Page 69 of Blood Caged

I break away from Soren, gasping for air. My mind reels, trying to process what just happened. How could I have let myself kiss him? After everything he’s done?

I stagger to my feet, putting distance between us. My lips still tingle from his touch, and I hate myself for it. Disgust and confusion war within me, making me feel sick to my stomach.

“I… I can’t believe I just…” I stammer, unable to form a coherent thought. My hands shake as I wrap my arms around myself, suddenly feeling exposed and vulnerable.

I look at Soren as he rises slowly, expecting to see smugness or satisfaction on his face. Instead, I’m shocked to see his usual composure has cracked. For a brief moment, his eyes are a storm of emotions.

But as quickly as it appeared, it’s gone. His face smooths back into that infuriatingly calm mask he always wears. It makes me want to scream, to claw at him until I see some real emotion again.

“Mia,” he starts, his voice low and controlled. “I apologize. That was…inappropriate.”

I laugh bitterly, the sound harsh in the tense silence of the room. “Inappropriate? That’s all you have to say?” My voice rises, hysteria creeping in. “You murdered my friends, and then you kiss me? What kind of sick game are you playing?”

“Mia—” Soren takes a step toward me, hand outstretched as if to offer comfort. I flinch away, pressing myself against the wall.

“Stop!” I interrupt him. “Don’t touch me,” I hiss. “Don’t you dare come near me.”

He freezes, hand dropping to his side. For a moment, I think I see a flicker of hurt in his eyes, but I must be imagining it. Monsters don’t feel hurt.

“Wait, you need to know—”

“I know all I need to about you,” I interrupt him.

I stand there, still reeling from the kiss, my emotions a chaotic mess. I want to scream at the unfairness of it all. How can he look so calm when I’m falling apart inside?

When he opens his mouth to speak, I expect some sort of bullshit story, but what he says instead is far worse.

“You will be moving here,” he tells me out of the blue.

I stare at him. “What?” I snap, hating how my voice wavers.

“You’ll be staying here from now on,” he says. “In my private quarters.”

I blink, sure I’ve misheard him. “You’ve got to be joking!”

“It’s been decided that you require…closer supervision,” Soren continues. “I’ll be personally overseeing your care and security.”

The implications of his words hit me. I’m to be kept here, in Soren’s personal space, under his constant watch. My stomach lurches.

“You can’t be serious,” I whisper, my eyes darting around the room that’s to become my new prison. “After everything that’s happened, you expect me to just…live here? With you?” I shake my head vigorously. “No! I won’t do it. I’d rather go back to the dungeon.”

“It’s not optional, Mia,” he says simply. He gestures around the room. “The security systems on this apartment have been amplified. While there are no cameras inside, there are cameras on every possible access point. If you so much as breathe out the door, you will be apprehended.”

I stand there, frozen, as Soren turns on his heel and strides toward the door. He pauses at the threshold, his hand on the door handle. For a moment, I think he’s going to turn back, to say something. Part of me dreads what he might say, while another part desperately wants him to speak, to explain, to make sense of this madness.

But he doesn’t. His shoulders tense, then slump slightly. Without a backward glance, he steps through the doorway.

The sound of the lock engaging is deafening in the sudden silence. It’s a harsh reminder of my reality – I’m still a prisoner, no matter how different this new cage might be.

I sink to the floor, my legs refusing to hold me. The events of the past hours swirl through my mind like a tornado – the escape, our capture, what happened to Sabine and Jemma…andthen the kiss, the argument, the devastating news about my new living arrangements. It’s too much to process.

My fingers unconsciously touch my lips, still tingling from Soren’s onslaught. Disgust and desire war within me, and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the memory.

“Stop it, Mia,” I mutter to myself, pressing the heels of my hands against my eyes until I see stars. “He’s the enemy. He’s a cold-blooded killer. Whatever you think you feel, it’s not real.”

Pushing myself up off the floor, I stumble to the sofa and curl up on it, pulling my knees to my chest and wrapping my arms tightly around them. My body feels numb, but my mind is a mess. Grief for Sabine and Jemma crashes over me in waves, threatening to drown me. How could they be gone? Just yesterday, we were planning our escape, daring to hope for freedom. Now…

Anger burns hot in my chest, directed at Soren, at this entire facility, but mostly at myself. How could I have been so stupid? To think that we could get away. To think that Soren was different, that he actually cared.

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