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“Why?” I bit out. “Because no one can speak to what you own? You talk about me like I’m an object.”
He frowned before leaning down, putting his lips right next to my ear, and whispering, “Don’t challenge me here, Kali. In their eyes, you are mine. They were all taught to respect me. To fear me. Vampires rebel against hierarchy, even subconsciously. It’s a precarious line. But I will never tolerate disrespect from any of them. Especially when it comes to you.”
I pressed my lips together, keeping my thoughts to myself. What difference did it make if I argued or not? I was still stuck here, but I had a feeling if I did argue with him in front of others, he might put me back in his room. I couldn’t take another day by myself, drowning in my thoughts and memories.
“Is Tim still alive?” I asked stiffly, changing the subject. “Or did you get your revenge on him for taking you?”
He cocked his head, his eyes unreadable. “I made a deal with you that I wouldn’t kill him.”
“I’m sure the torture you’re inflicting has him wishing for death,” I muttered as I moved to go around him.
He caught my wrist, pulling me back to him. He raised his other hand, his fingers grasping my chin. When he tilted my face up, surprise hit me when I saw amusement dancing in his eyes.
“You think you know me so well,” he murmured. “And from the sound of it, your opinion of me is low. You think I enjoy torturing humans?”
My pulse thudded. “You are a Kane.”
“And you’re a Clover,” he tossed back, leaning close to keep his words quiet. “A human trained to kill my kind. Yet you tolerate one vampire enough to allow him between your legs. And from the way you moaned my name, you thoroughly enjoyed it.”
“I allowed it once,” I gritted out. “That isn’t happening again.”
With a wicked smirk, he released my chin, only to slide his hand to the back of my neck and grip my hair. He dropped his head, and when his lips brushed the side of my throat, my heart leaped before I could keep control of it. He kissed me again, making a tingle run down my spine. He bit my earlobe before speaking in a low voice.
“You’re going to be here for a while, Kali. Why don’t you give yourself a chance to be happy? Ask me to help, and I’ll drop to my knees and spend all fucking night showing you how much I enjoy having you here.”
My lower stomach clenched in a way that only seemed to happen when Zan was close. Especially when he spoke to me like that. And he was being playful. Something he rarely did. No matter how much I detested being trapped in this situation, there was no denying how I reacted to him. I hated it, but yet it only grew the more I was near him.
When I didn’t respond, he sighed and pulled away. “Go. Talk to Tim.”
My eyes snapped to his, widening in shock. “What?”
“You already formed your opinion of me. Go see how I treated the human who spent hours making me bleed.”
I didn’t move, unsure of what he was playing at. “You’re not worried about what he tells me?”
He chuckled. “He has hawthorn in his system. From how nervous he is, I’m guessing it won’t be long until it’s gone. Once that happens, I’ll be able to entrance him. Whatever he tells you, I’ll find out about it anyway.”
My gaze darted behind him to the door of the room where Tim was being held.
“What are you waiting for?” Zan pulled my attention back to him. “Go. Before I change my mind.”
I scowled as he watched me curiously as I slipped past him and hurried down the hall. My steps faltered when I got closer to the deadbolted door, not knowing what I was about to walk in on. I swallowed thickly as I unlocked it, then I slowly pulled it open. After glancing down the empty hall, I slipped inside the room. My ears rang from the sudden silence, and I blinked from the bright lights, spotting Tim in the back of the room.
My eyes traveled over him, searching for the telltale signs of torture. Unlike Zan, he wouldn’t heal quickly. But there wasn’t a mark on him. No blood or bruises. My face scrunched in confusion. If Zan did hurt him, there was no physical sign of it. He even had freedom to move around. There was a cuff locked on his ankle, and the long chain was attached to the back wall. It wasn’t enough for him to reach the door, but he could still move around most of the room.
“Kali.” His voice was a mixture of surprise and anger. “You really did choose them.”
My chest panged with sadness. “I didn’t. Not that you gave me a chance to explain myself.”
“Garrett told us you let that vampire feed on you,” he said in disgust. “Warner and Matt told us what happened at the cabin. You helped them kill our people.”
I hovered near the door. Should I tell him what really happened? Would he believe me? It really didn’t matter, seeing as Zan was going to entrance him anyway. Anything I told him would be long forgotten in the next couple of days. Nerves swarmed me, and I crossed my arms tightly, watching the person I used to consider family look at me like I was the enemy.
“I didn’t have a choice but to come back here,” I said quietly. “They couldn’t entrance me because of my tattoo. I know too many of their secrets. It was either this, or they kill me.”
“Liar,” he spat out. He crossed the room until the chain pulled taut a few feet away from me. “We gave you everything, and you turned your back on us.”
“I didn’t,” I choked out. “I didn’t have a fucking choice. I did everything I could.”
