Chapter 8 #3
A low, terrifying growl rumbled deep within Lash’s chest. This time, he didn’t simply nudge the other alpha with his boot. He kicked him right in the ass.
“Hey!” Silvan shot straight up, his eyes wide. “What the hell was that for?”
“For being a lazy sack of shit,” Lash grumbled. “Now get up. I can’t seal the hold from the inside.”
“You’re going in there with her?”
I couldn’t blame the alpha for shaking his head. I was just as confused.
“I have orders to ensure the prisoner stays alive until her interrogation at sunrise,” Lash explained.
That wasn’t exactly true.
To my ear, Nelissa had seemed far more concerned with his loyalty than my survival. But apparently, Lash wasn’t willing to take any risks. After all, he’d be the one facing the consequences if I ruined Nelissa’s fun by ending my own life before she could.
“Fine.” The other alpha’s eyes bored into mine as he finally gave in. Even though Lash had been the one who had kicked him awake, it was clear I was the one he blamed.
“Another kirre slut?” Silvan asked as he pushed himself off the ground. “Who’s this one here for?”
Lash groaned, his frustration with the guard coming through loud and clear. “If we knew that, Nelissa wouldn’t need to interrogate her, would she?”
Now up on his feet and towering over me at full height, Silvan’s lips curled back in a frightening mockery of a smile. Moonlight glinted off his thick fangs.
“No need to wait for morning,” he snarled. “Give me five minutes, and I’ll have this bitch screaming out her darkest secrets while I chew on her guts.”
That didn’t sound like a threat. Or a joke.
It sounded like a promise.
Icy shivers shot up my spine. I stepped closer to Lash’s side—close enough to create some slack in the belt wrapped around my wrists. Enough to be able to grab the gun from my boot? Maybe. Maybe not.
But just as I decided to go for it, Lash wrapped his hand around my wrist and stepped in front of me like a shield.
“Touch the kirre, and Nelissa will display your head on a spike,” he snapped at the guard.
Pressed up against Lash’s side, I could feel the tension surging through his body. The muscles in his arms buzzed like live wires, threatening to turn any spark into a lightning bolt of violence. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was protecting me.
“It was a joke, asshole,” Silvan sniped.
“Sure,” Lash said, sounding far from convinced. He pointed at the guard’s oil lamp. “I’m going to need light in there.”
Silvan muttered a curse as he handed it over.
Then, lantern in hand, Lash led me inside the cave.
The opening was low enough that I had to crouch to enter. At nearly twice my size, Lash was forced to bend over at the waist.
And it didn’t get much roomier once we were inside.
The ceiling was uncomfortably low, the top of my head scratching against it in some places, and the length and width of the dirt floor were roughly the same as a prison cell back home.
But the real difference between this cell and one in the county jail was the lack of bars or windows.
There wasn’t a single crack in the rock face to let in a breeze or a shaft of light, just a dome of unforgiving stone surrounding me.
No—surrounding us.
A loud grinding sound echoed off the walls as Silvan pushed the massive stone outside in front of the cave, sealing us inside. I closed my eyes, pressing my spine against cold stone, waiting for the grating noise to stop.
But even after it did, I was still hesitant to open my eyes.
What was the point? I’d lost all my hope. I wasn’t even allowed to lie down and die. Not yet. Not until Nelissa got the chance to dig her claws into me. The only thing I had to look forward to was more suffering.
“You should rest,” Lash said, breaking the silence when it stretched on too long.
Reluctantly, I cracked open my eyes to see the cave bathed in a golden glow.
Like candlelight, the lamp gave off just enough light to illuminate the space, but not enough to fully erase the shadows clinging to the stone’s crags and crevices.
The flickering flame even managed to magically soften Lash’s stare.
Now looking into his dark eyes, I struggled to make out the hostile edge that had been obvious just moments before.
“Will you untie me first?” I asked, raising my wrists.
Lash shook his head. “The binds stay.”
“But why?” It didn’t make any sense. “I’m surrounded by solid rock. I’m not going anywhere.”
“That doesn’t mean I trust you,” he answered without any more explanation.
My last shreds of emotional energy were funneled into frustration. “But?—“
“I gave you my answer, Felicity, “ he snapped. “Now you can either choose to waste these last few hours before sunrise fighting a battle you can’t win, or you can lie down and rest before Nelissa comes.”
My brows pulled together. Was he actually concerned for my well-being, or was I imagining things?
Either way, Lash was right. Exhaustion had rendered me useless. My only hope was sleep.
So, hands still wrapped together tight, I curled up into a ball on the rocky ground and closed my eyes.
Not even two minutes later, I was dead asleep.