Chapter Twenty
Willow sat in the main room, staring at the closed door, waiting, pleading, hoping Christian would return. But the door remained shut. Her shoulders slumped forward. Her hands were bound behind her with rope.
Verm hungrily ogled her from his stance in front of her. His grin was victorious. He tossed her coin pouch from one hand to the next, joyfully. “I knew I would get the payment from the job you took from me. This should do nicely.”
She didn’t care about him. Only that Christian must be hurting.
Simon, lying snake that he was, and his men had retired for the night. He was probably exhausted from all the agreements he was making. She had never been so glad in her life that she tricked him. Now, she had to deal with Verm. Then she could find Christian and explain everything to him.
Her gaze shifted to Verm.
The cowardly, sniveling rat was tying her coin pouch to his belt. He itched his nose, scrunching it. He slowly circled her. “I never thought this moment would arrive.”
Willow shook her head, trying to focus on getting away. But her mind continued to return to Christian and the agony he must be feeling. She had to tell him the truth. She couldn’t lose him. Not again.
Verm put his face in her hair and inhaled. “It smells like victory.”
She couldn’t even come up with a sarcastic retort, nor a threat.
This made him brave. He lifted a lock of her hair and massaged it between his grubby fingers. “I never see you with your hair out of that braid.”
She cringed as his greasy fingers stroked her hair. She would have to wash the stench out of it now. She glanced at her weapon on the table across from her where Simon had laid it. She had a better chance of escaping if Verm was the only one she had to get by. “Why are your men still here? Do you like others watching, or are you afraid to be alone with me?”
The men chuckled.
Verm straightened, eyeing them with unhappiness. His hateful gaze shifted to her. “I’m not afraid of you. You’re tied up.” He seized her arm and yanked her to her feet.
Willow knew Verm was weak and frightened of her family.
“You can have her when I am done,” he said to his two men. Verm led her up the stairs and down the corridor to the first room.
He reeked like week-old potatoes, and Willow scrunched her nose. He opened the door, tugged her onto a straw mattress in the dark room, and shut the door behind him. Moonlight filtered in through the shuttered windows.
Willow quickly sat up. She kept her hands behind her. She didn’t require them right now to fight. Her feet were just as good. She attempted to relax in preparation for whatever depravity he had in mind. At least only one person was blocking her escape.
She saw a flash of a small blade in the moonlight, perhaps a dagger.
A dagger? Now, she needed her hands. She lifted her bottom and scooped her hands beneath her legs, so they were in front of her. A dagger was nothing to sneer at. “Why the weapon?” she asked.
“To cut off your clothing,” Verm replied.
“Cut my armor? It’s worth a lot of coin.”
“You won’t need clothes with what I’m going to do to you.” He sounded excited.
That repulsed Willow. She gritted her teeth, her hands tightening into fists. She had to draw him closer. “I was thinking that you could take it off and sell it.”
He paused, considering.
Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness, as he must be. She had to be careful.
She heard the clink as he placed the dagger on the floor. Then he straightened. She saw him as a dark shadow. With an eager laugh, he took a step forward.
“This is your one and only warning, Verm,” Willow advised. “I know we have never been on good terms, but I would hate for you to die because I don’t like you. Touch me, and you will die. Let me go, and you will live.”
He hesitated a moment, unsure. Then he laughed again, lower and more wicked. “You are tied and secured. You have no weapon. I have nothing to worry about.” He knelt before her, his beady eyes shifting from one spot to the next on her face. He leaned forward, sniffing.
Willow saw a piece of spittle glimmer in the corner of his mouth. It disgusted her, but she had to stay focused and calm.
