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“Before you kill me,” Hunter found himself saying, the resignation in his tone hard to miss, “tell me what you did to my sister.”
“Why?” Isa cocked his head. “You think I had to have done something to get her to turn on you? Because of blood?”
“You said she was dead.”
“I did,” he chuckled. “I lied.”
“I’m so surprised.”
“Sarcasm? At a time like this? Really, Thorn?”
“How else should I react?”
“Your sister, whom you believed was dead for over ten years, just—”
“Yeah,” he cut him off and shook his wrists, wincing when that caused the ropes to slice in deeper, “got that much. I was there, remember? You on the other hand…”
“You don’t remember?”
Hunter frowned.
“I was in the car, I helped steady you when First so carelessly threw you in.”
He didn’t remember that at all, but there was no reason for Isa to lie to him about a minor detail like that so he’d take his word for it. It didn’t make a difference anyway. Whether Isa had gone to get him personally or—Wait.
“You were waiting for Meg to bring me to you?” Didn’t that mean Isa hadn’t gone to the meeting with the Emperor? Was that because Altz hadn’t told him, or had he simply not cared to?
“I couldn’t exactly walk into Club Cherry and lure you myself, now could I,” Isa said. “But I also wasn’t about to leave a mission like this up to chance. Knowing I was right there ensured everyone did their part correctly and got me what I wanted without any hiccups.”
That really made it sound like he didn’t know. If Altz hadn’t told him, that meant Odin and Wren stood a chance to sway the Emperor to their side, but only so long as Isa wasn’t informed.
“How long have I been out?”
Isa checked his multi-slate. “About an hour.”
Odin had left before Meg had shown. The meeting was either winding to an end by now or had already ended, but without knowing for sure, Hunter could only think to stall. If Isa found out about the meeting before Odin could finish, he could leave and potentially ruin the whole thing.
He’d keep him distracted for as long as he could, that was the best he could do.
The last thing he could do.
Finally, a sliver of sadness seemed to poke at his otherwise emotionless state of being. He’d gotten to be mated with Odin for such a brief amount of time and now he was going to die before even getting to admit to the other man how he felt. It wasn’t fair.
But it wasn’t surprising.
Why was his life always so unfair?
“Why am I naked?” He really didn’t want to draw attention to that fact, but his lack of clothing probably meant Isa didn’t intend to kill him quickly. Since now they both had a reason for wanting to draw this out, he might as well start them off on the right foot.
“I have a better question,” Isa said. “Why are you so at ease? You do understand what’s about to happen here, don’t you, Thorn?”
“I have a few ideas.”
“Do you think perhaps Odin is going to rescue you?” Isa laughed at that, like it was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard. “He may have developed an odd fondness toward you, I admit, but he doesn’t even know where you are right now. He probably hasn’t even realized you’re missing. And once he does, all of the security footage at the club will show you walking out on your own. Of your own free will.”
That’s why Isa had sent Meg in to do the deed in the first place. He’d wanted Hunter to paint himself into a corner.
Hunter snorted. “You’re trying to act like you don’t feel threatened by me, but if that were truly the case you wouldn’t have bothered concocting a setup like this. What? Afraid if he didn’t think I left willingly he’d come running? Worried it’s not just an ‘odd fondness’ but something more?”
