“Just checking.” He grins smugly. “That was your first task.”
When he leaves my head, I fall to the ground in a heap.
“I knew he would cry like a baby. Pathetic.”
I suppress the growl crawling up my throat. Ryker’s head tilts from side to side as he analyses my expression.
“Sleep, Caleb.”
Then I’m thrown into darkness.
“Take him to the basement,”I hear Ryker say as I start coming around from the deep slumber he placed me in. “He’s in need of some solitary confinement to think about his actions.”
Two men I don’t recognise grip my arms, and a second later, I find myself bound and wrapped in silver. A deep groan echoes from the depths of my soul. I attempt to fight against them, but I’m too weak.
“Oh, he’s finally awake,” Ryker says with fake enthusiasm.
I bite down on my tongue to try and stop the sizzling sensation against my flesh. I’ve encountered silver many times, but this is a new extreme. A bellow escapes me, and Ryker chuckles at my agony.
“I think you need time to dwell on the bad decisions you’ve made, Caleb,” Ryker sing-songs as they push me down grimysteps towards a dark room where I can’t see a single sliver of daylight. “If you’re going to be by my side, I need you to see the consequences of fighting against me. Fuck with me again, and you’ll have your heart ripped out for real this time.”
The guards stop before a metal door and use three keys to open it. My ears are immediately flooded with screaming and crying. My forehead pinches at the distressing sounds. I flick my eyes around the rotting dungeon. Endless cobwebs, slimy walls, dripping ceilings, the stench of something decomposing. It burns my nose.
“Where are you taking me?”
The noise of their screams becomes louder and louder until it’s all I can hear.
“Shut the fuck up,” the guard sneers before smacking me in the back of the head.
I clench my jaw through the discomfort, but I don’t give them the satisfaction of a reaction. I’m fighting the silver that’s working its way through my system, and it’s enough to send me into cardiac arrest.
When we step into the room, my eyes almost deceive me. Women scream out as they push their hands through the railings of their cells. Others cradle their children between their arms as men shout back at the guards with vicious words. My heart rate increases as I glance around at all of them, crammed into tiny cells. They’re malnourished, scared, and covered in dirt.
I struggle against the hold of the guards and push myself further into the silver binding me. A low grunt becomes stuck in my throat as I’m tugged towards the end of the basement with a black door.
The second it opens, I’m roughly pushed into the room as I crash to the ground. My arm scrapes against the wet cobbled floor before someone starts to remove the silver holding myhands behind my back. I attempt to stand, but my limbs are screaming in pain.
“Sleep tight, princess.” The guard grins.
They both chuckle as I fight to stand once more, but fall like Bambi on ice. When I manage to reach the door, it’s already bolted shut. I pound my fist against the metal as I fall into it.
“Let me out,” I hiss through my teeth. “You cunt. Let me out.”
The door has a tiny eye slit to look outside. Other than these four walls, there’s nothing. No windows. No bed.
My nose wrinkles in panic as I try to control my breathing. I wasn’t expecting anything good, but I wasn’t expecting this.
After a few moments, I turn to look through the small eye hole at the cells, filled to the brim with people. “Let me out of here!”
A person steps in front of the door, and I blink at the familiarity of their eyes.
“Dominic?”
I’ve known Dominic since I was young. He’s always been around my father, but I had no idea he was still involved with him. When Carson and Aimee detailed Ryker’s pack after keeping tabs on him, he was never there. I thought he had moved on from this life. He was never cruel to me, unlike some of my father’s men; he was actually a decent guy who fell into Ryker’s hands with no way to escape.
“What the hell is this place?”
“You need to stop shouting,” he murmurs deeply.
