Page 46 of Vicious King

14

Tatum

“I’m not going with you,”I said, a tremor in my voice.

Tobias smiled. “Yes, you are. We’ll do it one of two ways. I have a needle in my pocket with a tranquilizer, and I can jab it in you and have my men carry you out unconscious. Or you can be a good girl and come quietly.”

I used to love it when Elias called me a good girl, but now that the words had left the lips of his evil father, they seemed tainted. Repellant.

He arched a thick brow when I didn’t respond. “So what will it be?”

I bit my bottom lip. I knew I was screwed. It was just a matter of which choice was worse for me.

I’d already been drugged by these Crown and Dagger assholes before, and there was nothing worse than waking up confused, sore and disoriented, then later terrified as the memories flooded back in. So as much as it pained me to agree to go with Tobias without making a scene, it was at least the better of the two options he’d presented me with.

“I’ll come quietly,” I murmured, my shoulders slumping with defeat.

“Good.” He put a hand on my upper back, pushing me toward the door. I turned my head to see one of his cronies handing a stuffed envelope to the police chief.

Unbelievable. Was there anywhere in the world that remained untouched by corruption?

Tobias pushed me into the back of the black car. Then he sat down on the same seat, by the opposite window. His upper lip curled in distaste as he looked at me. “If anyone at the Lodge asks you what happened, you will say you simply got lost on a walk and accidentally spent the night in the woods.”

I shrugged dejectedly. I doubted most people would bother asking anyway, and those who did would already know I was a captive who didn’t simply go for a walk. So what did it matter?

“You’re sick,” I muttered.

Tobias leaned over and grabbed my scarf, yanking me close to his livid face. “And you’re a stupid little cunt. Do you have any idea how lucky you are?”

I couldn’t help but let out a scoff. “Lucky? Are you kidding?”

He narrowed his pale, reptilian eyes. “I found out from Ms. Davenport that you gave Elias allergy medication. If it had been painkillers instead, I would’ve wrung your skinny little neck the second I saw you this morning.”

My brows furrowed. “Why?”

He let out a short, angry breath. “My son had some unfortunate mishaps with certain types of drugs when he was nothing more than a child. He doesn’t touch them at all anymore, just in case, but I know he has quite an addictive personality. So you’re damn lucky you didn’t give him anything stronger than Benadryl to knock him out, or there’d be hell to pay.”

“Seems like there will be anyway,” I said under my breath, trying to turn away.

He didn’t let me. He leaned even closer, fetid breath hot on my face. “The one thing you should know about Elias is that he eventually gets over all the things he finds himself fixated on. Right now, you’re it. But he’ll get over you too, and when that happens, you’ll be cast aside like the worthless garbage you are.”

I swallowed hard and pictured myself in a year or two, working as a maid at the Lodge after Elias had ditched me in favor of a new slave. I would never be free from the place, so I would have to see him there with her all the time. Then the next ‘her’ once he grew tired of my replacement, and the one after that too. Forever.

Multiple waves of sadness and jealousy struck me at the mental image. I knew it wasn’t a normal response. I shouldn’t feel sad that my captor might no longer want me, and I definitely shouldn’t feel jealous at the idea of another woman being held captive by him. I should pity her.

Unfortunately, my brain clearly wasn’t normal, because I was jealous as hell. Seething, white-hot levels of jealous. The thought of seeing Elias put his hands or mouth on another girl made me want to scream and tear someone’s hair out, He might be my captor, but he was still mine.

I pinched myself, hard, trying to squash the wildly inappropriate thoughts. I had to stop having these feelings for Elias. Had to. I would never be able to concentrate on a proper escape if I kept this up. Leaving him behind was hard enough last night, so doing it again might be impossible if I didn’t take my feelings for him and lock them away.

But even as I thought it, I knew I was already a goner. I couldn’t fight my emotions any longer.

I knew that I’d started to develop feelings for Elias recently, but that was different. Those feelings were up in the air. Intangible, elusive. I was never quite sure what to make of them. Now they’d settled into a solid picture right here in front of me. Stark and crystal-clear. I didn’t want to start falling in love with him, but I was already well on my way…

I bit back a sob and looked out the window. I didn’t want Tobias to know the truth. Didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how I felt. He would only tell Elias, and then they’d laugh about it together. Laugh about how insane and pathetic I was.

As fond as he was of fucking me, he would never feel the same way about me.

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the black iron gates of the Lodge. When we reached the main building, I wasn’t let inside. Instead, Tobias and two of his men escorted me around to one side of the mansion. One of them opened some sort of trapdoor near a stone wall, and then Tobias pushed me forward, down a series of old stone steps. The other guard picked up a torch and set it aflame with a cigarette lighter, leading the way.

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