AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Swallowing her last bite, Tallulah nods and I can tell that scares her, but not as much as my next question will.
"I need you to tell me about Ivette... Everything you know. Start talking, right the fuck now."
Chapter 14
Mymindisstillreeling from everything Xavier's done to me tonight.
I expected a punishment, some sort of cruel pain inflicted upon me for running away from him. But that's not what I got. Instead, he treated me with kindness, as if I was still his beloved fiancée.
He washed my hair, shaved me. He fed me, he dressed me, he baited me and he spoiled me in every way possible. But now that it's over, I know it's time for me to pay for my sins.
I look away when he brings up her name, but that doesn't please him, and this time when he touches me, his hands are more punishing than they were before.
"I asked you a question, angel," he says in a dark tone. "I asked you about Ivette. Do you know who she is? Don't lie to me."
My bottom lip wobbles as I wonder whether I should tell him the truth. But I already rescued Ivette once, and I'm not about to give her up. But now keeping my word means my safety being at risk.
I can't afford to lose my only friendship in the world, and I'm not going to betray her to fulfill Xavier's cruel agenda. I know he's probably asking me about her because of her husband. She's spoken about him often enough to ensure I know he's a dangerous man, and I have no doubt Xavier knows exactly who he is. The mere fact that he knows the girl's name when she was going by Ivy in the home tells me everything I need to know.
"I see the cats got your tongue," Xavier chuckles darkly. "But that just won't do. Because now I'm forcing you to choose again, Tallulah. Once, you already chose your parents, you chose them over me and you chose to fulfill their evil wishes instead of submitting to me like you should have all along. Now I'm giving you another choice. Choose between protecting Ivette or being with me. You will have to betray her, tell me exactly where she is and everything you know about her or you will be chained in my dungeons forever. I will not rescue you this time. I will not show you any mercy. If you do not give up the information about your friend... I will lock you in those dungeons myself and make sure no one else visits you. Do you know how soon you'll go mad from the solitary confinement, Tallulah? I can tell you, because I've seen it plenty of times and I know exactly how long it takes to break someone. I think after a week you'll be more willing to speak, but I'm giving you the option now. Tell me what happened, and I won't lock you up."
Still, my lips don't move and I refuse to give him an answer. This seems to piss him off, and lips set in a thin line as he watches me with dark resignation.
"Suit yourself, angel," he finally says. "If you don't want to give up the information, you'll just have to experience solitary confinement for yourself. I'm sure it won't take long to break you. You're so fragile, after all. Look, one touch and you're already shaking."
To solidify his point, he traces a finger along my collarbone. And as if my body wants to agree with his words I start shivering all over as his fingers leave my skin.
"See how easy easy it is?" he says with a dark grin.
"I only have to do it a few times and you'll be willing to give me any information you have left. Because, angel, I know deep down you haven't lost those feelings you had for me. Despite everything that's happened and despite what your parents trained you to be... I know you still have something in your heart that yearns for me, longs for me to be closer to you and to give you the punishing embrace you crave so much."
I swallow thickly. This conversation is taking more than I expected from me.
"I'm going to ask you one last time. Are you going to give up Ivette's location?"
"I don't know where she is," I whisper, shocking myself by opening my mouth and giving him that tidbit of information.
His gaze darkens and he stares at me long and hard, making my skin crawl.
"Is that all you have to say?" he asks me.
I've been through so much only to protect Ivette, and I'm not going to stop now. My lips stay shut, eyes downcast.
"Have it your way," Xavier says, walking swiftly out of the room and leaving me alone with my mind scrambled.
The door slams behind him and I have a feeling our fairytale is now over. He's not going to have mercy on me, and much less treat me as well as he did since we arrived here. I'm now realizing the only reason he was nice to me was to get information out of me, but at first I thought he still had feelings... That he maybe still cared about me and wanted to make me his bride like we were planning to do all along. I don't know why I hoped for that. I don't know why I clung to the idea as if it was my saving grace. I should have known here is no saving grace with Xavier. He was going to destroy me all along, anyway. No matter what.
As I'm recovering from his mental torture, the door to the bedroom opens again and two guards walk in. I don't need them to tell me what to do. I pick myself off the ground and smooth down my yellow, cheery sundress. I let them take me by the forearm and lead me out of the room and down the stairs of the building. As we walk, the interior becomes darker and grimy. I know these are the dungeons of this place, I can tell by the bars on every space we pass. This is where they kept prisoners, which I suppose I am now to Xavier. I never really had a choice, so maybe I was a prisoner all along.
The guards calmly show me to one of the cells and in seconds, I'm locked in. There is nothing in the cell, just the cold hard floor, made of stone and covered in a thin layer of grease and dirt. I'm afraid to sit down because my dress is already dirty, and my once innocent dream of spending the rest of my life with Xavier has been shattered into pieces.
I wonder whether he's right. Whether only a few days in here will break me. With all my training, I've never experienced something like this. I'm afraid of solitary confinement because it means I'll be alone with my thoughts. They have been racing since the moment I got back with Xavier, wondering what he's going to do to me, whether I'm just a means to an end. A pawn he can toss aside or worse yet, kill.
My life ending is somehow the worst outcome I could possibly hope for. I don't know whether he's ready to kill me or what's stopping him from sending a guard here to slit my throat. I'm sure he would do it with no hesitation. After all, I severed all the ties I had with Xavier when I ran away from him and plunged that blade into his shoulder. And even before that, when I poisoned him, I could see the love he had for me, draining out of his eyes just like his life.
The minutes tick by, soon turning into hours. And soon enough, it's hard for me to tell time. There's no window in the dark cell, and the only light is coming from the hallway a little way off. The room is dark and grimy, so I decide to spare my dress and keep standing. For some reason I want to prove to Xavier that I'm still loyal. If not to him than to Ivette.
I have a feeling my loyalty will mean more to him now. At least it's one positive aspect of my personality, which I'm sure he hates by now. And yet I can't help the sinking feeling that even running away from him won't help me, that even getting out of this dungeon won't save me from his cruel desires. Because the thing is, I've been craving him ever since the moment I left his home. And from the moment we were reunited, I've wanted him again. My skin crawls with a mixture of fear and desire every time he's next to me. And I know there is not much time left for me to fight it. I don't know whether I'll be able to run away again, but even now as I sit in the darkened dungeon my desire to do so wanes.
