“Matt! Shit. Matt, she isn’t here!” He grabbed my waist and pulled me into the hall. I kept thrashing, though. There was a wild feeling coursing through my body. I couldn’t control myself. I felt his fist connect with my face. The screaming faded, and I felt like I could think clearly for the first time.
“Think Matt. The last time that we saw her she was just outside, wasn’t she?”
“Fuck.”
I raced back to the garden outside my bedroom, but my heart stopped when I stepped outside. She was gone.
“Eva?” I yelled out for her.
No, this couldn’t be happening. I was supposed to be protecting her!
I fell to my knees and felt my heart breaking. I couldn’t protect her, and now she was gone. She was hurting. I could feel that inside of me as if we were connected. I should have known something was wrong earlier. Actually, I knewsomethingwas wrong, but I didn’t know it had to do withher. The rising panic, the aching chest–that was her.Of course,it was her.
I was sick to my stomach that I hadn’t saved her. She was right outside the room. How did I not hear her?
Kalen put his hand on my shoulder. It should have been a sign of comfort, but it felt like an apology.
“Isn’t that just adorable?”
My head jerked up as I watched a man walk out of the shadows. My breathing hitched and Kalen stiffened next to me.
“Trystan,” I whispered.
He smiled a cruel smile. “Hello, brother.”
29
EVA
My eyes shot open and darted around, attempting to grab ahold of my surroundings. I could barely see anything, but the smell that hung in the air was horrendous. I could only consider it a combination of mildew and rotting meat. There was some force that tried to keep me from retching but couldn’t stop what came up. My head throbbed miserably. There was no way of knowing how long I had been out, judging by the contents of the room.
Looking around, I was being kept in a small cell. There were no windows, and therefore no breeze. The air was stagnant. A small, dingy mattress was stuffed into the far corner with a thin piece of fabric that I couldn’t even consider a blanket. There was a large door with a tiny sliding window that was barred up, not that anything could squeeze through something that small, anyway. I stood on shaky legs and ran toward the door. It was going to be locked, but I had to try. I couldn’t sit here and wallow in my self-pity.
“Don’t you like your accommodations?” A voice drawled. There was no one here with me and the door remained shut, yet the voice was emanating from somewhere.
“Who are you? What do you want?”
The bitter voice only laughed. The sound chilled me to the bone. I wanted to scream, lash out. These were mind games, that was all. I gripped at my hair with my hands.Breathe, Eva. Just breathe.
“If I told you, then it would ruin all the fun–for myself, at least. Take comfort that your dear Matthew knows exactly who I am, though, and he will have a good idea of where you are as well. However,” the voice paused, a tactic used to heighten the tension, no doubt. “Since he knows what is best for him, I imagine he won’t be coming to your rescue. Not right away at least.” The voice chuckled. “If he ever wants to see you alive again, he’ll stay far away from you until I’m done with you.”
“If Matthew knows where I am, then he’ll come for me.” I stand a little taller knowing that. He wouldn’t leave me here to rot.
That godsdamn laugh again. “Oh, darling Eva. How adorable it is that you believe that! But he hasn’t come for you yet, has he?”
“I haven’t been here for that long. He will come for me, I know it.”
“Why, you’ve been here for days – granted I kept a steady stream of a sleeping draught flowing through your body, but still… No word or sign of dear Matthew,” he sighed. “I’ll admit that I was hoping for some sort of theatrics, but nothing at all.”
“Why won’t you show your face?”
He tsked. “That will have to wait until dinner dear, Eva.”
I scoffed. “I’d rather burn.”
“That can be arranged,” The voice snarled. My knees hit the ground as his voice reverberated off the walls. I clutched my head in my hands and screamed out in pain.
“I will hunt everyone you love and burn them before you. Do not test me, girl!” In a second, the voice was gone, but the hurt remained. I needed to be strong, but I couldn’t stop feeling helpless. I’ve always prided myself on keeping a level-head, of being able to get out of impossible situations, but this one was more than impossible. There was nothing to hold on to, no way to escape. Perhaps, if I went along with this dinner, then I could monitor my surroundings and possibly escape.
