Page 25 of Tangled Fates

“Of course it does,” I said with my mouth full. “Why ask me to do something that not even you would do.”

“What’s your name?” he asked, changing the subject quickly.

“What’s yours?” I retorted.

“Gray,” he said immediately. “Yours?”

I shook my head because there was no way to say my name without giving myself away. He studied me, his gaze was intense, making my heart beat faster.

“How long did you keep me asleep this time?” he asked when I didn’t say anything else.

“A couple of days,” I said, taking a bite of my chicken.

His face fell, as his nostrils flared and his jaw clenched.

“Are you meeting someone? Am I ruining your schedule?” I scraped the bowl, getting every last bit of food, but still feeling hungry.

Looking up, his brows furrowed with his chest moving quickly.

“My brother,” he said through gritted teeth. “Look I don’t know how to say this, but my twin is going to come looking for me soon and I don’t know what he’s going to bring with him.”

My heart rate skyrocketed.

“What or who?” I tried to keep my voice neutral while I panicked on the inside.

“Look, I came here to save someone or at least give them a fighting chance to survive the bullshit hand she was given.” He took a deep breath. “We can’t find Oria anywhere, it's like, one day the supply magically dried up and it might be the only chance she’s got to survive. When we heard about this tower, we knew it was a risk we had to take.”

I perked up when he talked about not finding Oria anywhere. That shouldn’t be possible, we had been fulfilling an order every three weeks for years.

“My brother isn’t going to be happy that I haven’t returned, and he isn’t so lenient. I’d hate for him to do something stupid because I haven't come back. So please, I’m begging you to let me have a vial of Oria and I’ll be on my way.”

My heart was racing at his admission, still feeling like he was telling the truth, but what he said just felt like a threat. What was stopping him from coming back? Did that mean I had to keep him here as my prisoner? Mother would be livid when she came back, but a part of me wanted to show her that she was wrong. I could take care of myself.

“Is that a threat?” I stood up.

His eyes trailed up my body with a scowl on his face, but his eyes held a hunger that felt like it was my own.

“No, I’m just stating a fact,” he said, not looking away from me, his gaze making me shiver. “Look, I don’t want you to get hurt. I just know my brother is going to lose his shit since I’ve been missing for almost a week.”

“So, you want me to let you go so you can just bring more people back and take what I didn’t give you,” I snapped, as the anxiety in me went through the roof.

My breathing was becoming shallow, my vision blurred and my ears started ringing.

This was it. They were going to take me just like Mother had predicted.

I heard his voice, but my brain couldn’t decipher the words. It was like he was mumbling over the loud roar in my ears. Sharp pain dug in my legs as my senses started to clear. I was sitting on the floor with Loki on my lap.

Meow. Loki’s claws dug deeper until I yelled.

“What the fuck, Loki?” I snapped, pushing him off of me.

“Are you ok?”

I looked up to see the vampire looking at me with concern. I didn’t know what to tell him except the truth, but if I did that and he got away he would tell my secret. I couldn’t have that. As much as I felt like I could trust him, I didn’t know him.

“Hey, look, we can talk about this and work out whatever we need to. I’m not here to hurt you and just the thought of that makes me extremely uncomfortable,” he said, looking over me. “I just need to tell them that I’m ok and…”

“No,” I snapped. “All of you are the same and if you think I’m going to be stupid enough to believe your lies, then you have another thing coming.”

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