10. Chapter 10
Chapter 10
Raena
T he click of Ava’s heels against the hard floor is driving me insane. It’s been hours. Hours of her pacing back and forth in this room– ranting about waiting on King. Thankfully, she’s stopped taunting me with her trips down memory lane. Instead, she’s resorted to mumbling incoherently…and fucking pacing. She’s been like this before– needing her next hit. I can hear her clawing at her clothes as she slowly loses the fight against her addiction.
I haven’t spoken at all. Not a single word. She didn’t seem to even notice my lack of response to her antics. And now that she is this far gone, I’m not even sure she remembers I’m even in the room with her. My shoulders burn from the extended position, and I haven’t been able to feel my hands in a while. I put the discomfort out of my mind, trying to ignore her incessant clicking and fall asleep, but I can’t. I’m about to break my vow of silence and scream at her when I hear the tell-tale sound of the metal on concrete as the door is opened.
My heart pounds against my ribs like hummingbird wings as fear floods my bloodstream, making cold sweat beads prickle along the back of my neck. He doesn’t have to announce his presence. I can feel his gaze slither over my body like the scales of a snake.
It doesn’t matter how much I’ve mentally prepared for this moment. Nothing can truly prepare you for the moment you face the monster of your worst nightmares. But I swallow the fear down like putrid acid. King feeds on the fear he instills… I want him choking on my resilience instead.
“King, baby,” Ava whines, “What took so long… Wh–What are you doing ?”
Her surprised, shrill scream rips through the room, followed by a struggle. I can hear her stupid heels as they scrape along the floor.
“Lock her up.” King finally speaks, sending another jolt of fear down my spine like lightning, but I don’t let it show.
Tipping my chin up, I scoot my ass until I’m sitting in the most confident position I can muster while I’m strung up like a marionette doll. The slamming door closes off Ava’s annoying protests. A smile tries to creep over my lips at the thought of her in the same position she put me in. She sacrificed me– and my daughter– to save her own ass.
I hope her experience is as pleasant as mine was.
I feel the moment his eyes are back on me, smothering my almost smile. It feels like I’ve been plunged head-first into an ice bath. As he nears me, his shoes tap against the hard floor in slow, methodical steps. Then he’s circling me like a predator when they’ve finally got their prey trapped right where they want them.
You’re right where I want you, too, motherfucker.
I don’t move a muscle when his finger trails over my cheek, laced with deceptive affection. Unfortunately, his brand of affection is burned into my deeply buried memories. And when his hands move to my hair, I remember just what follows his gentle touches. My head snaps back, tipping my chin to the ceiling as his hot breath skims my cheek. His tongue slides up my face, leaving a wet trail of his saliva in its path.
“Your fear tastes like desperation on my tongue. Are you scared?”
How will your blood taste when it coats my tongue?
His grip loosens when I don’t respond. He starts undoing the blindfold, letting my head relax back into a normal position. I’d rather be robbed of my sight than to see his face again.
I’m not Raena in this room.
“Did you think you were safe, Little Wolf?” He taunts me as the blindfold falls from my face.
Letting the deranged, emotionless feeling wash over me, I prepare to look the Monster in the eye.
And when he grabs my chin to meet his obsidian eyes… The Hunter stares back at him.
“Do you think you're safe now, King?”