Chapter Four
Seraphine
I woke with a gasp and the scent of cedar permeating all around me. A fluttering sensation swept across my forehead and my eyes snapped open. Valen stood above me, his fingers hovering just over my head.
My eyes widened, and I rolled out of his reach, a scream ready to burst from my lips.
“It’s OK, Seraphine. Calm down.” His face scrunched up and he took a step away from the bed. “Fucking hell, you almost gave me a heart attack.”
Wait.
Bed?
Great, Seraphine. Absolutely fucking brilliant. You managed to fall asleep in front of the man who told you to your face he’d been plotting your demise for six years. What’s next? Asking him to braid your hair?
“What’s going on? Why am I in a bed? Wait, were you trying to strangle me? I fucking knew it,” I rasped, my throat dry.
I could practically hear my therapist now. “Seraphine, you’re showing concerning patterns in the decisions you make.”
No shit.
“Relax, little lamb.” Valen ran his fingers through his hair, tugging at the ends with a sigh.
“You fell asleep. I brought you in here so you wouldn’t run.
You were having a nightmare.” He sank down onto the small couch opposite the bed, his eyes dark and focused on me. “You were screaming my name.”
I was? Of course I was. Because my subconscious mind had the same terrible judgment as I did when I was awake.
I glanced around Valen’s room. Dark furniture, neatly folded clothes on top of a beautiful wooden dresser, and not a single thing out of place. It fit him perfectly. Practical. Controlled.
Sweat clung to me and I ripped the blankets off. At least I was dressed this time. Suddenly, the dream came rushing back.
Courtney chasing me on a camel, her eyes hollowed out but still menacing. Being swallowed by sand the color of blood. The suffocating silence. Me reaching for help. Valen grabbing me.
I’d had the same dream many times before, but the last part was new. Usually the sand swallowed me whole, and I’d wake up with my throat raw.
We’d all had these wild plans. Our bucket list. The one thing we wanted to do that was out of reach.
Courtney wanted to ride a camel in Morocco. Sylvie wanted to take a pasta class in Italy. Libby wanted to eat ice cream at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Jordan wanted to go to Dublin, where she thought she’d meet the love of her life. And Maya wanted to skydive in Spain.
We were all going to do it after graduation, only they never got the chance. So I did it for them. I went country by country, screaming and crying in silence. I did everything they never got to do.
But I never truly lived. Not really. I breathed every day, put on a smile, and took the photos, but I’d stopped living the night they died. I was just a ghost with a checklist of dreams that weren’t even mine.
I reached for my bracelet. My heart fluttered when I realized it wasn’t on my wrist. I scrambled off the bed, tossing the blankets around.
“Have you seen my bracelet?” I couldn’t hide the panic in my voice.
“Your bracelet?” He shook his head. “You haven’t had a bracelet on the entire time you’ve been here.”
Fuck. Of course I would lose the one thing that kept me tethered to my sanity.
The accident. It must have snapped off in the car. Or worse. Dread filled my body at the realization it was probably buried under three feet of snow outside.
“I need to find it. It’s… important. I need a shovel and flashlight.” I went to open the door, but it was locked.
He watched me as if I’d lost my mind. And maybe I had. This whole adventure had turned into something from my nightmares. But at this point, I didn’t care what he thought. If I was going to die, I was going to die with a piece of them with me. And nobody was going to take that away from me.
“Easy there, Seraphine.” He stalked closer, and I backed up, the cold wood of the door pressing against my back. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Yes, I am,” I breathed, my body going rigid at the low laugh he let out.
He leaned in, bracing one arm above my head. His chest was like a wall of heat, making alarm bells go off in my head. “You just don’t like to follow rules, do you?”
I sucked in a breath as he gripped my chin. He tilted my face up until I was forced to meet his gaze. My pulse was beating violently, the smile on his face confirming that he knew the effect he was having on me.
“I’ll find it.” His voice was soft and commanding and utterly final. “Now get back into bed.”
Something about the way he said those words sent a shiver down my spine.
I’d learned a few things since being locked inside this cabin.
One, Valen had a heart. It might have been bloody and black, but it was there.
Two, he definitely wanted his revenge against me.
I just couldn’t figure out when he was going to do it.
