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Horror and anger flashed through me as she spoke. So all this time, she had been thinking about returning to the demons. All this time, we had been falling for each other and getting closer, she’d known this wasn’t permanent.
My fingers tightened on her waist, and I shook my head. “You can’t go back. I won’t let you.”
She frowned and rose until she was sitting in the bed. “You can’t decide for me. That’s not your choice.”
“You’re mine now, Irina. I told you. I’m not going to let you go back to Chicago, where your life and soul are in danger. Knowing Hell truly exists, will you take that chance? I can’t let you be so stupid. I won’t.”
“So, what are you going to do? Keep me here?” She shoved me with both hands, trying to push me away.
I scowled at her. “If I have to.”
In the blink of an eye, I slithered off the bed and moved to the door, slamming it shut behind me. Then, I turned the key that, until now, had sat untouched in the lock. There wasn’t a chance in hell I was letting her run back to those demons.
Irina
I sat there,staring at the door in shock. What the fuck had just happened? My mind was still trying to process everything when the door clicked, and then he was gone. Did he think he could keep me in here like a possession?
I rose, moved to the door, turned the handle, and then gaped at it in surprise when I found he’d locked me in. Slamming both my fists on the wood, I screamed through it.“Don’t be such a snaky asshole, Jake! You need to talk to me. You can’t make these decisions for me. My life isn’t here. I’m not meant to live in some town full of monsters! And there’s no reason why you can’t go out into the real world with me! Do you want to live your life hidden away? Hell—why the fuck can’t you do that in Chicago? Just because I said I wouldn’t stay didn’t mean I didn’t want you to come with me!”
I kicked the door and hissed in pain as I jumped away, grabbing my toes. “Fuck!” I snarled before turning back to the bed. There wasn’t a chance in hell I would let him come back to Chicago with me now. If this is the kind of man he was, I was better off without him.
Pulling the closet door open, I grabbed a sweater and a pair of jeans, tugging them on before stuffing my feet into the runners. I looked around the closet and room—everything else he had technically bought me. I had nothing of my own to pack and take with me except the money I originally stole on my way out of the nunnery.
I moved over to the purse I’d stashed the cash in and pulled out the wad of bills, counting out exactly how much money I brought with me, minus the cost of the clothes and purse I was taking with me. I left the rest in a pile on the dresser. Us Faulkners were nothing if not petty when we wanted to be.
I shoved the rest into the purse and flipped the strap over my head before turning to the windows. They might be boarded, but there had to be a way to get them open. And when there’s a will, there’s a way. I unlocked the glass panels and tried to open them, but the boards wouldn’t allow the windows to swing open like normal. So, I grabbed the drawer out of the nightstand, dumping everything onto the bed before turning back to the window.
I didn’t feel bad about this at all. As he’d said, he had the money and the means to fix things … So he could fucking fix this. I slammed the drawer into the window, shielding my face as the glass shattered everywhere. I dropped the drawer before grabbing the armchair and dragging it over to the window. Next, I stood and braced myself on the wall before using my foot to kick the boards off.
I was making a lot of noise, and I had no doubt he knew what I was up to, so I had to move fast before he caught me. If I got into town, he wasn’t going to make a scene in front of other people. After all, he didn’t like being seen.
I turned back to the bed, but the mattress wasn’t going to fit through the window, so I’d do like they did in the movies. I jumped off the chair and got to work, quickly stripping the bed of the sheets and tying them into a rope. Next, I wrapped it around the arm of the chair and tied it off.
After double-checking all my knots to ensure they wouldn’t slip, I climbed onto the windowsill and threw the rope out. I lowered myself carefully, and once I got far enough to jump, I pushed myself off the wall and let go, landing on my butt. Pain shot up my spine as I grimaced. I didn’t have time to coddle it, though, as I pushed myself to my feet and adjusted my clothes before taking off in a sprint.
When I walked, it took fifteen minutes to reach town. Hopefully, I could shorten that if I ran because that was fifteen minutes he’d have to catch up with me. I didn’t exactly know the pace of a half-snake man, but I suspected he had speed on his side.
As I ran, I tried to ignore the tightness in my chest. It wasn’t because I was out of shape. I knew the cause.
I had fallen head over heels for Jake so fast and deeply that being betrayed by him like this—to think he could own me … Well, my heart was breaking. As much as I wanted to try and be understanding, he was an older man despite his outward looks and had lived in a time when maybe men were allowed to feel that way about women. But surely, despite how out of touch with people he was, he still worked in the modern world and had seen society progress. He must know women didn’t want to feel like objects.
I loved him despite his outward appearance. What he was didn’t permit me to dictate his life, so the same had to be true for him toward me as a woman. And if he couldn’t understand, then we couldn’t be together. I certainly wouldn’t tolerate being locked in a room like a child.
Frankly, the whole thing reminded me too much of my father. Perhaps, deep down, I also feared the reason Jake was like acting like this was that he was like my dad. That alone was my worst nightmare.
My muscles burned as I pushed myself through the woods surrounding the small town. When I couldn’t take the exertion anymore, I reluctantly slowed to give myself a break. While my legs changed their pace, my thoughts did not. My anger had waned, allowing the sadness to grow heavier.
I woke this morning feeling so good, imagining this was what life with Jake would be like. I was exhilarated that despite the odds, we had managed to find our happily ever after in each other.
Then, in a matter of minutes, I was forced out of my bubble of happiness and leaving it all behind. I wasn’t entirely sure my heart had caught up with my head. They said time heals all wounds, but I wasn’t sure my heart would ever be the same, not now that my Naga had imprinted himself there.
Jakari
As soon asthe door was locked, I slithered into my bedroom and slammed the door in annoyance. Turning to my record player, I flipped through a couple of records and pulled one out, dropping it onto the player. Moving the needle into place and switching it on, the heavy metal bass filled the room.
Over the years, my loneliness had propelled me to set up a pretty impressive stereo system around my bedroom. As soon as the sound filled the room, it drowned out everything else. I’d found this was the only way to shut off my enhanced hearing, and right now, I didn’t need to hear her swearing at me.
She’d come to her senses soon enough and realize I was doing this for her protection. I was doing this to keep her safe because I loved her, and she loved me. Once her anger subsided, she would realize that too. Until then, I’d let out my frustration through music, letting the bass fill me.
