Page 2 of His Pet

"Alex? Alex?"

No response. He was still out of it. Should she wake him? He’d want to know, but then again, she'd rather only get herself into trouble, just in case she did get caught. And if she woke him up, who knew what his reaction might be. If he'd even be able to think straight. He was exhausted.

The opening slid shut, automatically, while she was still standing there staring at it. If she went into the passageway, she'd be able to get out the same way. That's what Trish had said. And also that Jordan had warned her the passageways were complex and it was easy to get lost, especially since there were no markers to indicate where you were once you were in them.

Bella opened the door again and stared at it, trying to gather her courage. Eventually it closed and she still hadn't stepped into it.

Okay. This was stupid. If someone was watching, they would have come to stop her by now. Wouldn't they have? It couldn't hurt to at least go inside and look around. She could head in one direction only and keep track by counting the sigils she passed. That made the most sense.

This time, when she opened the passageway, she stepped into it and stood there until the door closed behind her. Letting out a long breath, she looked in the three directions she could go; left, right, or straight ahead. Going straight ahead seemed smartest, that way as long as she didn't make any turns, she could just come straight back.

Walking forward, she couldn't help the tingling inside of her chest, of both anxiety and excitement. The giddy feeling that came from knowing she was doing something dangerous, the exhilaration that came from being fairly certain she wasn't going to be caught. She'd only walked about thirty paces when she came to the next sigil, on the right side of the wall. Pressing her ear against it, she could hear voices; loud enough to be audible, but not quite loud enough to be distinct. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but at least it was a warning that people were there. Trying that with the next two sigils she came to, she could hear people behind the second one but not the third.

She almost opened up that one, just to see what was there, but caution stayed her hand. What if there were soldiers there who were just being quiet? The idea made her too nervous. Maybe the passageways weren't quite as useful as she’d thought they would be, not without actually knowing where each of them led to.

Up ahead was an intersection, and she picked up the pace a little bit, wanting to know if she might see some kind of marker or directional indicator that Trish had missed. After all, Bella had a lot more time to look around than Trish had—at least that was what she assumed, considering how Jordan dragged the young blonde around at his long-legged pace.

When she got to the intersection she glanced right and then left... and froze.

Fear and shock weakened her knees and her legs gave out beneath her, leaving her kneeling and leaning forward on her hands as shivering tremors shook her body.

Jordan shook his head at her, his arms crossed over his chest. Two soldiers she didn’t recognize stood behind him. By his side was Trish, kneeling on the ground, a red ball gag in her mouth and a pleading expression on her face. She stared straight at Bella, looking agonized. For one sharp moment, Bella wondered if Trish had betrayed her... but Jordan's next words cut through that theory.

He rested his hand on top of Trish's head, stroking it back and making the young woman shudder. "What bad girls you two are," he said, his deep voice laced with a kind of satisfaction. He wrapped his fingers around Trish's hair and used it to haul her to her feet. Jerking his head at Bella, he looked over his shoulder at the two soldiers. "Bring her."

Bella couldn't do anything but stare in horror, a small voice in the back of her brain cursing her own misguided confidence as the soldiers approached.

2

Warmth receded as his sheets were yanked back and Alex came slamming back into consciousness with a yell, lashing out and automatically trying to fight as hard hands grasped his wrists. Even though the sleep hadn't cleared from his eyes yet, he managed to land at least one good punch before pain shuddered through his body, fizzing along his nerves and he went crashing back down onto the bed.

At least it was a soft landing.

He groaned, a strangled sound, which was the only noise his vocal cords seemed capable of while the electricity moved through him.

It stopped as suddenly as it had started, leaving him shaking. Dazed, this time he didn't resist as he was dragged from the bed. His feet stumbled on the ground before he found footing, soldiers on either side of him gripping his arms to keep him from falling completely. Their rough grips hurt his sensitive skin that was still tingling from the electric shock. Not that he said anything.

"So who put money on him getting one of us?" one of the soldiers asked, making Alex look up, trying to get a handle on what was happening.

One of the other soldiers was rubbing his cheek, which was showing a distinct dark-red mark on it, but he grinned. "I did. Worth every penny."

The others groaned, their good-natured ribbing flowing around Alex, pricking at his temper. It gave him a rush of adrenaline that helped kick his brain back into gear. He craned his neck around.

"Where's Bella?"

The soldier that he'd hit smirked at him. "She's indisposed. And you're being moved for now."

Before he had a chance to ask any more questions, they'd stopped and one of the soldiers put his hand on a panel next to the door. Alex was shoved into the room, the door whisking shut behind him. It had a couch, a bookshelf that was filled with books, a table and two chairs, but was otherwise completely sterile. There was something different about it though, something that Alex couldn't quite put his finger on. And it wasn't just the bookshelf—although that was a welcome sight.

He looked around the room, trying to figure out what was niggling at the back of his mind, frowning as he examined every inch of the space.

It wasn't until he sat down on the couch and all the hairs on the back of his neck lifted as he stared at the wall in front of him that he figured it out. The walls were completely bare, without a single decoration... not even one sigil.

He surged to his feet, buoyed up by pure adrenaline and fear for Bella. What the hell had she done?

* * *

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

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