49. Ember
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
EMBER
O h my god, I’m so bored.
Now that the drugs are out of my system, and I’ve slept more than a human has any right to, I’m stuck staring at blank walls and ignoring my rumbling stomach.
It seems I really scared Lucas off with my period chat, because he’s been gone for at least twelve hours, probably longer, if I’m honest.
I can’t keep track of time, and if I wasn’t so fucking bored, I’d probably have given up by now.
I really hope this isn’t how he plans to keep me forever, because I’ll die of boredom before he can play out this fantasy of his.
Groaning, I reposition my legs, shaking out the pins and needles that are almost constant at this point. I’m not sure if it’s possible to do permanent nerve damage from sitting on hard concrete for long periods of time, but I’m having trouble remembering the last time one of my legs wasn’t dead.
I eye the cot and sigh. It’s not much better, but it’ll start getting cold in here again soon, and I don’t know if I can handle another night of shivering my ass off.
The door swings open, startling me from my thoughts.
I didn’t even hear them coming, which makes me question if I’m also beginning to lose my mind.
Lucas and Cain stand in the doorway, and I swallow heavily.
As much as I would like to think I could, there’s no way I can fight them both off.
One, yes. Both, no. Even with all the extra training I did when I was in Las Vegas, I know my abilities, and two huge, hulking men are far past them.
Add in the fact that my body is fatigued, and I haven’t eaten or drunk anything in close to twenty-four hours, and there’s no way I’d be any match for them.
“Get up,” Lucas barks, and I quickly move to comply.
I almost topple over from the lack of feeling in my left leg, but catch myself on the wall.
“Pathetic,” Cain rumbles, amusement clear in his tone.
God, I hate this motherfucker.
He’s never been my favorite one of Lucas’s cronies, but he really just hit rock bottom in my books.
“You try sitting on the ground for however long you’ve had me down here, and then we’ll see who’s pathetic,” I snap.
Anger fills Cain’s eyes, and he steps forward as if he’s going to hit me, but Lucas places his hand on his shoulder, stalling him before he can get any closer.
“Not until after the wedding,” he says, and I shoot him a look.
“So once I’m your wife, you’re cool with your asshole bodyguard beating on me?”
“Watch your mouth, Ember. There are plenty of things he can do that won’t leave a mark for our big day.”
I swallow the retort that threatens to escape. It’s not worth it.
Once again, if I have the chance to escape, I won’t be able to pull it off if I’m injured.
And if I don’t get the chance to escape, I’d like to be able to take matters into my own hands and make sure I don’t have to live a life married to Lucas.
It’s a bleak thought, and I can safely say death would be a much kinder fate.
“Good girl,” Cain taunts, and I cut him with a glare.
I hate hearing those words from anyone other than Orion, and I’m desperate to throw a fist straight into his ugly face.
Asshole.
“We came in to give you some bad news, I’m afraid.”
My brows tug together in confusion. There are few pieces of bad news I can think of that are worse than wasting away inside this cell, waiting to be marched down the aisle to marry a man I hate.
“Orion’s dead.”
The words come out somber, but there’s a smirk on Lucas’s lips that tells me he’s loving every single second of this.
Everything stops.
My breath in my lungs.
My heartbeat.
My thoughts.
It all comes to an abrupt halt as his words sink in.
I shake my head as a wave of panic crashes into me, almost knocking me clear off my feet. “No, he can’t be.”
“I’m afraid he is.” Lucas nods to Cain, who holds a phone out to me, and I take it with shaky hands.
A video is playing on the screen.
Orion and Killian, walking up to a house I don’t recognize with their guns drawn.
Killian walks around the house, the camera cutting to him looking through a few of the windows before returning to Orion on the doorstep.
They talk for a few seconds, but there’s no audio on the video, something I’m immensely grateful for when Orion opens the door and steps inside.
It’s mere seconds later when bright red flames fill the screen, and a startled cry escapes my throat of its own accord.
No.
It can’t be.
He can’t be gone.
I never got to tell him I love him.
I never got to tell him I wanted a life with him. I wanted to look for a house that would be our home. I wanted to find my place in his empire.
I wanted it all. I was just too stubborn to tell him when I had the chance.
I’m not sure how it happens, but I find myself on the ground, my hand covering my mouth as rough sobs tear from my throat painfully, but the phone is still in my hand, replaying my worst nightmare over and over again.
My last thought as despair drags me under isn’t that there’s no one left to save me, but I don’t think I want to be saved.
Not if it means living a life without the man I love.