Page 13 of The Veiling

Head cocked, he lifted his shoulder with his arms to the side. “Breakfast is for you, not me. Now eat.”

“Um,” I put my fist to my mouth, slightly coughing, “the last time you fed me something, it was poisonous.”

“You need strength and so does that baby.”

“I’m not hungry.” That was a lie. I was starving, and the food looked delicious.

He reached forward, picking up my fork. My gaze lowered to the tattoo on his wrist.C.A.—The fork dropped, and his hand yanked away before I could completely make it out.

“Eat!” he barked.

“I’m not hungry!”

With a huff, he pushed away from the table, springing to his feet. “Fuck!”

“I—”

“Let’s go!”

“What?!”

He marched over, hooked his fingers in my armpit, and wrenched me up from the table.

“Where are you taking me?”

His grip tightened as he hastily sped me out of the room and up the stairs. “Back to your room to shower and change.”

Though I did not fight him, I was petrified once again. Once we were at the bedroom, he turned the knob and hurled the door open. I stomped to the bed and sat, clasping my hands together in my lap.

“I’m going to tell you this one…last…time.” He clenched his fists at his side. “Go shower and change into the fresh clothes on the bathroom counter. We have to leave soon.”

“To go where exactly?”

“The doctor, remember?”

“What if you’re taking me to be operated on and then throwing me into a mental hospital?”

“You watch too many horror movies.”

I leapt to my feet. “YouAREa horror movie! You’re a freaking jingling masked clown who’s locked me in a…house, or whatever this is. You poisoned me to get me here like I’m a damn Disney princess. The only thing you haven’t done is sew my mouth to someone else’s butthole!”

“Okay, okay.” He snorted, lifting a hand. I could hear the smirk in his voice. “First of all, I would never sew anything to an asshole. That’s gross, even for me.” He gagged behind the mask. “Fuck. You’re still so feisty.”

“Excuse me?”What does he mean, still?

“Go—”

“Shower, yes I know.” I rolled my eyes, reminding myself I needed to play it cool if I wanted to get out alive. “Sorry.” I offered a shy smile. “You haven’t hurt me since I’ve been here and—”

“I know what you’re doing, Isabelle, and it won’t work on me.”

“What?”

“You’re scared. You’re flipping between tough and terrified. You’re confused. I get it. And now, you’re at the point where you’re trying to manipulate me, but for what?” He threw his hands up. “I’m protecting you.” He pointed at the wound on my head. “I’m not letting you go. If something ever happened to you, there are many people who would miss you. Don’t you think if I wanted you dead, I would have let that monster take you or kill you?”

“Maybe you want Valentino’s money,” I mumbled, barely above a whisper.

“What was that?” He took a step closer.

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