Page 32 of Vow of Vengeance
"Gone?" I choke, feeling the world starting to lift at the edges. "Like...?"
Declan takes note of the tears in my eyes, the way I must look like I'm about to hit the ground, and he shakes his head.
"No. Not dead, but..." He swallows now, trying to figure out how to tell me something unpleasant. "Depending on where she is, dead may be a better option."
"What?"
My voice sounds far away from me, like it came from someone else in another room.
I watch Declan purse his lips together, and then he opens them again to speak. But no sound comes past his lips, and he doesn't even seem to notice.
"I- "
I try to tell him that he's not speaking, but neither am I. The word is a single letter, but it sticks in my throat, along with the air that I can't seem to breathe into my lungs.
He moves at me fast, but the ground gets to me first.
"There she is. The wilting flower." Declan chuckles, but when my eyes focus to take him in, he doesn't look amused. "Welcome back, Ren."
"Back?" I mumble, trying to remember where I was in the first place. A glance around the room shows me that I'm in a strange place. It's a large room, plain in it's furnishings. A wall of windows runs the length of one side, and before me there's a wall with a simple black dresser pushed against it. A mirror throws my reflection back at me, making the room look cavernous.
The yap of the little dog alerts me to her presence a second before she jumps at me, happily licking my face until I struggle to get a good breath.
It takes a minute before Declan comes to my rescue, pulling the small dog off me and tucking her against his chest. I can't help grinning at how ridiculous it looks to see him holding a little white furball to his chest. But as Roxy yips happily, I remember what I'm doing here. I presume this is Declan's room, his sheetsI'm lying on. I remember that he brought me to his place so we could look for Marissa.
Marissa.
Gone.
I try to push out of the bed so suddenly that I don't even register what just happened until I'm on the floor on my knees, my palms throbbing from where they broke the fall.
"What the—"
"You won't be going anywhere, Ren." Declan explains, offering a hand down to me.
I look up at him through my confusion. He's like a god, fluffy little pup aside, and I'm down here worshipping him. When I try to take the hand he's offering, I hear the chain rattle. That's when I notice the shackle... a solid, heavy cuff of metal that circles my wrist. I blink at it, trying to figure out when that got there, and then turn to Declan.
"What the hell is this?"
"Insurance." He says, wiggling his fingers as a reminder to let him help me up. But the betrayal is keen, so I push to my feet of my own accord and test the cuff, seeing how secure it is. The other end is attached to his bedpost, a thick chain secured by a sturdy-looking padlock.
"What is going on?"
"You passed out, Soren." He says it like it's obvious. Which, yeah, that part is now that I remember. "You can't take care of yourself, so I guess I have to take care of you myself. So be a good girl and get back into bed."
"I'm not fucking dying." I snap, annoyed at the way he's treating me like a child. To say that I'm not capable of taking care of myself when I've been doing it for the last year is an incredible insult. "I'm sorry I passed out, but you just told me my best friend is better off dead than wherever she may be. She's all I have, Declan!"
"Wrong." He rolls his eyes, pushing me by the shoulder so that I fall easily onto the bed. "You have me."
"A psychopath who makes a habit of tying me to beds?" I laugh, and the sound is unhinged. "Declan, please. I need—"
"You need to focus on yourself. I'm not giving you up, Ren. Not to death, not to your own freedom. You belong to me, and I will ensure you're taken care of whether you want to be or not. Maybe once you start taking care of yourself properly, I can give you back some of your freedoms."
He sets Roxy on the bed and turns to go; panic flares inside my chest.
"Declan! I have to go to the police station and check in. I need to go to her apartment. I need..."
He turns back to me so fast that I shrink a little bit, overwhelmed by the intensity in his gaze as he leans over me, offering no escape from the words he wants me to understand.
