Page 9 of Red Captive

“You will, Miss Harris, or—”

“Your threats mean nothing to me. My mother needs me. My little brother, too.” I shake my head. “I refuse to stay. To lie. I can’t do it.”

“You don’t have a choice,” the general says.

“Actually, there is always a choice, Miss Harris,” the lieutenant tells me.

“With only two options that are both shitty. I wouldn’t call that much of a choice. Okay…fine,” I growl. “Throw me to the feral dragons. I’ll take death over knowing that my mother and little brother are out in the street. I need to go back, to get a job as soon as possible. If my mother doesn’t get the medical care she needs, she’ll die. It’s as simple as that. I need to keep a roof over their heads and food in their bellies. It’s all up to me. If I don’t go back, my brother will end up in the system. He might even be taken away from her. That would kill her outright.” Atear slides down my cheek. I wipe it away. “They need me. I’d rather die than know they’re not taken care of. That they’re—”

“Well, why didn’t you tell us of your family sooner?” the lieutenant says. He has this gleam in his eye that I don’t like. “It sounds like your family needs financial support? Is that right?”

I nod.

“What if we gave you money, human? And lots of it. I’m talking millions of dollars, and in return, you agree to mate and carry the children of one of the males we put forward to you. Your family would want for nothing. They would be well taken care of in your absence.”

I hate the idea. It would be all kinds of wrong. The thing is that I’ve been stressing about how I was going to manage. I’m a barista. I serve people coffee and cake in a little coffee shop in town. I don’t make huge amounts of money. Even if I took a second job, I doubt I would cover all of our expenses. In fact, I know I wouldn’t manage it. The cost of the kind of medical care my mother needs is through the roof. That’s if she is doing well. Then there’s rent, food, clothing…all the basic stuff. It’s huge. It’s more than I can cope with. We were drowning before I left.

The money I got when I was called up to be a Tribute was a godsend. It took care of my credit card debt and other medical debt we’d amassed. I worked out that what was left would cover basic expenses for roughly five or six months. That doesn’t leave me with huge amounts of time to get back to them. A couple of months at best. This could be the answer I’ve been searching for. Yet, the thought of pimping myself out like that makes me sick to my stomach.

“You could have a good life,” he goes on. “Your family back home would be rich. You never know; you might even learn to love your husband. Our males are all good.”

I shudder at the thought. What choice do I have? I don’t have much leverage. They could lock me away and force me to marrysomeone, anyway. At least this way, my mother and Caleb would be safe. They would be well taken care of.

My stomach is in knots.

“It doesn’t look like she’s interested. What now? Do we lock her up?” the general asks. “Force her to do as we say?” He glares at me.

Just as I thought. If I don’t take the deal, they’ll force me, regardless. I don’t have too much say in the matter.

“No, Miss Harris is a guest at the castle. You were found wandering on the beach. You have no recollection of how you got there. Or even how you got onto the island.” Jakes looks pointedly at me. “Isn’t that so, Miss Harris?”

I nod.

“You will be taken care of and settle in nicely at the castle. You will want to stay. For now, that’s all you need to know. Do you agree to the terms? You stay. You keep very quiet about our agreement. You agree to mate and breed with the male of our choosing, and in return, your family will receive enough money to take care of them for years to come.”

“Ten million,” I say. “It needs to be deposited into my mother’s account before I marry anyone. I want proof. Then I’ll do as you say, but I want to be married for a year before getting pregnant.” I don’t want children, but I have a feeling that they wouldn’t accept that. This buys me time.

“Yes, yes…we can iron out the finer details. Once we secure your mate, your mother will receive the funds,” the lieutenant says.

“How long will it take?” I ask.

“A few weeks, perhaps. It is impossible to say with certainty at this point. We will need to run this by the king,” he tells the general, who nods.

“You tell so much as a soul, and the deal will be off,” the general warns.

I nod.

“Do you agree to the terms?” the general asks. He looks like the cat who ate the canary. I hate it.

I nod anyway.

“Say it!” the lieutenant snarls. “Use words, Miss Harris,” he adds in a softer tone.

“I agree.”

“Agree to what exactly, Miss Harris?” the general asks. “There can’t be gray areas in our little agreement.”

“I agree to lying for you. I agree to saying that I don’t know how I got onto the island. I agree to staying in the castle as your guest and pretending to like it. I agree to mate with whomever you choose once the ten million is in the bank and not a second sooner.”

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