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I’d dozed off when Samael went back inside the farmhouse and missed him dragging Knox out. I must’ve been more exhausted than I initially thought to have slept through that whole spectacle. I found that to be disturbing. Not what he’d done—me sleeping while it happened.
As we headed towards what I could now see was a house of sorts, the people lingering about were all quick to get out of the way. I caught a few insignias, but they weren’t all the same.
“Welcome back, our liege,” a woman greeted as we passed her.
Liege?
Samael didn’t respond, but I knew he’d heard.
We entered the building through a side door, stepping into an open concept floor plan. The ceiling was high, made up of thick wooden beams the same color as the floor. Everything about it seemed to be a step up from the lodges. From outside appearances, I wasn’t expecting that.
Three people were inside, and two of them were sporting head masks while the other only wore a robe. It was just like at the camp.
Samael took me upstairs and down a hall, pushing open the second to last door on the right. As soon as I crossed the threshold, my confusion grew tenfold. He used his boot to shut us inside, and I took in the space.
There was a large bed against the main wall, made up in deep blue and black linen. Two nightstands that matched a dresser to the right sat on either side of it. But the furniture wasn’t the main source of my confusion. In fact, it was trivial.
I was perplexed about everything else I was seeing. This bedroom was clearly his. The scent of him lingered, and a few miscellaneous items I knew belonged to him caught my attention.
“You need to take a shower.”
There was no way in hell that’s all he had to say.
Well, he wasn’t wrong, but was he seriously not going to explain any of this? I’d been holding back questioning him because I felt as if I had no right to do so, given what I’d done, but this was too much. I pulled my arm free and took a step away from him.
“What’s going on? What is this place?”
The look I received was almost enough to make me abandon any line of questioning.
“That’s the last thing you need to be worried about,” he replied levelly.
His utter lack of emotion threatened to snap open the lid of our Pandora’s box.
“Why? Because it’s another one of your secrets?”
He completely shrugged off my question and turned to leave, adding insult to injury. “I know your intelligence is lacking these days, but you should be able to figure out where the bathroom is.”
This asshole!
He’d hardly reacted at all to any of this. My emotions were all over the place, and he seemed to be as cool and collected as always. His indifference cut like a blade. I’d screwed up, I got it. But seriously? I realized being by his side was where I wanted to be, but that didn’t mean I would idly sit by and continue being naïve to what went on around me.
This hideout was just one of many other things he’d kept a secret. From the time this all started he’d kept me isolated and ignorant. I didn’t understand. Why did he build such a divide between us? Or had it always been like this and I’d just never noticed?
“You have this whole other life you keep hidden. Why don’t you ever let me in? Why do you even keep me around?”
“Stop.”
“No. Answer the question. For all this, you could’ve let me go. You didn’t have to swoop in and be a hero. So, why did you?”
His grin was vicious. “You think I saved you, Lils? I didn’t. I’m not a hero. I came to collect something that belongs to me.”
“Lies,” I retorted sharply.
He laughed with a slow shake of his head. “Which part?”
“Me belonging to you. I don’t belong to anyone.”
“That’s very fucking hypocritical of you. You’ve been humiliated enough for one night, don’t you think? You didn’t even manage to make it a full twenty-four hours on your own. Do I need to prove this point too?”
“I don’t need you to do anything but leave me alone. Next time I get away from you, I’ll be sure it stays that way.”
He appeared in front of me so quickly I didn’t even see him move.
“You never did know when to stop. I’ve coddled you too much. I didn’t want to do this right now.” Hand around my throat, he nearly lifted me off the ground.
Using his body, he forced me to walk backward as I balanced on my toes. The mattress touched the back of my legs, and he shoved me down. Before I could attempt to get up, he pinned my wrists above my head with one hand and used his knee to spread my legs.
