother is dead.
I’m living in a cage.
One man holds my heart hostage.
And a psychopath holds the key to my freedom.
It’s a nightmare I volunteered to step into to try and save Archer.
And there’s no waking up from it now.
Only seconds pass after Gavriil leaves before two guards take his place, flanking the interior doorway. They don’t speak. They just watch.
I stare back until my eyes burn.
I should’ve expected a lack of privacy, but the sight of them watching me unnerves me even more than I already feel. I turn my back to them, feeling like I’m moving in slow motion as Iwalk toward the cot. It’s just a thin mattress with no pillows and only one blanket that doesn’t look like it provides much warmth. Not that I expected luxury.
Gavriil’s mansion, on the other hand, is far nicer than any motel Archer and I hid in while we were running.
The thought of him steals the air from my lungs again. I swallow hard, a numb sensation spreading through my entire body as I lower myself to the mattress. Standing feels impossible now. Everything does.
I should be searching the cage for weaknesses. Watching the guards. Planning an escape. But grief crushes every coherent thought before it can barely form.
