Page 22 of Curvy Hostage Mate
I barked out a laugh as comprehension dawned. Cain’s eyes narrowed.
“You don’t know where they are, do you?” I asked. “It’s a bluff.”
Cain snarled, eyes flashing, the first flash of genuine anger I had seen him display since coming in.
“We might not have them right now, but it’s only a matter of time,” he said. “We’ve blocked off the portal, so no one can get in or out without my say-so. They’re trapped in the Underside. They can only hide for so long.”
“What’s to stop us from killing you right now?” Declan asked, his tone casual while making the threat perfectly clear. “You walked right into my office like you owned the place. You’re a wanted criminal. The Council would shake my hand for getting rid of you once and for all.”
One of Cain’s men let out a low, threatening growl, his fingers mutating into claws. The other man held up a hand, muttering an incantation before a bright ball of flame appeared, hovering above his palm and casting a sinister, flickering shadow across his face.
“Besides the fact that it would create so much unnecessary bloodshed?” Cain asked conversationally. “Because I have outstanding orders for my men still in the Underside to kill all the slaves if I don’t come back in a timely manner.”
Silence filled the air as all three of us stared at Cain, still acting like this was an average Tuesday. He examined his nails as he waited for one of us to regain our voices.
“You’re joking, right?” Jackson blurted.
“Do I look like I’m joking?” Cain asked.
“What exactly is it that you want?” Declan asked, his lips a tight, thin line as he glowered at Cain.
“I thought I made it perfectly obvious.” Cain stood and leaned over the desk. Declan met the aggressive gesture with blank impassivity. Only the people who knew Declan well would have been able to tell that he was absolutely livid, barely restraining himself from ripping his claws into Cain’s throat.
“I want my mate,” Cain stated.
“She isn’t your mate,” I snapped back, unable to control myself. “No ceremony, no mate. And she doesn’t seem particularly keen to go back to you.”
Cain turned to look at me, his eyes flashing with rage. “Whatever you want to call her, she’s mine,” he snarled. “I want her back. I’ll even sweeten the deal. You can keep the sister. By all rights, I should be demanding her back, too, since you stole her from me as well. I’ll let you have her, and I’ll walk out of your life for good. I’ll even tell my slavers not to prowl for new girls for a hundred miles around this town. You get a nice little bubble. All you have to do is give me Morgan without a fuss and agree to leave me alone, and we’ll call it even.”
“And if we don’t?” Declan asked, his voice still neutral despite the barely contained rage.
“If you don’t, then I’ll kill all the slaves under my control, as well as your men, once we find them, which will only be a matter of days,” he declared.
Jackson’s jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious,” he said. “You’re actually threatening to kill all your slaves? That’s destroying your entire operation.”
Shrugging, Cain said with unnerving indifference, “I can always buy more girls. I might lose a bit of gold, but there’s plenty more where that came from.”
Jackson shook his head in disgust. “You’re insane.”
“No, just willing to take risks to get what I want.” Standing, Cain pushed himself away from the desk, adjusting his shirt. “I’ll give you some time to think about it,” he said as if he’d just proposed a business deal, not threatened the lives of at least a hundred women. “I’ll come back in a few days.”
He strolled toward the door. Just as he was about to waltz out, he paused. “Give Kendra my regards, by the way.”
He slammed the door shut behind him and his men. None of us moved as we listened to the footsteps tramping down the hall, not saying anything until we heard the elevator ding.
“What a fucking asshole,” Jackson snarled.
“That’s a simplification,” I muttered.
Declan let out a warning growl. “Insult him all you want. We’ve still got a big problem on our hands. Even if his threat to kill everyone turns out to be a massive bluff, we have to treat it as serious until we know otherwise.”
“We’ve still got men in there,” I said. “They won’t let him get away with it. We just need to get word to them somehow.”
“Trent and Nolan can’t protect all the women,” Declan said. “They’re resourceful, and I know they can hold their own. I’ll talk to Kendra and see if she can’t find a way to get around whatever monitoring Cain has on communication. We’ll do our best to get in touch with them and relay the information, but there are still all the others to think about.”
“I think he’s bluffing,” Jackson countered. “He may be a psychopath, but no one would destroy that much product. They may be women, but that’s how he sees them.”
“Based on what Morgan’s told me, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was just trying to mess with her emotions,” I commented.
