The way he’s looking at me is unsettling to say the least. It’s like I’m some kind of science experiment he can’t wait to get his hands on. I pull away and head for the door. My arm still stings, but I’d rather suffer than get help from someone who gets off on seeing me in pain.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Kole asks, appearing in the doorway to cut me off.
“Thane did this to me. I’m sure he’ll be more than happy with my decision to refuse treatment.”
I try to move around him, but he blocks my path with his arm.
“Maybe so, but he’s not here, and I have orders.”
“He told you to bring me here, and you have. Mission accomplished.”
“Hmm, clever girl,” Kole purrs, lowering his arm. “But that’s not how this works.”
Before I can make another move, he’s got me handcuffed to one of the beds.
Fucking vampires.
“We’ve got a fighter.” The doctor smirks at Kole while I fail to yank my wrist from the cuffs.
“Just fix her up so we can be done with this,” Kole orders, seeming unamused by Leo’s remark.
I finally give up and stop fighting while the doctor continues without any further comments. The ointment he covers the burn with immediately alleviates the pain, and part of me is thankful Kole kept me from leaving. The doctor finishes up by wrapping a thick bandage around my forearm and tells me to come see him in two days for a checkup, but I have no intentions of coming back.
“Do you mind?” I ask Kole, motioning to my wrist that is still cuffed to the bed railing.
“That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” His condescending tone makes me think he might be more like Thane than I originally thought. As we walk back out into the hall, he doesn’t take his eyes off me, not even bothering to be subtle about it.
“Can I help you?”
“What’s the matter, Grey?” He whips around, cutting me off. “Do I make you uncomfortable?”
He takes a step closer, forcing me to retreat with one of my own.
“Uncomfortable? No. Annoyed? Yes.” I move to go around him, but he sidesteps, continuing to block my path.
“Thane said you had some fight in you. I can see now that he was right.”
“Well, he hasn’t seen anything yet.”
Kole shakes his head. “Your resistance is commendable, but this isn’t a game. The more you disobey him, the worse things are going to get for you.”
“Can’t wait,” I deadpan, leaning back on my hip.
A hint of a smile pulls at his lips, but before it fully forms, he turns away, continuing down the hall. The two of us walk the rest of the way in silence as he escorts me back to the pens.
He locks my cage, looking me over one last time like he’s trying to size me up.
“I’ll be seeing you.”
Once Kole is gone, Night says something to me, but I can’t hear him as the feelings I’ve been holding back come rushing to the surface. The pain on my arm may be muted now, but the anger burning inside of me is screaming out through the tears streaming down my face.
The doctor might’ve been an asshole, but he was right about one thing.
I am a fighter.
And I’m going to make sure Thane knows it.
“Let’s go, Grey.”
