Chapter Nila #4
All manner of horrible situations ran wild in my head. I’d been brought up in a safe neighbourhood, instilled with common-sense and morals. Yet nothing had prepared me to fight for my life against a lunatic who came across as sane.
“You can’t do this. I don’t want to go with you.” I tried to jump off, but Jethro’s sleek bulk prevented me from moving. He loomed upright like a terrible sentence—a judgement of my past and present. “You have no choice. You’re coming with me. Your wishes have no relevance.”
Stabbing him in the chest with my fingertip, I shouted, “My wishes are completely relevant. You can’t take me against my will. That’s called kidnapping.” My body flushed with hot anger. “Let. Me. Go. Before I scream.”
Vaughn. Shit, I wanted my brother. The amount of times he protected me growing up from bees, and badgers, and boys who picked on me at school.
Vaughn!
Jethro shook his head. “It’s too late. For any of that. And don’t scream. I don’t do well with screamers.” He chuckled mirthlessly. “Unless I’m the reason for said scream and we’re in private.”
I ignored the ‘scream topic’ and focused on the horrible ultimatum. Too late? What’s too late? I wasn’t on some countdown where my life ended as I knew it. I didn’t agree to any of this!
I didn’t, but maybe father did.
The thought stopped me like a knitting needle to the heart. He’d introduced me to Jethro—over any other man. He’d encouraged me to go with him—against my brother’s wishes.
Jethro might’ve been able to hoodwink my father, but I saw his true colours, and I wasn’t going to tolerate it any longer. This fiasco had gone on long enough.
I opened my mouth to scream. My lungs expanded with a plea. “Help—”
Jethro lashed out, slapping a cool palm over my lips. The first sign of uncontrollable emotion blazed in his eyes. He sighed heavily, shaking his head. “I’d hoped you’d be more intelligent than that.”
I slapped him.
The sharp ringing of flesh against flesh froze time. I didn’t move or breathe or blink. Neither did Jethro.
We stared at each other until all I knew was gold from his eyes. The air dropped from autumn to blustery winter the longer we glowered, freezing over with his temper. It could’ve been a second or ten, but it was Jethro who broke the brittleness between us.
His cold fingers trailed from my mouth to my throat.
Wrapping tight. Unforgiving. The action showed the truth—the inhuman truth.
This man was fastidiously groomed and softly spoken, but beneath it all raged a devil in disguise.
His touch told endless information of the man he tried to hide. He was the ultimate in camouflage.
He was iron-fisted and remorseless.
Tilting my neck with bruising fingers, he murmured, “Obey and I won’t hurt you. Fight me and I’ll make you scream.”
Every muscle in my body jolted. The decimation of my dress no longer mattered. All I cared about was running as far and as fast as I could. Tears bubbled in my chest; I bit my lip to stop the rapidly building sob from escaping.
Jethro never let go of my throat. “I’m not here to kidnap you.
I’m not here to knock you out or drug you.
Call me old-fashioned, but I’d hoped you’d come willingly and prevent both of us an inconvenience.
” Stroking my hair with his free hand, he cupped the back of my skull.
“You’re probably wondering why I said you have no choice but to come with me.
Because I’m a fair man and believe in equality—even between hunter and prey—I’ll tell you. ”
His breath was the only warm thing about him, scalding my skin with words I didn’t want to hear. “I’m here to extract a debt. The reason for that debt will be revealed when I’m good and ready. The method of payment for that debt is entirely up to you.”
My brain swam, trying to understand. “What—”
His fingers tightened, cutting off my air supply. Choking, the instinct to fight overrode my frozen terror. I squirmed, scratching my nails over his wrists.
My nails didn’t affect him—if anything, it made him calmer. Tutting under his breath, he said, “The first thing you should know about me is I never forget. If you draw blood trying to get free, I’ll only repay in kind. It’s worth remembering, Ms. Weaver.”
His gaze fell to my clawing fingers, tightening his own until I fought against what I truly wanted and let them slide from his wrists.
“Good girl,” he murmured. Pulling back, he unwound his digits one at a time from my throat. Meticulous in slowness. Terrifying in control.
I only repay in kind. His voice echoed in my head. I balled my hands in my lap, hoping I wouldn’t lash out or do anything he might deem repayable. I wanted to hurt him so much I trembled. I wanted him bleeding on the pavement so I could run.
