“I own you,” he hissed, his grip on her tightening. “Don’t forget that. You are mine, and you need to start treating me with some more respect. Do you understand?”
She eyed him evenly, her expression neutral. “You know, when someone has to constantly say they’re in charge, it usually means they aren’t.”
His face turned bright red, eyes flashing anger. “You impertinent little—”
“Go ahead and call me whatever you want,” she cut him off. “It’s not going to change how small and pathetic you are.”
His eyes blazed with fury, and she got a savage satisfaction from it.
“You’re going to regret saying that,” he snarled, his grasp on her tightening, threatening to bruise.
“You’re a lot of talk for someone with so little power,” she said.
With a yell of fury, he grabbed her and dragged her away from the couch. She let him haul her without complaint. Seeing the simmering rage on his face was victory enough for her.
He threw her inside the room with so much force that she stumbled and nearly fell against the far wall. She spun around to see him framed in the doorway, his silhouette framed in light.
“You can stay here until you’ve figured out your place here,” he spat. “You’re nothing more than a worthless slave, and the sooner you accept that, the easier your new life is going to be.”
A few weeks ago, she would have believed those words, but now all she did was stare at him with interest, one eyebrow raised. She didn’t utter a word. The quieter she stayed, the angrier it seemed to make him.
“We’ll see how arrogant you are once I’ve murdered your husband and the rest of his pathetic crew,” he said. “Maybethen you’ll start realizing your situation here and learn a few manners.”
A small jolt of panic flickered through her at the threat, but she willed her features to stay neutral. She didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he had hit a nerve, that he had really frightened her. She didn’t want to give him that leverage, to put Jasper’s life even more in danger. So she remained quiet, staring up at him as he stared down, waiting for some sort of reaction from her. When she gave him nothing, a low growl reverberated in his throat, and he swung the door shut.
The wall shook from the impact, the tremor rippling through the floor. She listened to the lock slide into place, trapping her inside the small room, casting her into darkness once again. She stayed motionless, listening to the sound of Lucas’s footsteps storming away.
“Now, then, where were we?” she heard Lucas say with what she could only imagine was forced calm. She wondered how embarrassing it must be for him to not even be able to keep a slave in line. She wondered how the others who had witnessed it thought about it. She wondered if it even mattered all that much.
Murmurs began to rise from the other side of the room. She sat on the floor, leaning against the wall and pushing her hair back away from her face. Her mind spun. In a way, this was exactly where she wanted to be right now. She needed to figure out a way to get out of here, and she wanted the privacy to figure out how to do it.
Sighing, she slid down to the floor, trying to ignore the rattle of chains that clanked around her with every movement. They hung heavily on her, the extra weight seeming to drag herdown. Letting out a deep breath, she closed her eyes and tried to think.
The only way out was through the cabin. She wouldn’t be able to sneak out any other way. Despite how dilapidated the place looked, she couldn’t break through the wall in this tiny closet. It had been one of the first things she tried. There were no easy gaps to pry away or anything she could use to break through.
She crept to the door and gently jiggled the handle. It felt loose, like a strong yank would tug it out of place. Shoddily built and rundown, much like the rest of this shack. Biting her lip, she considered. She could probably get out of this room easily enough. The problem was getting out of the cabin, and where would she go from there? She was barefoot, and the rattle of metal chains would give her away no matter how far she got. She also knew they were some distance away from town. It had taken a solid hour of winding roads to get here. It would take her some time to orient herself and find out which way to go.
What she needed was for everyone to leave.
The murmurs on the other side of the room continued. She tried to listen in, to hear if there was any information she could glean, any words that stuck out to her. From what she could make out, they were planning on striking out against the Silverrose pack in the next couple of days, before Jasper and the others could figure out where they had taken her, while they would still be scrambling. Her heart clenched. She had no idea whether Jasper had learned about their hideout, or whether it would play out exactly as Lucas envisioned.
But for all she knew, Jasper would want nothing to do with her after their fight. He might assume that she had left of her own accord.
One thing stuck in her mind, though. She needed to get out. She had to rely on herself to do it. And more than anything, she needed to leave before Lucas struck the Silverrose Pack.
***
Her eyes flew open, and she sucked in a startled breath. She blinked, glancing around, disoriented. The scant amount of light peeking in through the crack had shifted. At some point, she had fallen asleep.
Outside the door, there was more sound and movement.
“Let’s get going,” Lucas said. “We’ve got things to do before we strike.”
“What about her?” she heard Vincent ask. She could imagine him jabbing his thumb toward the shabby door she was currently lurking behind.
She heard Lucas laugh. “She’ll be fine there for a few hours. Might even do her some good.”
She sucked in a breath. Were they leaving her here? On her own? She listened, barely willing to breathe, her heart thundering. Rustling and thumping mixed with the sounds of conversation. It certainly sounded like they were leaving. Would they really leave her without a guard?
