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I frowned as the young man stepped into view, no more than eighteen at most, and he mirrored my expression.
“They told me I’d be watching over you,” he stated, having paused as he took me in.
“They giving you the grunt work?” I mused, and he cracked a smirk and shrugged.
“I dunno, but figured you might be hungry,” he said as he strode over, offering me one of the two bowls he was holding.
My frown deepened at the outstretched offering, and I slowly eased off the bed, glancing into the bowl.
“It’s chili, nothing fancy. My mom used to make it for me all the time as a kid, first thing I learned how to cook,” he explained sheepishly. “It's not laced or anything. I don’t think they even know I’ve brought you food,” he added.
I was more surprised he had his arm through the bars of my cell. Had they not taught him the ways of dealing with a prisoner? Then again, he was young.
Even wolf cubs have teeth.
I tentatively accepted the bowl, and he just nodded and moved to sit at the desk, angling the lamp my way more.
I drew in the spiced aroma of the chili, wondering if I could trust this boy.
He took a mouthful of his own chili, flicking his gaze to me when I didn’t eat.
“Do you want my bowl? That way you know it’s not laced? I just ate some.” he offered when I continued gazing at it uncertainly.
“If you don’t mind.”
He didn’t sigh, simply rose and offered his hand, and I hesitantly passed the bowl back, keeping my spoon before taking the new bowl.
He slumped back into his chair, shoveling another spoonful into his mouth.
“Is this some good cop bad cop routine?” I asked as I took a bite, finding it quite delicious. Not that I wanted to give him the satisfaction of knowing that, not with him being a part of this whole thing.
“No, besides, I doubt you have any information they want. It’s you that they want to use as a pawn, bait in their game. I don’t exactly agree with how the code in our family has altered for some. We used to believe women and children held a higher value, and we treated them as such. Besides, if my mom or sister got kidnapped…” He paused, as if he was realizing he was saying too much.
“You’d want them treated with respect,” I finished for him, and he nodded. “Well, I kinda feel like I had this coming.”
“Why would you say that?” he asked, a spoonful of chili poised in the air.
“I gave the word to the Slade brothers to have them kill my fiancé,” I murmured, the hunger that had risen dying off just as quickly. But I needed my strength for whatever was coming my way, so I took another bite.
“They killed your fiancé? Why?” His angular face was drawn, his brows knitted together as he watched me uneasily. That mousey brown hair was a disheveled mess, some of it falling into his soft green eyes.
“He was abusive. He beat me and I nearly died because of him, the brothers found me and saved me. But they also went after him,” I explained, not wanting to go into detail on it all. This was a stranger, but at the same time, this could be my last form of human interaction before I bit the bullet, so to speak. And I wanted to chat to someone about it, about the guilt eating away at me.
“Sounds like he got what was coming to him then,” the boy said as he leaned forward, focusing on his food. “Doesn’t sound like he would’ve been a good husband.”
I barked out a wry laugh, and he just smirked.
“I’m Thomas,” he said after a few moments, those green eyes meeting mine, a strange sadness in their depths.
I smiled softly at him as I swallowed another mouthful. “Veronica.”
“Sorry you’re in this mess, Veronica,” he said, his tone oddly sincere.
“Don’t suppose you want to set me free?” I joked, and he just sighed, his brow furrowing again.
He didn’t say anything as he polished off his chili, and I let the silence hang as I finished off my own.
“It’s odd they let you make the call. My family doesn’t let women make those kinds of choices. It’s all the men calling the shots. We do protect our women, much like the Slades, but some of my family… they don’t believe in the old rules of war, where women and children are spared,” he said as he set the empty bowl on the desk and slumped back into the chair.
