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“I have a proposal for you. If you agree to be my woman, I will make you my Queen. You will rule over the island by my side. What do think?” Victor’s words made it clear to me what he wanted.
It was me. As his sex partner. Even though he said queen, I didn’t believe that he would treat me as an equal. Not after giving me the choice between being stuck in a prison cell and bedding him.
Bile rose in my mouth. Victor tried to present himself as a good guy with that nice smile of his. But he was really the worst kind of villain and nothing more.
I wanted to regain my freedom, true, but this deal would be trading one prison for another one – a much worse one. One where I would have no control over my body, having to have sex with a guy I didn’t want. Stuck in this cell, I could at least preserve my dignity. If I went with him, I would slowly lose my humanity and go insane.
I spat at Victor’s feet, letting him know how much I detested his proposal. “Never will I agree to be your woman. Leave me alone!”
Victor’s face lost all pleasantness. There was a sharp edge to his expression as he looked at me, and I realized that this man was already governing my life. One order from him, and I would die.
Even so, I continued to stare at Victor defiantly.
So be it. At least I would die as a person, not as some sad creature Victor had molded me into. I didn’t want to die, but there was a limit to how far I would go to preserve my life. There was only so much I could suffer before even my spirit would be broken.
“A few days in prison will surely make you change your mind.” Victor exited my cell. “I will come back in a week.”
I wanted to tell him that nothing he could do would make me change my mind about him; that he was the most revolting person I knew but I stopped myself. There was no reason to agitate Victor further. If I really pissed him off, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill me – I was sure of it.
And he seemed disinterested in doing so right now, thankfully. Even though I had decided I would welcome death with peace, should it come, I felt relieved that I wouldn’t have to die yet. I still wanted to fight against this terrible fate of mine. Only now did I realize how much more I wanted to struggle and endure. Despite the overwhelming odds, I didn’t want to admit defeat.
Victor went out of the cell. He locked the door again and went away in the direction of the prison unit exit without a second glance at me.
A part of me wondered though – maybe Victor’s proposal was the best option I had? There was no one to come to my rescue. I was stuck here, and I might very well never see the light of the day again if Victor decided to keep me here until I changed my mind rather than kill me.
I was too old and jaded to dream about princes on white horses. And yet I kept thinking about those two men – the one with a mane of curly hair, and the other with an elaborate tattoo of wolves and bears on his arm. Who were they and why did my heart hope so much that I would see them again? Why was I so stuck on the thought that they could save me if they wanted to?
I was such a foolish girl, letting myself get stuck on a dream of someone coming to my rescue. It was better to come up with my own way out of this mess, just like I had always done. I was the one who had decided to come to Isla Paraiso. My choice had led to my current problem so I needed to use my own strength to get me out of it.
I couldn’t give up. Hope was the last weapon I had. I should keep it close to heart and not be swayed by dreams of hot men saving me from the awful Victor’s proposal.
I was Daphne Perez, and I would fight my way to my freedom and peace.
The hours went by without an answer coming to me about how I could leave the prison. But I would remain vigilant for an opportunity. I would find my way out.
Chapter Five
Esteban
Three hours after Gabriel and I deployed Engel to scout out the location of the woman, he returned with information that she was being kept in the prison near Fort Torres.
“That’s some good news at least. We should be able to break in there without a problem if we take twenty of our people with us and create a distraction.” Gabriel said out loud the exact same thing I was thinking.
I nodded. Gabriel and I were standing in the village square. The hunters had already returned to the village about an hour ago. Yoselin had made some hearty porridge for them to build their strength.
“We should take our guns with us. I’d rather fight this battle in human form since we’re going to break into a facility with tight corridors,” I said. “Do you know where exactly she is being held?”
“The guy I overheard talking said the pretty lady is in the medium security wing,” Engel smiled, but I got annoyed at hearing someone else call the woman beautiful.
The fury must have flashed in my eyes or been obvious from the way I tensed because Engel noticed the change in atmosphere. He raised his hands in the universal gesture of surrender. “Don’t shoot, boss!” he joked, but I saw the flinch of his lips.
After Adans earlier today it seemed that Engel wasn’t sure what I might do to him. I was a bear shifter whose mate was in danger. ‘Tread carefully’ must have been written all over me.
I let out a long sigh. “Don’t worry, Engel. You’ve done a great job spying on Victor’s guys.”
Engel had hidden in the bushes and overheard two men talking about the woman they had kidnapped. That was how he had discovered where she was being kept. If not for the details learned from this conversation, we would have been in the dark about where to attack and where to go once we broke through Victor’s defenses. Now, however, we only needed to travel the distance to the facility next to Fort Torres, engage quickly, grab the woman, and leave.
“Can you help me decide whom we’re taking with us?” Gabriel had his notebook ready and had already written down several names with his fountain pen.
