I make the mistake of looking at it when I haven’t seen sunlight in however long. It burns my retinas, and I wince, clamping my eyes shut at the pain that spreads through my head.
“My, my,” Ryker tuts. “What happened here?”
“He attacked me,” Wes hisses.
Ryker snorts. “He attacked you? Get over yourself.”
Wes doesn’t say anything more.
I lick my tongue over my teeth to remove the metallic taste that’s making me nauseous.
“So, Caleb,” Ryker drawls. “How are you settling in?”
My nostrils flare at his words. “Settling in? I’m not settling into being your prisoner.”
Ryker releases a humourless laugh. “What did you expect? Five-star service? I don’t trust you.”
And you shouldn’t.
“I thought by now you might have come around, practically begged me to be by my side, and do anything to earn my forgiveness, but that’s not what I’m seeing.”
“I don’t want to be by your side,” I grunt.
Even if it gave me a chance to escape, I wouldn’t be able to fake something like that. I know he’d force me to do things Idon’t want to do, and I’d never forgive myself for making that choice when I know how brutal he can be.
“So you want to stay down in the cells?”
I don’t respond.
“Caleb, you really didn’t turn out to be the son I wanted.” The room around us turns eerily silent. “So I guess I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”
“What kind of lesson?” I spit, blood dripping down my chin.
“A lesson in resilience.”
I shake my head. “You’ll have to fucking kill me.”
Ryker’s eyes widen. “Well…yes. If you don’t comply, you’ll be nothing of worth to me, so I’ll find pleasure in killing my only living son. But I’m sure it won’t have to come to that, not if I destroy your sanity, piece by piece, until you’re nothing but a fragment of yourself, begging for mercy.”
My face scrunches up in disgust at his words. No matter how much he tries to break me, I’ll show resilience, just not in the way he wants. In the way I’ve taught myself.
He will not destroy me. He will not destroy me.
Even if it’s the last thing I do.
“But there’s something you should know.” His grin is feral.
I brace myself. His hand slides into his pocket and pulls out a chain. At first, I don’t know what I’m looking at, but after a few seconds, I realise it’s my necklace. The necklace I gave to Evan before I left.
My blood runs cold. I fight the arms holding me back. “What the fuck did you do?” I growl.
Ryker’s smile increases. “I didn’t do anything, your mate did.”
No. Fuck. No.
“He had to stick his nose in,” he sighs patronisingly. “So I had to teach him a lesson.”
“You motherfucker,” I bellow as I grit my teeth and kick. “Where is he?”
