Page 10 of Unhinged

“Taren!” A man shouts, drawing the man’s attention from me. “You aren’t supposed to let the prisoners out of the cell.”

Taren.

That must be this man’s name.

He puts distance between us, tearing his eyes from me. “Are you questioning my methods, Pedro?”

The other guard cowers at the lethal tone of Taren’s voice, shaking his head. “No, it’s just?—”

Taren grabs Pedro by the throat and squeezes hard, lifting him a couple of inches off the floor. “You’re no one,” he growls, nostrils flaring and eyes full of barely contained madness. “I don’t expect to be questioned. What would the red queen say if she knew?”

The red queen.

I wonder if that’s another of his riddles.

Pedro’s eyes flicker shut as his face turns pale. Finally, he releases Pedro. He drops to the floor in a heap, inhaling a forceful breath of oxygen. His eyes are wide as he clutches his throat.

“I was finished with her, anyway.” A paradoxical calm to his tone, considering he almost strangled a guy to death. “Come, little bird, back in your cage.” He grabs my wrist and yanks me toward the cell where Luna is waiting, looking more terrified than ever.

When she sees I’m okay, some of the fear dissipates.

Taren shoves me in roughly and locks the door, barely glancing at me again. I watch as he retreats, his shirt clinging to his taut, muscular back.

Luna rushes to me. “Thank God, I thought…” She trails off, as we both know what she thought. She thought I was dead, and for a second, I did, too. Until Taren touched me as if I were the most precious thing in the world to him.

It makes no sense, but that’s how he makes me feel.

“I know, so did I.” I swallow.

“Are you okay, Alice?” Blake asks.

I walk back over to the crack and nod. “Yeah. How’s Kali holding up?”

Kali walks to join Blake. “I’m shitting myself.”

“I think we all are,” Luna says.

I nod in response, but a part of me isn’t terrified. A part of me is intrigued by the man who holds us captive. Taren is an enigma I want to learn more about. Even though my common sense screams at me to run whenever he’s close.

5

TAREN

Ileana enters the kitchen, where I’m skinning a rabbit I caught earlier.

Her brow scrunches, and she shakes her head. “We have servants for that.”

I clench my jaw. “You know I enjoy it.”

“I hear you took a prisoner from her cell today.”

Fucking Pedro.

I can’t do anything around here without people ratting on me. He was the guard on duty when I let her out. “What of it?” I don’t take my eyes off the rabbit, peeling away the skin from the flesh. What I’d give to peel the skin from her flesh while she screams in agony. It would be pure perfection.

“Why did you remove her from her cell?”

I shrug. “The prisoner fell. I was checking for injuries.” I know my actions aren’t synonymous with my normal ways. If I caught a prisoner attempting to escape, normally, I’d break their kneecaps to ensure they can’t try again.

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