Page 130 of The Heir

It's thankfully enough to free me of this paralysis. I nod at him, turning my head back to the blackness and step forward.

I don't stop until all the lights are turned on in the perimeter of the room; however, I am still cloaked in darkness. Suddenly, a small spotlight shines down on a cage in the middle of the room. It's square, eight feet tall, with iron bars about eight inches apart from what I can tell. And in the middle is Claudio who sits with his profile towards me. His head turns, and I see a bandage over his left eye.

Fuck he looks like hell, and it makes me feel so fucking elated I could shout to the heavens.

"Who's there?" he asks in a shaky voice.

His voice isn't near as strong as it was. The others walk in the room behind me, and each take a spot against a wall, letting me do my thing. King stays close, walking further into the room, but remains in the shadows with me. Staying quiet, I begin to walk slowly, circling the cage. The echoing of my heels adds to the eerie silence of the environment.

I assess him carefully. He looks every bit as bad as I did when I was rescued. His clothes are disgusting and covered in filth. He's lost a tremendous amount of weight. Though he's not tied with his arms behind his back, he has a thick metal collar around his neck that's attached via a bar to the top of the cage. There's no pallet, no blanket, no chair. No nothing. Just him and this cage.

"Has he been in here the entire time?" I ask, my voice ringing out.

Claudio's right eye widens, and his already pale face turns completely ashen at the sound of my voice.

"Yes ma'am." It's Micah who responds.

"How is he sleeping?" I ask, eying the bar. It's just long enough to let him sit on the floor, but nothing else. There's not enough slack to allow him to lay down, or even lean to the side even an inch. His only option is to sit.

"Best guess is he closes his eyes and does the best he can," Frank says.

At the sound of his voice Claudio stiffens and turns his head sharply, jerking on a groan and reaching a hand up to his neck which is completely encased in metal. I smile as I realize the sound of Frank's voice causes him great fear. Like his did me. He goes to stand up, and as he does so the bar retracts into the top of the cage. Most likely to prevent him from trying to strangle himself.

"What's that?" I ask, eyeing the little knobs at the top of the cage.

"It was your husband's request," Frank says, appearing by my side and staring stoically into the cage.

I turn to look at King who appears on my other side, arching an eyebrow at him."Yourrequest?"

"Well, no one really wanted to see you go into the cage with him, especially with the baby." His eyes lower to my stomach, where I'm cradling our child protectively in my hands.

Frank clears his throat, bringing my attention back to him. "Your options are: shoot him through the cage, have him quartered and put through a grinder, or acid." His eyes flick back to the little pipes lining the top of the cage. "Completely up to you." His eyes fall back on mine, which are wide, thinking about a person actually going through a meat grinder because, yuck. "Ipersonallyam partial to seeing them ground up. It brings me great joy."

Turning my face back to Claudio, I fold my arms and take a few more steps forward allowing the light to reveal me to him.

"Calliope," Claudio gasps, taking a step forward before being jerked back by the collar. He chokes for a second, wheezing for air before looking back at me again with red, watery eyes. "Calliope, please don't do this. Tell them to let me go. I won't hurt you anymore, I p-promise." A tear slips down his face, causing nausea to well up inside me.

"My name isIsobel,"I say in an even voice. "And I don't give two fucks about what you want, you foul,ridiculouswaste of space. You threatened my sister, you tortured and tried to break me, but worst of all, you almost killed my baby. And I don't know what world you grew up in where you were taught to not give a fuck about your kid,but where I'm from, you fuck with my baby then you will paydearly."

Claudio's lips thin into a bloodless line and he begins to tremble.

Looking over at Frank, I pin him with a serious stare. "Give him all three. And I want to watch."

"All three, lass?" Frank tilts his head.

"Is that a problem?" I ask, tilting my chin up.

Frank pauses, his eyes glinting as he regards me. "No ma'am. You want all three, then that's what I'll give you."

"Good. Can you keep him alive for the grinder?"

In my peripheral I see King bring up a hand to rub his jaw, but thankfully stays quiet.

Frank stares at me for a few seconds before nodding once. "I'll keep him alive for you as long as possible." He snaps his fingers, then pivots on his heels. "You all heard the lady. Let's get to work."

"No," Claudio whimpers, bringing his hands up to scratch at the collar. "No please! Don't do this!" he yells, pleading for mercy.

Dismissively, I turn away from Claudio. King puts a finger under my chin, lifting my face up to him where he drops a chaste kiss on my mouth. "I love you," he says, staring deep into my eyes.

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