Page 90 of Chain Me
If my act convinced him, he didn’t let on.
As stubborn as a guard dog, he stood there even as I felt myself finally drift off.
But the voices chased me, hissing into the void.
He doesn’t care.
He doesn’t want you.
He could never love you.
* * *
Breakfast came in the form of a cup of red liquid shoved beneath my nose the moment I peeled my eyes open. Quite the departure in service from last night—though I wasn’t particularly compelled to complain.
Groaning, I sat upright and obediently drank. Watchful eyes chased every single swallow until the last drop danced over my tongue. Then my servant withdrew the cup without warning and left the room.
“Sleep,” he commanded from the hall before unease could even take root in his absence. “I have some business to attend to, but I’ll be back.”
I must have dozed off again. The next thing I knew, my eyelids were fluttering open and the sun painted my room in shades of gold.
But Dublin was still gone.
His promise echoed in my thoughts, becoming a mantra.He will be back. He will be…
Or not.
For all I knew, he could have left again. Abandoned me again. His kiss, his touch—it all could have been a trick designed to lower my guard. Because the walls of this manor reinforced the truth more than anything—I was no different from any other Gray, and I held no real appeal beyond this storied fortune.
And Dublin Helos wouldn’t want you,a vicious voice seconded from inside my skull.Stop kidding yourself, Eleanor. It’s pathetic. You’re pathetic.
“No!” I stood and paced, tearing my fingers through my hair. I was being irrational. Pathetic. I…
Don’t matter.
Something caught my eye, lying on the floor beside my bed, discarded. I stooped to retrieve it, confused as I found myself holding a beautiful white rose glaringly out of place. I brought it to my nose, inhaling the delicate perfume.
And the longer I observed it, the more dread solidified in my bones. It wasn’t for me. No. Just like in the old days, it had been left for someone else. Someone beautiful he’d smuggled into my room while I’d been away.Thatwas why he stayed. There was always someone else.
“What are you doing?”
Dazed, I looked up, still holding the rose to my chest.
Dublin stood in the doorway, his eyes wide, fixated on the item contained within my hands.Proof, a part of me despaired.
“Eleanor.” Racked with guilt, his voice shook, unnervingly soft. “Put it down.”
“Why?”
When I pressed the rose to my chest, he lurched a step closer. “Don’t! Put it down.Now.”
“Tell mewhy?” I tightened my grip even more. His reaction only reinforced my suspicions. He was lying to me. Deceiving me.
“Eleanor.” His voice deepened imploringly. “Put the knife down!”
Knife?Confused, I eyed my hand and gasped in horror. The leather hilt of a slim dagger trembled within my fist—not a flower. Honed to a lethal point, the tip grazed my throat with every frantic breath I took.
“Oh God!” Panicked, I threw it aside and hunched over, staring down at my hands. “I’m sorry! I think… I think I’m still dreaming. I—”
