Chapter 54 Caleb
CALEB
Ryker turns up the second he said he would. I stare at him through hooded eyes and deep-rooted hatred for a man who can so easily take my life away.
He watches my every move, and I want to cut open his stomach and strangle him with his intestines.
“Did you say farewell?” he drawls with a smirk.
My nostrils flare at his taunt. “Yes,” I heave as I clench my fists together.
He quirks a brow at me. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure.”
“Did he cry? I bet he cried like the coward he is.”
My wolf claws at my insides to lunge for him, but I can’t. Not when he’ll hold Evan over my head forever. I’ll never be able to rest until I know my father is dead.
“I don’t want to talk about him with you,” I say through gritted teeth. “I’m here. I did what you said, and you will leave him alone.”
The corner of his mouth tilts, flashing off his yellowing teeth. “And to know you came so willingly.” He chuckles.
Because you gave me no choice.
“Let’s go,” he beckons. “I’ve got lots planned for today.”
But before I can take a step, he flashes his eyes at me, and I feel him inside my head. My fingers slide over my hair, and I grip at the way he works through my memories from the last twenty-four hours. They zoom by my eyes at lightning speed, and I get a quick flash of Evan in the infirmary.
A whimper passes my lips at the memory I so desperately wanted to forget.
“Just checking.” He grins smugly. “That was your first task.”
When he leaves my head, I fall to the ground in a heap.
“I knew he would cry like a baby. Pathetic.”
I suppress the growl crawling up my throat. Ryker’s head tilts from side to side as he analyses my expression.
“Sleep, Caleb.”
Then I’m thrown into darkness.
“Take him to the basement,” I hear Ryker say as I start coming around from the deep slumber he placed me in. “He’s in need of some solitary confinement to think about his actions.”
Two men I don’t recognise grip my arms, and a second later, I find myself bound and wrapped in silver. A deep groan echoes from the depths of my soul. I attempt to fight against them, but I’m too weak.
“Oh, he’s finally awake,” Ryker says with fake enthusiasm.
I bite down on my tongue to try and stop the sizzling sensation against my flesh. I’ve encountered silver many times, but this is a new extreme. A bellow escapes me, and Ryker chuckles at my agony.
“I think you need time to dwell on the bad decisions you’ve made, Caleb,” Ryker sing-songs as they push me down grimy steps towards a dark room where I can’t see a single sliver of daylight.
“If you’re going to be by my side, I need you to see the consequences of fighting against me.
Fuck with me again, and you’ll have your heart ripped out for real this time. ”
The guards stop before a metal door and use three keys to open it.
My ears are immediately flooded with screaming and crying.
My forehead pinches at the distressing sounds.
I flick my eyes around the rotting dungeon.
Endless cobwebs, slimy walls, dripping ceilings, the stench of something decomposing. It burns my nose.
“Where are you taking me?”
The noise of their screams becomes louder and louder until it’s all I can hear.
“Shut the fuck up,” the guard sneers before smacking me in the back of the head.
I clench my jaw through the discomfort, but I don’t give them the satisfaction of a reaction. I’m fighting the silver that’s working its way through my system, and it’s enough to send me into cardiac arrest.
When we step into the room, my eyes almost deceive me.
Women scream out as they push their hands through the railings of their cells.
Others cradle their children between their arms as men shout back at the guards with vicious words.
My heart rate increases as I glance around at all of them, crammed into tiny cells.
They’re malnourished, scared, and covered in dirt.
I struggle against the hold of the guards and push myself further into the silver binding me. A low grunt becomes stuck in my throat as I’m tugged towards the end of the basement with a black door.
The second it opens, I’m roughly pushed into the room as I crash to the ground. My arm scrapes against the wet cobbled floor before someone starts to remove the silver holding my hands behind my back. I attempt to stand, but my limbs are screaming in pain.
“Sleep tight, princess.” The guard grins.
They both chuckle as I fight to stand once more, but fall like Bambi on ice. When I manage to reach the door, it’s already bolted shut. I pound my fist against the metal as I fall into it.
“Let me out,” I hiss through my teeth. “You cunt. Let me out.”
The door has a tiny eye slit to look outside. Other than these four walls, there’s nothing. No windows. No bed.
My nose wrinkles in panic as I try to control my breathing. I wasn’t expecting anything good, but I wasn’t expecting this.
After a few moments, I turn to look through the small eye hole at the cells, filled to the brim with people. “Let me out of here!”
A person steps in front of the door, and I blink at the familiarity of their eyes.
“Dominic?”
I’ve known Dominic since I was young. He’s always been around my father, but I had no idea he was still involved with him.
When Carson and Aimee detailed Ryker’s pack after keeping tabs on him, he was never there.
I thought he had moved on from this life.
He was never cruel to me, unlike some of my father’s men; he was actually a decent guy who fell into Ryker’s hands with no way to escape.
“What the hell is this place?”
“You need to stop shouting,” he murmurs deeply.
“Tell me where the fuck I am.”
“Stop shouting,” he warns me again. “You’re only going to make things worse for yourself.”
“Are you working for him?”
Dominic swallows. “I have no choice.”
I watch as he walks away. A deep growl escapes me, and I slam my fists into the door over and over.
Time ticks by, and no one comes down to the basement.
I slide down the wall in defeat and rest my head against the bricks.
The sound of dripping in the corner of the room echoes in my ears, along with the cries from the prisoners next door.
My eyes shut as everything becomes incredibly overwhelming.
All I can see in my mind is Evan. His broken-hearted face. Those tears that fell down his bruised skin. My breathing quickens as I try to push the images away, but they linger, taunting me just like my father will now that he has leverage.
I open my eyes as my head starts to pound. My chest rises and falls as I stare ahead at the wall. I made a promise to get myself out of here, and I don’t care how I do it. I’m not spending the rest of my life rotting in a cell. Even if it fucking destroys me.