CHAPTER 9 ELODIE
ELODIE
At midday, a grumpy old man with thinning hair and age spots all over him hooks me up to an IV without so much as two words to me, unless it’s asking medical questions. He tells me I’ve got to stay hooked to it for the next couple days.
Fantastic. So, I’ll be wheeling this thing around with me. Not that I’m going to go to many places.
An hour passes after I’m left alone again, and I’m bored to death.
I’ve put the tracksuit back on that Alfie came in and laid out for me at some point yesterday.
I wonder if he asked Caden to get me some of my own clothes.
Grabbing the pole of my IV, I wander out of Caden’s room to search for Alfie.
I lose track of the number of times I get lost and retrace my steps, but I don’t find anyone other than Maggie on my travels.
“Have you seen Alfie?” I ask her as she attempts to walk straight past me like I don’t exist.
“Check the work garage,” she throws over her shoulder, not slowing her hobbling gait.
“But Caden’s in there.”
She pauses down the hall. I see her shoulders slump as she sighs. She turns back to me. “So?”
“He told me not to disturb him.”
Maggie harrumphs. “If you’re that scared of him, why are you even here?” With that, she spins back around and continues down the hall.
Maybe because I’m his prisoner and those damn dogs will chew on what little meat I have in my body should I attempt to escape?
Sighing, I walk towards the west end of the house. I shouldn’t be scared of him. I don’t think I am, anyway. I’d just like not to endure another encounter where he inserts his body parts into my body parts.
But since I can’t find him anywhere else, if Alfie’s in there, maybe he’ll act as a buffer.
Steeling myself and getting lost several more times, I finally find the garage. I hesitate just outside the door, fist raised in midair ready to knock. Do I knock? Do I just walk in? Caden did say this was our home now, but then he also said not to disturb him.
Silently cursing myself, I lower my hand to the handle and push the door open, gripping my IV tightly with the other hand.
It’s a regular man’s garage. Tools and gadgets line the shelves along the walls, a worktop spanning the opposite wall and the back wall. I hear noises but can’t see the cause of them.
Stepping into the garage, I look to the right and see Caden scrubbing a black motorbike with a rag just outside the main garage door, which faces the front of the house.
I can faintly see the silhouettes of Bruiser and Sarge running around the field in the distance.
It’s the first proper look I’ve had of the front of the house.
At the open world. The air is quite muggy from the humid summer afternoon, and smells of soap, but it’s still outside.
The world still exists outside of steel walls and cages.
If everyone’s out here, Fiz and Bob are at some aforementioned club, Maggie’s upstairs somewhere, I could technically make an escape at the back of the house.
But I haven’t moved the money to an accessible bank account yet.
Haven’t got a means of transport. God knows how many miles of woods surround this house.
I shake the temptation off. I will not act erratically. I will stick to the plan.
Alfie’s perched on a chair just outside the garage, a few feet away from his cousin, flipping through some magazine. Neither of them notice my entrance, the rock music playing from somewhere must have drowned out my footsteps. Gosh, music. Another thing I didn’t realise I missed so much.
Caden has his shirt off, displaying a body full of sharply cut, lean muscles.
He’s lanky, but he looks strong. His torso is covered in tattoos as well.
I can see a crow on his right pectoral, a pair of scales in the middle of his chest, a dream catcher floating across his abs from his left side on the ribs.
A grim reaper holding a scythe along his right lower side.
The reaper has a skull poking out from beneath his black hood.
All of those, along with the tarot cards – the man is death incarnate.
The squares of his inked abs ripple as he washes the bike, the long cords of muscle and the ominous tarot cards on his arm shifting as he moves the rag.
“What about a Zen garden?” Alfie says, flipping a page over.
“A who garden?” Cade says, scrubbing over the seat of the bike.
“Zen garden. You know, to be all zen.”
Caden looks up from the bike to answer Alfie but catches sight of me. He straightens up, his brows immediately flattening into that unimpressed line. Alfie spots me a moment later and smiles. I take a steadying breath and step forward.
“Hey, princess, what’s up?” Alfie says.
My mouth drops open to speak, but no words come out. Caden’s black hair is pushed back, messy and damp, his piercings glisten in the afternoon sun. Why is this man so attractive, yet so horrid?
“What do you want, Elodie?” Caden says bluntly.
His tone snaps me from my admiring. “I was wondering…” I begin, clutching onto my IV pole like it will give me courage. “If you’ve gotten me some clothes? I’d like to bathe, but I have no other clean clothes to dress into.”
Caden winds the soapy rag around a finger, considering my inquiry. Alfie stares up at him, waiting.
