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EMERY
Isabella is so tired that she doesn’t have any questions about why we’re leaving the motel or where we’re going. But she looks relieved when she sees Adrik.
I wish I could feel the same way.
In the car, rage rolls off of him in palpable waves. Even when he doesn’t have a gun held to an innocent man’s head, I’m too nervous to say anything or ask any questions.
Especially since I'm not sure I want any answers right now.
We pull up in front of the house. It looks more ominous than it once did. Like the windows are gazing down at me and passing judgment.
I watch as Stefan walks down the front steps and opens the back door.
"Wait," I say as the chair lift starts to move. "I want to—Can I put Isabella to bed?"
For the last timeis the thought crosses my mind. I try to banish it.
Adrik ignores me and turns back to Stefan. "Take her to her room."
Stefan nods and carries Isabella inside. I watch her little legs dangle over the side of his arm as they walk up the stairs.
“What’s going to happen?” The words are barely a whisper. Not even enough to fog up the glass. “What are you going to do?”
I turn around. Adrik is shaking his head slowly. “Still keeping up the charade?”
“What does that mean?”
He scoffs. “I never would have guessed you playing dumb was an act. You’re so good at it.”
“What the hell are you—”
He’s across the car in an instant, his hand clamped around my jaw. He’s shaking with fury, but his words come out eerily calm. “You don’t get to speak anymore. Do you understand me?”
“But—”
He squeezes tighter. I feel like my jaw is going to shatter. “Fucking siren,” he breathes. “Temptress. I predicted it, didn’t I? I knew. I fucking knew.”
I blink at him, too terrified to speak.
Finally, Adrik releases my jaw and drops back into the driver’s seat wearily. “Nothing to say? Well, I’ll be damned. Look who finally learned to listen.”
He gets out of the car and walks around to my side, yanking the door open. I’m terrified of what comes next. My body is trembling so hard it’s difficult to stand, but I manage somehow, climbing to my unsteady feet.
He ushers me towards the house. I follow him inside.
He walks a few paces ahead of me, not even bothering to turn around. He knows I have nowhere else to run off to. He’s just proven that by tracking me down at the motel. There’s nowhere he cannot go, no place he cannot reach.
We move silently through the house until we reach what looks like the end of a hallway. The same place we stood with Diane when she noticed the secret door set into the wall.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
Adrik whirls around and grabs me roughly by the upper arm. He pushes me ahead of him, leading me towards the door.
“You said these were staff quarters,” I say, digging my heels into the carpet. “But you were lying. What’s down here?”
“You’re about to find out.”
He uses a key I’ve never seen before to unlock the door and then pushes it open, revealing a dark stairwell that leads down beneath the house.
Adrik takes the steps confidently even in the dark, but I stumble. His crushing grip around my bicep is the only thing keeping me upright.
“Please. Please don’t…” My whisper echoes off the stone walls. And I realize all at once that there’s only one thing I can ask for. Only one thing that really, truly matters. “Please don’t hurt Isabella.”
If Adrik and Yasha were conspiring together to steal Isabella back, I hope that means they’ll take care of her. That they’ll love her.
If I have to suffer so that she can live, I’ll do it one thousand times over. I just want her to be safe.
Adrik stops suddenly. At first, I think it’s because of what I’ve said. But then a dim, yellow light flickers on above my head, and I see we’re at the base of the stairs.
Without letting go, Adrik uses his other hand to unlock a metal door behind me. He pulls it open and, before I can understand what’s happening, shoves me inside.
I stumble back. The only reason I don’t fall on my ass is because I slam against a stone wall first. It knocks the wind from my lungs.
“No!” I gasp, lunging forward just as Adrik slams the cage door closed.
Because that’s what this is—a cage.
“You can’t leave me here!” My throat feels like it’s closing with panic. I’ve never considered myself claustrophobic, but that’s because I’ve never been trapped like this before. “You can’t—”
“Actually, I can do whatever the fuck I want,” Adrik spits. His handsome face appears between the bars. Even now, I can’t deny that he’s beautiful. Beautiful, but unreachable, like the Northern Lights. “You’re lucky you’re still alive.”
“Why am I?” I sob. “Why not just end it?”
It’s not like I want to convince him to kill me, but if his plan was to take Isabella away… what use could they still have for me?
“The same reason Isabella is going to be safe with me,” Adrik says, backing away, his finger hovering over the light switch. “Because I’m not the monster in this story.”
Then he flips the switch and I’m lost to darkness.
