Chapter 30
thirty
The walls rattle, shaking with the force of an unknown explosion.
My body trembles, the adrenaline fading as I lie half-sitting on the blood-covered mattress beneath me. The manacles are just long enough to allow me to grab the blanket that was shoved near my head earlier. Even with the blanket, however, shock keeps me cold.
The room begins to dim, and lights dance across my vision. Blood loss is starting to settle in, and it won’t be long before the hallucinations begin to claim me. He comes for me.
My devil.
My monster.
I can hear men shouting through the small window. Gunfire erupts in the distance. But I am safe because the devil and I have made a bargain. He will never let me die. I lean my head back against the wall, closing my eyes. They are too heavy anyway. Like cinderblocks.
A shot erupts outside my door, and I scream, my eyes flying open as I grope for the blanket. That was close. Too close.
My breath stalls in my lungs; my gaze locks on the door. Is it him? The monster who invades my dreams? Or is it the demon who tortured me? Will Kellan come back to finish what he started, just to spite my husband? Kill me before he can rescue me?
Is this all staged?
My thoughts stall as the hinges on the warped wooden door creak ominously, filling the dark silence that stifles me.
My breath catches in my throat, heart hammering away in my chest as the soft light from the other room bathes his lean frame in an almost angelic glow, while his face remains entrenched in the lurking shadows.
I can almost sense his stormy gray eyes roaming my nearly naked body with such intensity it sets my skin on fire. His hands rest lazily in his trouser pockets, his head tilted slightly, as if I am a mystery he needs to unravel.
This is not my avenging angel. Nor is he my white knight. The man standing before me is nothing more than a demon with a devilish smile wrapped in an expensive suit. A snake in the garden, ready to strike.
Instinctively, I bring my arms up to shield myself as he steps forward, ignoring the chafing of the manacles against my already raw wrists. The soles of his shoes echo loudly against the concrete floor, signaling his approach. The sound echoes like thunder in my ears.
There is nowhere to run. I am trapped, like a caged animal. Even if I could escape, if these manacles didn’t chain me to the wall, there would be nowhere for me to go. The approaching demon has taken everything from me. As he always promised he would do. Now there is only him.
Just like he wanted all along.
And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It took you long enough.” My body is tense but having my monster so near sets me at ease. The pain that racks through me seems to lessen as his angry gaze assesses me from head to toe. “You were always horrible at asking for directions.”
The pain in his eyes makes me want to reach out and take him in my arms.
They say monsters don’t feel pain, but that is far from the truth.
Monsters feel more than anyone. Pain. Love. Sorrow. That is why they become monsters. To leave behind the overwhelming emotion that clings to them like frost clinging to the last vestiges of winter before spring blooms.
“Moya lyubov’,” he whispers brokenly.
I smile at the endearment, replaying it in my head before the darkness suffocates me once again.