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SAGE
“Idon’t think so. You surprised me once. That’s not happening again,” he growled as he grabbed my other wrist, twisting me around until my back slammed into the door. He raised my arms above my head and used one hand to hold them while he pried the stun gun out of my hand. Terror seized me as he gripped it. He glanced down and read my expression.
“Don’t worry, Sage. I can handle you without the help of this.” He mocked my words from earlier.
He threw my weapon down the hall, and it landed in the bedroom. I struggled to get free of his grasp, and he pressed his body onto mine. It was almost impossible to move, let alone attempt to kick him.
“I could hold you here all day. Just quit moving so we can talk. You know, the whole reason I came here.”
“Let me go, you son of a bitch.” My voice was rising from the panic of being trapped again. His free hand covered my mouth.
He leaned closer. “You might want to stop yelling. I only came here to talk. If someone else sees me here, then I’ll have no choice but to take you back with me. And you know we don’t like our secrets to come out. If someone saw this, they would have to be dealt with.”
His words were just above a whisper, but the threat was loud and clear. I weighed my options. If he had really come here alone, getting attention could help me escape. But what if he really wasn’t here alone? I didn’t want anyone else to die. I stopped talking, and soon after, stopped trying to escape. I was getting nowhere, except exhausting myself.
“How is it that you grew up surrounded by the Great Lakes and never spent time on a boat?” he asked once I stopped squirming. He removed his hand from my mouth so I could answer.
“What are you talking about?”
“That knot you tied. It took less than five minutes to undo. Even with my hands behind my back. If you’d ever spent time on a boat, you’d know how to tie a knot.” He chuckled.
I didn’t give him the satisfaction of a response.
“You surprised me, Sage. I never would have guessed you’d be able to take me on. I mean, you kind of had an unfair advantage with that taser. Never been hit with one of those before. Hurt like a bitch.” He backed half a step from me, still keeping my arms locked in his grasp.
“Sorry,” I replied smugly.
“We’re going to try this again. You’re going to sit on the couch so we can finish this conversation. If not, I’ll show you how a real knot is tied,” he warned as his eyes flashed to mine, as if daring me to call his words a bluff.
He brought my wrists down but didn’t loosen his grip. I instinctively tried to pull away, but he turned me around and held my arms behind my back. He pushed me down onto the couch, grabbed the bag on the floor, and threw it to the other side of the room.
“Get comfy, lean back, and relax. You’re not getting off that couch until I say so,” he told me as he sank back into the chair. I noticed he was much more alert than before.
“I don’t get you,” I said as I rubbed my wrists.
He raised his eyebrows. “What?”
“These last four months have been crazy. My life is gone. Your society killed my sister. I saw her die. And you come in here and act like this is all normal with your jokes and sarcasm. What do you want from me? Why did you come here?” I was going to ask him whatever came to mind. If I could find out anything about his family and group, then it would help in the future.
If I got away from him.
Niko stared at me, but he seemed lost in thought. His arrogant bravado seemed to vanish.
“I feel bad. About what happened to Lacey. And I don’t want that to happen to you. We’ve taken enough from your family. I really came here to warn you. To show you how easy it is to be found.”
I was speechless. I had never heard him talk so seriously before. And the sincerity seemed real. He was always all jokes. I still didn’t trust him but couldn’t think of one other reason why he would be here by himself.
“As for my amazing personality, it’s who I am. I like making everything fun. Even situations like this. Though I have to say, this is my first time doing this.” His usual grin was back as he finished talking.
I rolled my eyes. “Warning received. I’ll be more careful next time. Can you leave now?”
“I’m surprised you haven’t asked about Alex.”
“I don’t care.”
“Really? Because he didn’t make it. He’s dead, thanks to you,” he said coldly.
My stomach dropped. My mind went back to when I had stabbed him. I did it so fast, I hadn’t even thought about it before I’d sunk the knife into his stomach. I’d wondered whether he had survived. An unexpected rush of grief hit me. Grief for what, I wasn’t sure. Killing him or because he was dead. I didn’t know anymore. I let the feeling of anger overtake the grief as I looked back at Niko.
“What do you want me to say? I’m sorry? Because after what happened that night, I don’t think I am,” I snapped.
“Kind of poetic justice. We take your sister, and you take my brother,” he murmured.
“No, it’s not. You people are insane and murdered my sister. I killed him defending myself.”
“Geo made it out, in case you were wondering. Just barely, but he did.”
“I wasn’t wondering,” I was surprised Niko was here without his twin. They were never far from each other. But I wasn’t sharing my surprise with him.
“You’ve learned to control your emotions. Usually you’re an open book, but not anymore.” He looked at me curiously.
“That night changed everything,” I shot back, my voice filled with venom.
“Okay, well, this conversation is too heavy for me—” He was about to leave when I interrupted him.