Finally, Caden licks his teeth and goes back to his soap-coated bike. “You can get clothes when you earn them.”
My jaw drops. “Earn them? What the fuck do I have to do to earn my own clothes?”
Alfie lowers his head back to his magazine that he’s definitely no longer reading.
Caden doesn’t even look up from his bike as he continues. “So far, Elodie, all you’ve done is cause grief. You’ve been here a day. I’m not giving you anything until you prove your intentions are good here.”
“Intentions?!” This is outrageous. “I didn’t even want to come here in the first place! I was brought here against my will. I’ve been assaulted by two of you, and you’ve made me feel less than welcome since I got here.”
He straightens up, squaring his shoulders and fixing me with a sharp look. “I started off on the right foot. It was you who took a wrong turn. Stop whining like a child, attempt to get along here, then we can talk about clothes and other things.”
“Oh, what, like our wedding plans? How fucking exciting.”
Caden’s lip piercing wiggles as he fiddles with the inside of it impatiently. “This is exactly what I mean. If you talk to me like that, if you continue to be a little brat, you’ll get nothing.”
Rage is threatening to boil over. “Brat? This is insanity.” I look up at the ceiling. “I can’t believe this is all my fault. Clothes are a basic human fucking right. Unless you wish me to walk around naked?”
Alfie’s head whips up at that, a playful smirk on his lips. Caden’s eyes darken. “Don’t even think about it.”
I cross my arms. “Give me my own clothes then.”
“No.”
“This is ridiculous.” I run a hand through my hair, the other gripping the IV pole, shaking slightly. “So I am to prance around in your attire until you deem it that I’ve earned my own?”
He stares at me a moment. I don’t balk under that intense gaze. Then, he says, “Tell me the truth about your injuries. Give me a name, and I might consider getting you clothes.”
My scowl deepens despite the spike of anxiety shooting up my back. “Might consider?” I scoff. “I told you. I gave you a name.”
His throat bobs with a swallow. “I don’t believe you.”
“Not my problem.”
Caden licks his teeth, his patience thinning. “If you don’t give me the bare minimum by being honest, don’t expect the bare minimum from me by giving you clothes.”
I throw my hands up, exasperated. “You’re impossible. This whole situation is impossible. I’ve gone from one prison to another. I thought you were supposed to be a decent man, all honour and respect, but that’s all bullshit, isn’t it?”
Caden blows out a long breath, going back to his bike and scrubbing vigorously. “Elodie, everything in this world is earned. You will earn my respect. Once you start giving me a bit of yours. But I’m starting to think you have absolutely no idea of the meaning of the word.”
“So, I have to respect you off the bat, but I have to earn yours? Make that make sense.”
Dropping the rag, he picks up a hose and goes to the back of the bike. “I tried. Like I said, I started off with respect. It was you who threw it out the window. Now you have to earn it back. You’ve brought it all on yourself.” He turns on the hose.
Cool mist sprays in my direction as the hot rage bubbles over the brim.
“You’re a criminal, Caden. You kill and sell people for money.
You’re not royal. Not special. The Blackwood pretentious bullshit has gone to your head.
You kill people and you preach like you’re some god who should be worshipped.
You literally have tattoos to commemorate your oh-so-noble actions.
Respect, my ass.” I gesture towards the deck of cards along his arm.
His eyes narrow in on me, a laser beam of threat searing straight through the water spraying between us. “You think that’s why I get the tattoos?”
I roll my shoulder. “I don’t really care.”
I see his knuckles turn white around the hose. “Good. Because you’re not worth the explanation. Get the fuck out of my sight.”
I cross my arms. “Get me some clothes.”
His face turns into a glare so cold it rivals the temperature of the water splashing everywhere. I hold strong, staring right back. With the frosty look still pinned on me, he lifts the hose straight up, blasting me with icy water.
The blow shocks me and I stumble back, the IV ripping at my arm as I nearly fall over.
He holds the spray on me only for a couple of seconds, but it’s enough to soak me.
I stand there dripping. Jaw wide open, eyes wide open, arms wide open, as water runs off them. I stare back at him in utter horror. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
An amused smirk spreads his lips, and Alfie continues to stare down at the magazine, but I see his pinched cheeks.
“Well, believe it. You’re lucky that’s all I’m doing for speaking to me in such a disgusting way. Now get the fuck out of here.”
“You’ve soaked me! What am I supposed to change into now if you won’t give me clothes?”
Caden shrugs, going back to spraying his bike. “I don’t care. But you dare walk around this house naked and you’ll be getting way more than a jet hose in your face.”
I’m shivering already, Caden’s clothes clinging to my sodden body. “Fuck you.” I turn on my heel and dash out, pulling my IV with me.