Page 12 of To Keep

He wanted to tell her it was going to be okay, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to say it. If Viko called to tell him to finish the job, he would. They weren’t like the Killer of Kings. They didn’t have state-of-the-art surveillance to get into everyone’s backstory for weeks or months before a hit. The Circle of Monsters was simple, swift, and brutal.

Skye’s life clock was ticking away, and the sound would end very soon.

****

Skye knew she should have eaten. Now, several hours later, close to two in the morning, she was starving. This was just typical.

Galen, her nightmare savior, had dumped her into one of his spare bedrooms. There was a tiny ensuite, and he’d gone through it to make sure there was nothing sharp—just in case. She couldn’t believe he was worried she would try to kill herself. Should she be considering it? The whole point of her hiding was to survive. She’d even begged him to let her live. He must think she was a fucking fool.

Pressing her palm to her forehead, she groaned, and her stomach moaned. She needed some food.

She didn’t want to anger Galen any further. He threatened to kill her and she had a horrible suspicion he would totally do that, with the slightest provocation. She had even thought he would do it over dinner. He looked so angry with her.

“I can’t just lay here.”

She had to look for some food. There was no way she would allow Petrov to win and kill her through starvation. He was a horrible man. There were so many times when she worked for him and was tempted to throw her resignation in his face.

Skye knew he’d been a cruel bastard.

Seriously? You watched him kill two people and you think of him as a horrible man.

She wrinkled her nose at herself and climbed out of bed.

Food. That was what she needed. She had to have something to rewire her brain and realize the kind of crap she was actually in. Yes, it was fucking terrifying.

She took a deep breath as she padded across the room. Considering it was supposed to be her prison for the next couple of hours, days, or even weeks, it was a very nice room.

Once she got to the door, she stopped, putting her hand flat on the wooden surface.

“I can do this.” She wouldn’t dare speak up too loudly.

She had a horrible feeling the man who had saved her and threatened to kill her was waiting to do exactly that. After turning the door handle, there was no squeak. It smoothly twisted and then opened.

“Ah, freedom.” She couldn’t help but smile and then stepped out of her room and into the hallway.

Galen hadn’t taken the time to tell her where everything was, not that she minded. In the back of her mind, she was constantly speaking a mantra that would keep her alive. Licking her dry lips, she slowly walked down the hall, past the dining room, going toward the kitchen.

The moment she stepped onto the cold tile of the kitchen, she breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t died. Part of her had expected there to be booby traps or something. Nothing. She was safe.

Moving to the fridge, she opened it. The burst of cool air made her realize how overheated she was. Skye craved fresh air. She glanced around the room, looking for anything to provide her with air. Over the sink she saw a window. She went to it and tried to pry it open, but nothing she did worked.

“Escaping through the window is not going to happen.”

His deep voice made her jump, scream, and spin around. He was standing in a dark corner.

“Why did you do that?” she asked, putting a hand to her chest. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

He frowned at her.

“If I did something like that, you would know about it.” He stepped out of the darkened shade of the corner and moved toward her. “What are you trying to do?”

“Not what you think I’m doing.” She gritted her teeth. “I’m … I need some air, okay?” The sweating had gotten a little worse since seeing him, but she had no intention of telling him that.

He just stared at her.

Minutes passed.

“Will you open the window or are all of these for show and don’t actually open?” What was the point of having nonfunctional windows? It made no sense.

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