Page 32 of Curvy Hostage Mate
“That’s all,” he said.
“You’re lying,” I fired back. “I’m not an idiot.”
“It’s not a big deal,” he argued.
“Bull. Shit,” I snapped, genuine rage beginning to bubble inside me as I glared at him. “Tell me the truth. What the hell happened?”
Chris closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. “He made some other threats, too,” he finally admitted, and my stomach sank. “But we think they’re bluffs. They’re too outlandish to take seriously, so you don’t need to worry about them.”
“Stop handling me with kid gloves and tell me what the hell is going on,” I snapped, almost surprising myself with the vitriol. “I’m tired of you lying to me and keeping me in the dark. Just tell me what he said.”
His lips pursed as his jaw worked tirelessly, eyes darting toward me, then away as he continued to deliberate. After a long moment, he relented.
“He threatened the other slaves,” he finally said. “He said he had no issue killing them all and starting over from scratch. It’s complete bullshit. He would never do something like that, if only because of how much money he’d lose out on.”
I barely heard him after the first bit. My mind was spinning, a dull ringing in my ears growing louder and louder as the words continued to sink in.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded. “I deserved to know.”
“I was trying to protect you,” he said mulishly. “I didn’t want you to worry or do something stupid.”
“You didn’t protect me from anything,” I spat. Literal sparks of flame flickered at my fingertips, my magic crackling all around me from sheer rage. “You kept it from me to keep controlling me. All you did was limit my autonomy.”
“That’s not fair—”
“It’s the truth,” I cut him off. “You didn’t want me trying to do something you disagreed with. So instead of talking to me about it and making a decision together, you came to one for me, and didn’t even bother to let me know.”
“I knew you would want to sacrifice yourself,” he said.
“I know a lot of the girls there,” I said. “They’re all going to die because of me. Of course, I would want to mitigate that.”
“And that’s why I didn’t tell you,” he said. “He was bluffing. You would have walked into a trap for nothing.”
My mind went back to the throne room, and then to what felt like a lifetime ago, when Cain had murdered a client for not being able to pay. How he had said he needed to back up threats, or no one would take him seriously.
“It’s not a bluff,” I said. “Trust me. I know Cain better than you do. If he says he’s going to kill them all if you don’t hand me over, then that’s exactly what he’s going to do.”
Chris’s jaw tightened as he stared down at me. “You don’t—”
“Don’t say I don’t know that,” I snapped. “You’re not the one he dragged around all over the place by a chain. You haven’t seen the things he’s capable of. Trust me when I say that I know better than anyone what Cain will and won’t do.”
“Okay. I won’t. If it’s going to be that dangerous, then we can figure something out. We won’t let him kill anyone else.”
But Chris couldn’t make that promise. Declan couldn’t, either. There was only one way to keep Cain at bay, and it was me.
I stood again, folding my arms as I stared up at him. “Take me to Declan.”
“Why?” Chris demanded.
“Because I’m tired of sitting on the sidelines,” I said. “I want to help. And I can’t do that locked up in here.”
He was already shaking his head. “Absolutely not,” he snarled. “It’s way too dangerous.”
I folded my arms, jutting out my chin as I glared at him, all my frustration and rage beginning to swell. I had put up withso much when it came to Chris, but this was the final straw. But he was still shaking his head.
“You want to hand yourself over.” He stalked over to me, looming over me as he approached. “I’m not going to let you do something that stupid.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not going to hand myself over,” I said. “But I’m the best resource you have. You need me, and we all know it.”
