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“You forget yourself, girlie,” he hissed, spit hitting my face. “I am your one true sire, your lord and master. You would do well to remember what I can do to you if I stop liking you and your sister so much. What will happen if my patience with you runs thin?”
“What do you want from us?” Dahlia interjected, trying to end our face-off.
Jesse turned his weasel face toward her, eyes brightening at her quivering question.
“Just what I said. To show you what kind of life waits for you. Gather whatever things you have. You’re moving into the palace.”
I noticed how he faltered with the word now that I’d mocked him, but he did get off the bed, allowing me to breathe easier, even if his words instilled more fear in me.
“No… we’re good here,” I insisted, darting a look at my twin. “We don’t want to go anywhere.”
Jesse laughed jovially, but it was forced.
“Don’t be ridiculous, girl. You have no idea what pleasures and treats you’ll find inside my home. The other wives love their turns inside.”
“We’re not your wives,” I shot back indignantly.
Jesse scowled. “You will be.”
“But we’re not yet,” I insisted. “It’s improper to bring us in. Aren’t you worried about… you know… diseases?”
Jesse’s jaw twitched, and Dahlia nudged me hard.
“What are you saying, girl?”
I understood he wasn’t entirely sure which twin I was, and I would have laughed if I weren’t so stressed out. We couldn’t go with him inside the palace. Escaping from within those walls would be much more difficult under his eye constantly, and I was sure that the guards in the palace were more on the ball than the ones roaming the outer walls. My mind’s eye had developed a plan to sneak out with Dahlia a night or two before the wedding, but now…
“Come on, girlies. The palace awaits!” Jesse cried, too loudly for my liking. I grimaced and eyed my sister, who began to move at his request, her movements still slower than they should have been.
I bit on my lower lip, wanting to stop her, but I knew that there was no argument that would get Jesse out of our trailer without us. We were stuck. Again. Would this nightmare ever end?
* * *
I hadto admit that the quarters that Jesse had for us inside his house were much better than what he had provided in the dilapidated house outside, but I couldn’t stop comparing his outdated surroundings with the little I’d seen at Atlas’ home.
The tiger shifter had no style, no class. Jesse had money, sure, but clearly not as much as the wolf billionaire, and how they spent it was dramatically different. I didn’t know enough about décor or art, but it was clear to me that Jesse had to try and keep up appearances while it simply came naturally to Atlas.
Our suite had two beds, which was already an improvement. They were twin beds, however, still giving us more room than we’d had before.
“This is better,” Dahlia murmured, flopping onto the cotton sheets with a sigh.
“No, it’s not!” I hissed back, eying the doorway. “We’re under constant guard now.”
“We were before, too.”
“Not like this.”
“There’s a full bathroom!” my sister exclaimed, nodding toward one of the half-closed doorways. “I wonder if there’s a bathtub.”
I stared at her dubiously. “Don’t tell me you’re being taken in by all this!”
“I’m taken in with the idea of washing my hair for the first time in weeks!” she countered, sitting up.
I stared at her more closely, my pulse quickening. We’d certainly slept in worse places on the run with our mom. The room was spacious, with two decent mattresses off the floor and matching armoires on opposite sides of the bed. It was unremarkable, by no means the luxury that Jesse had promised, but it beat the hell out of the trailer. And Dahlia was right; there was an adjoining bathroom with a real clawfoot tub and running water.
I was just too embittered to appreciate any of it. If I appreciated it, I would be conforming, and if I conformed, it meant I was resigning. I still had some fight left in me. Didn’t I?
Even with Jesse and his guards overlooking, I had managed to sneak the money into my bra from Atlas. My sister looked a hundred times better than she had, and my silent hope was that we would make our way out in the dead of night with no one being the wiser.
