I had laughed, my heart overflowing.
“Move to me, as I move to you. Until our last breath, our bond stays true. I’ll find you, and you will find me. No force can undo this sisterhood, So Mote It Be.”
We had repeated it three times, clutching each other’s pinkies, to seal the bond.
I closed my eyes against the memory. Rachel must be feeling ten times worse than I did that night. She saw me being taken. There was no question about the danger I was in. We should have never made that pact. Because it seemed Fate had decided that I would end up in a shallow grave in Frostford Forest, probably next to the woman and the girl, and Rachel would waste her life away, looking for me, feeling that hollowness, feeling like she had failed me.
I was pulled from my thoughts by the lock sliding open. Grayson came in, clutching a bowl in his hand. He walked around the bed and sat next to me, blocking the sun from my face.
“Today’s breakfast is oatmeal. My favourite.” He stirred it around the bowl. A sick feeling rolled through my abdomen just looking at it, but I had to eat. My survival depended on it.
I waited for him to untie me, but he didn’t. Instead, he picked up some oatmeal on the spoon and brought it to my mouth. I stared at him, stunned.
“You know how eating works, right? You have to open your mouth for the food to go in.”
I glared at him some more. “So, you’re not untying me? How will I use the bathroom?”
Grayson arched a brow at me. “You should have thought about that. Now open up.”
I flinched away from the spoon. “You have to let me use the bathroom,” I said firmly. I wanted to tell him that he was barbaric and disgusting, expecting me not to use a toilet, but I bit my tongue. It would do nothing but anger him. It would only worsen my situation.
He was chuckling. “You don’t seem to understand your role as hostage, very well. I don’t take commands from you. I don’thaveto do anything.”
“So, you expect me to just go in the bed?”
He eyed the bed and crinkled his nose. “You’re right. I’ll take the bed out. You can sleep on the floor. No need to waste a perfectly good mattress on you.”
Tears were stinging my eyes. I couldn’t believe him. He had no empathy for other human beings. And I was trapped here with him. The tears started spilling onto my cheeks.
He rolled his eyes at it. “Calm down,Princess. I’m joking. I will take you to the bathroom twice a day. No more.”
Relief flooded through me. There wasn’t much left for me, except my dignity. “Then you can untie me to eat as well.”
He scoffed. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I’m not untying you to eat.”
“Why not?” That didn’t make any sense.
“Because Iwantto feed you.”
“Why?” I tried my best to keep my tone in check.
“Because you won’t like it.” He was smirking at me.
“That’s because I’m not a child.”
“You’re pouting like one.”
My lips pursed together. I couldn’t take it anymore. He was infuriating. He was acting like we were bantering. He had kidnapped me, drugged me, hit me, tied me to a bed, and now wouldn’t allow me to eat by myself.
“You’re sick.”
Grayson’s smirk widened. He pressed the spoon against my lips, and I didn’t have a choice but to open my mouth, or the oats would have been smeared all over my face. And who knew when I would be able to clean myself up again. I tried my best not to gag as I swallowed it down. It didn’t taste bad, but I struggled to stomach it. This whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth. He had another spoonful ready at my lips. I couldn’t look his way while he pressed the spoon into my mouth again. It felt degrading for him to feed me like this. Was that why he did it?
“How did you get to me so quick without me hearing you? I would have heard the door open.” I changed the subject, before I could lose my mind. I realised that he might not know what I was talking about, but he answered.
“I was waiting for you. Did you really think it wouldn’t cross my mind that you would try to run?” He was looking down at me, like he pitied my lack of intelligence.
I turned my nose up, trying to hold on to my dignity. Itwasstupid of me. I should have known better. I thought I had control of my emotions, that I was thinking clearly, but I wasn’t. “You don’t look that smart,” I shot back, already chastising myself for letting my pride simmer through.