Standing tall, Jethro glared, waiting to see what I would do.
I was half his size—and without witnesses, I was helpless. I’d never taken self-defence or thought I’d be in a situation that required it. The treadmill trimmed my figure, but didn’t give me muscle to fight.
What could I do but obey? I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Even my vertigo didn’t dare make me queasy when I was trapped in his savage golden eyes.
A moment ticked past before he nodded curtly.
“I’m glad you’re acting with more decorum.
To ensure that behaviour, I’ll share one piece of information about the debt with you.
” He ran a finger along his bottom lip. “You are the only one who can repay. You must come of your own free will. You are the sacrifice.”
I swallowed, flinching at the bruising around my larynx. His level voice lulled me into thinking I had a chance at escape. Keep him talking. Get him to care. “Sacrifice?” I instantly hated the word.
His eyes narrowed. “A sacrifice is something you do or give up for the greater good. All of this could stop...you have the power.”
It could? The promise of freedom hung in the night-sky, taunting me.
I shifted on the seat, shivering from the cold. “If I have the power, why do I feel as if you’re laughing behind my back?” Steeling myself, I snapped, “Whatever you might think of me, I can read between the lines of what you’re not saying. What are the consequences if I don’t go with you?”
I felt ridiculous talking of debts and consequences. None of this made sense, but a horrible sensation slithered up my back. A memory that I’d buried...from a long time ago.
“You have no choice, Arch. I can’t explain it, but you, me, no one can stop this. My only regret is meeting you.”
My father huffed, whirling around in the drawing room of our eight bedroom manor. “Your only regret? What about V and Nila? What should I tell them? What should I say when they ask why their mother abandoned them?”
My mother, with her glossy ebony hair and dusky skin, stood tall and fearless, but from my hidden spot by the stairs I knew the truth.
She wasn’t fearless—far from it. She was petrified.
“You tell them I loved them but I should never have given them life. Especially Nila. Hide her, Arch. Don’t let them know.
Change your name. Run. Don’t let the debt get her, too. ”
The memory had ended abruptly thanks to Vaughn throwing a soccer ball at my head and shattering the final moments my parents had together. That had been the last time I ever saw her.
I rubbed my palm against my chest, cursing the tightness around my heart. Confusion weighed heavily, equally as pressing as despair.
Jethro smiled. “I’m glad you’re being more reasonable. That is one question I will answer. The consequences of not coming with me are Vaughn and Archibald Weaver, amongst other things.”
My whole world flipped upside down—and this time it wasn’t vertigo.
“Your life for theirs.” He shrugged. “Simple really. But don’t worry about the details. There’s the fine print and endless history lessons to explain.”
My heart stopped. My life for theirs? He has to be joking. I didn’t know if I should be screaming in terror or laughing with amazement. This couldn’t be real. It had to be a farce.
“You can’t be serious. You expect me to believe you?”
Jethro lost his ice, sliding straight into arctic winter. “You think I care if you don’t believe me? Do you think all of this is bullshit and you can somehow argue with me?”
My heart jack-knifed. He was so sure. So resolute. No hint of worry that his scam might be revealed.
It isn’t a joke.
Jethro lowered his voice. “I’ll let you in on another secret about me.
I never do things by half. I never take chances.
And I never hunt alone.” Leaning closer, he finished, “Ever since I set eyes on you, your family has been watched. They’re being judged.
And if you so much as sneeze wrong, that judgement will turn into something a lot more invasive. Do you understand?”
I couldn’t reply. All I could picture was Vaughn and my father being exterminated like vermin.
“Say another word and I’ll end them, Ms. Weaver.” With a glacial glare, Jethro grabbed the handle bars and swung his leg over the black powder-coated machine. Every inch was black. No chrome or colour anywhere.
Shit, what do I do? I had to run. Run!
But I couldn’t. Not now he’d threatened my family. Not now my brain had unlocked a memory adding weight to Jethro’s lunatic suggestions. Not now I believed.
A debt.
I didn’t know what it was. It could’ve been code for something I didn’t understand or literal and requiring payback. But one thing I knew, I couldn’t risk not obeying.
I loved my family. I adored my brother. I wouldn’t chance their lives.
I jumped as the ignition growled to life, tearing through the silence, and somehow granting me strength in its ferocity. Kicking the stand away, Jethro took the weight of the bike.