And three, when he used that voice, I’d better obey because I didn’t want to find out the consequences of not obeying.
Just do as he says. Play nice. We’re still getting out of here. I just need a new plan. Find my bracelet, find my gun, get my damn keys back. I sighed as I slipped from underneath his arm and walked over to the bed.
Another thought raced through my mind as he turned to face me, a gleam in his eye. What if he wanted to do something else with me? Was that why he’d brought me into his bed?
Oh, God, was that his plan all along? Was his revenge fantasy to force himself on me? I needed to kill this plan immediately before he could make a move.
“Just so you know,” I blurted out, my hands fisted at my sides, “I’m a terrible lay. Like a dead fish. Also, I snore.”
He crossed his arms over his chest, rubbing his thumb over his bottom lip. Which was my cue to keep going.
“Oh, and I’m practically a virgin. I mean technically not, if you count that time my freshman year, but that only lasted two seconds.
So, if you’re thinking about trying anything, just know that it will be a disappointing experience.
Especially for you. I mean, five years in prison is a long time, and you probably have high expectations. ”
“Go on.” He nodded, not giving me any indication if my plan was working.
“I’m also pretty emotional, if you couldn’t tell. So I’ll probably cry during and after.” I nibbled on my bottom lip and watched him for his reaction.
“Noted.” He pushed off the wall and brushed past me before lying on the small couch. His legs hung over the end, and I knew that he wasn’t going to be comfortable sleeping there.
I narrowed my eyes, unclenching my fists. That was it? Noted? God, he was sick in the head.
“Sleep. I’ll keep the fire going.” He threw his arm over his eyes, visibly relaxing into the cushions. “I don’t mind snoring, just try to control your screaming. I’ve had enough of that for this lifetime.”
I scoffed as I climbed into his bed. OK, maybe I was wrong. The thought should have been comforting, but somehow it wasn’t.
After a few minutes, his breath evened out, and I knew he had fallen asleep. I watched the rise and fall of his chest, fighting to keep my eyes open, but it was useless.
*** ***
“For the hundredth time, you’re not going out there.” Valen blocked the front door, his arms crossed over his chest like a wall I couldn’t move.
I grunted in frustration, ripping off my jacket. We’d had the same argument the last hour: me demanding to be let out so I could try to find my bracelet, and him shooting the idea down every single time.
He was dressed in full-on winter gear—heavy coat, gloves, snow boots—as opposed to me and my boots and jacket that were apparently more for fashion than survival.
“I need supplies from the shed.” He pulled his keys from his back pocket. “You stay put. When the snow calms, we’ll have a better chance of finding your bracelet.”
He unlocked the door. A blast of wind howled through the crack, making me shiver.
When the snow calms? At this rate, that was never going to happen.
I craned my neck to look past him. Mother Nature was really trying to prove a point.
There was at least four feet of snow on the ground.
The wind was still howling, piling snowdrifts against the cabin as if to reaffirm that we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.
At some point this morning, before I’d gotten out of bed, Valen had shoveled some snow from the path from the cabin to his shed.
His broad frame filled the doorway, and he glanced back at me. “What happens if you leave this cabin without my permission?”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Yeah, yeah, you’ll tie me up, make me suffer, blah blah.”
“Careful, little lamb.” His gaze pierced mine. “If you’re going to act like a brat, I’ll treat you like one.”
I swallowed, my pulse quickening at that growly tone of his. Mental note: Google how men treat women who act like brats and if it means what I think it means.
“Noted.” I threw his words back at him and plopped down on the couch.
He chuckled, shaking his head as he locked the door behind him.
I didn’t know why he locked it. It wasn’t like I was going to get very far in this mess.
Without any type of vehicle, I was stuck here.
And God only knew what state poor Bessie was in.
Maybe she’d already fallen through the ice, and my bracelet was long gone.
I peered out the window, my gaze following him through his makeshift trail. As soon as he got a safe distance away, I took off down the hallway. First objective was to find my gun and keys. Second objective… well, I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet.
He’d warned me to stay out of the other rooms already, which only made me want to go in there even more. There was one particular room at the end of the hall that he’d gone into multiple times. If I had to guess, my gun was in there.
I turned the knob, wondering if the universe was going to be on my side just this one time.
It didn’t budge.
Cruel bitch.