Page 18 of In The Darkness

As much as he didn’t want to admit the truth, he said, “Oatmeal with skim milk.”

“And this is supposed to keep me alive?” she asked, looking up at him and then back down at the grey slop in the bowl.

“I guess.”

She lifted her head and stared into his eyes with a pleading look that made his chest tighten. “Please don’t make me eat this.”

Her voice caught on the last word, making him hate the job he had to do. “One bite, Persephone. That’s all. Just one spoonful and that’s it.”

Like a disobedient child, she tightly pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Uh-uh.”

He couldn’t make her eat, as much as he knew she had to, so he placed the bowl on the floor and sat down in front of her. “Fine. I’m not going to fight you, but if we have the chance to get away from here tonight and you can’t run fast enough to not get caught, I can’t tell you there will be another chance for us.”

Persephone drew her eyebrows in and frowned. “I’ll be able to run just fine.”

“After sitting in that chair for a week and not eating? You’re a little thing, but I might not be able to carry you if we have to be running for a while.”

She thought for a minute about what he said and then her shoulders sagged in defeat. “Fine. I’ll eat.”

He didn’t envy her having to ingest that horrible slop, but it had to be done. Lifting a spoonful up to her mouth, he slowly pushed it over her lips. Her expression contorted into one of utter disgust, and she pulled away in a hurry.

“Okay, that’s it. I said I’d eat one, and I did,” she said, refusing to let the food go down her throat.

Nick couldn’t help but smile at her behavior. “It does no good unless you actually swallow it.”

“I don’t want it to touch the back of my tongue or I’ll be forced to really taste it,” she said, practically whining.

He didn’t know why, but it charmed him more than anything had in a long time. Silently, he promised her that he’d find something better for her to eat for dinner that night. Maybe he could scrounge up a few saltines from the kitchen. Unlike the last couple houses, this one at least seemed to have a few things that resembled food in the cabinets.

She swallowed hard and coughed, shaking her head. “Oh, that was awful! I think I’d rather starve.”

“I’ll be back for dinner in a few hours,” he said as he stood up to leave. “I’ll see if I can find something else for you. We’re doing three meals a day now.”

“Three? How are they letting that happen?”

“I convinced them that I’m getting pleasure making you eat this even more than before, and they bought it. I think those energy drinks might be making them a little dull in the head.”

“Even that Drist guy? I’d think he’d want to restrict my food to once a week.”

Nick thought about him, and his stomach clenched. Drist had given him a hard time about feeding her more often until he reminded him about feeding her like a dog. He just hoped he didn’t follow him in one of these times and actually demand to see her eat like that.

But Persephone didn’t need to know anything about any of that.

“He’s too preoccupied with his gun and all the reasons he has to be angry to care much about your eating habits,” Nick lied. “I’ll be back in a little while. I promise.”

“Wait! Do you have to go so soon?” she asked as he moved to place the gag back in her mouth.

Going was the last thing he wanted to do. The only happiness he enjoyed occurred when he spent time with her. He’d even thought to himself more than once that when he got her away from these people that he’d miss her. It made no sense. He knew that. He knew practically nothing about her. But from the moment he saw her beautiful deep brown eyes in that picture as he sat in her father’s office, he could only think of one thing.

Protecting her.

If he didn’t watch himself, he’d fall in love with her before he even kissed her for the first time. And yes, he’d thought of that already too. That made no sense either, considering the mess the two of them found themselves in, but there it was.

And now that she stared up at him with those beautiful eyes that made him want to take her into his arms and never let her go, he had to stuff that fucking rag back in her mouth and walk out of that room pretending like it didn’t make him feel like shit.

“I can’t stay too long in here. I don’t want to make them suspicious,” he said, avoiding her gaze as the lame words left his mouth.

“Oh, okay,” she said sadly.

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