Page 22 of Castle

He was a monster.

“What do you want me to do with her things, sir?” Winston asked him, addressing me in third person like I didn’t even exist.

“Keep the food and get rid of the rest of her stuff. She doesn’t need it here.”

“I need those things!” I pleaded.

He looked at me once before looking at the butler again. “You know what, she wants the stuff, so instead of taking her to her room, just take her to the basement and put that dog collar on her.”

“Okay, fine! Throw everything away, but the wallet has my aunt’s locket that she gave me before she died. Can I have that at least? Please...” I pleaded, even though it was the last thing I wanted to do.

Winston handed my wallet over to Devin, who found the locket inside. He inspected it, turning it around on both sides, probably thinking it was nothing but a piece of garbage.

“Win, I’m feeling a little generous today, so I’m going to keep the locket with me for safekeeping. Millie, you can consider it as leverage. You’ll get it back, of course, when you earn it.” He turned to Greg. “Remove the trap from her leg and take her to her room.”

Greg used a key to open the jaws that were crushing my leg. Running was out of the question. I couldn’t even stand. That had been Devin’s plan all along. I had no idea how long it would take for the injury to heal, and until then, I was stuck in this house.

A solid punch landed in Devin’s face and he stumbled back a few steps. Castle had landed the blow, and it looked like Devin least expected it.

He grinned, wiping the trail of blood with a napkin that Winston handed him. “What was that for? I thought you wanted Millie to stay with us, too. I was just helping you out here buddy. There’s no need for violence.”

Castle’s jaw tightened as he glared at his brother before he leaned forward and put one of his arms around my back and the other one gripped the underside of my thighs. He carried me in his arms with ease and despite everything; I felt safe with him, so I held him tightly, clinging to him, burying my face into his chest, trying my best to stay strong.

When we reached upstairs to my room, I felt a little drowsy, and I heard Devin saying that the trap usually had something applied to it to put the victim to sleep.

The last thing I saw was Castle putting me to bed, and I thought that was ironic since I’d put him to bed tonight before all this happened. I knew he whispered something to me, but my mind was so muddled up that his words were incoherent.

I drifted to sleep, and the last thing I remembered seeing was Castle’s serious brown eyes looking down on me with pity.

I woke up in the morning with a jolt and for a second I couldn’t remember where I was until I searched my surroundings and recognized the room. Fragments of yesterday’s incident began resurfacing along with the pain in my leg that felt like someone was stabbing me repeatedly with sharpened knives. The leg was in plaster, which was a clear sign that I’d received proper medical attention.

Out of all the people, Theodore was the last one I expected to see in my room. The seventeen-year-old with a serious attitude problem.

He was sitting near my dresser, playing aggressively on one of those fancy gadgets. When he noticed I was awake, he spared me a glance before turning his attention back to the game.

“Don’t you have school today?” I asked, sitting up.

“I do, but I don’t think that’s any of your business. It’s Castle you should worry about. Not me.” He snapped, pinning me with a sharp look.

“Have I done something to you, Theo? I don’t understand what warrants your rude behavior towards me, honestly.”

“It’s Theodore for you, Millicent. And don’t mind me; I always wake up on the wrong side of the bed, honestly.”

“Are all Montgomerys crazy like you and your brother?”

He laughed, “Which one? And we’re not crazy, maybe a little psychotic and deranged.”

“Same thing.”

Theo glanced at the closed bedroom door before turning towards me. “I’ve been asked to keep an eye on you, although I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere with that leg of yours.” He lowered his voice down further. “Here’s a tip if you want to avoidaccidents like these in the future. Stay on Devin’s good side, and do what he tells you to.”

“Fuck all of you,” I said under my breath. “Does he have a kill count?”

He gave me that slow grin, and he looked so much like Castle. The two were similar in so many ways; well, if you ignored Theo’s rude behavior. “That’s for me to know and you to find out.”

“So if I stayed on Devin’s good side, he’ll let me go?”

“I won’t lie to you, but you’re not going anywhere, and it would be best for you to adjust to this life, Millicent.”

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