Page 90 of Kept

My snort is scathing. “What qualifies you to make that decision, prey? You’ve met, what, five people in your entire life?”

She half-smiles. “Seven, actually. That I remember, at least. You want to know who I met tonight?”

My lips press together. They fucking took her with them.

“I saw the candle in Sherileen’s parents window,” she whispers. “I saw the agony of not knowing in their faces, and the agony of grief. But I also saw relief, Enzo. Relief that Sherileen is coming home to them. You freed them from that agony.”

“Don’t paint me as a hero, prey,” I say quietly. “You’ll be disappointed.”

She tilts her head. “Ryder told me that you give them closure. But you also give them vengeance, Enzo.Justice. Poetic justice, and that doesn’t make you evil.”

“Enough.” I push her fingers away from my skin, embracing the cold that rushes in. “I kill people, prey. Rip them apart. Carve them up in as many inventive ways as I can think of. And I enjoy every damn second of it.”

“But only the ones who deserve it,” she whispers. “Have you ever killed anyone who didn’t?”

The memories flash like a brutal assault in my mind. “I don’t know.”

“Because of the cage?”

“Yes.” I can’t look at her anymore. She looks so fucking hopeful, and it’s catching, like a little light is coming to life inside my chest. So I turn around, taking a breath when soft hands land on my shoulders.

“Whatever you did inside that cage wasn’t your choice,” she murmurs. “It’s what you did outside of it that counts. Have you killed anyone that didn’t deserve itoutsideof that cage?”

I press my lips together, refusing to answer, and her hands tighten before her fingers trace down my skin, gently tracing my tattoos.

I lean back into her touch, unable to help myself. “Why did you come back?”

She presses her lips against the marks on my back. “I told you,” she says, almost chidingly. “Because I choose you, Enzo. All of you. I’ve made my decision.”

I sigh. “You haven’t seen what else is outside of these walls, Zella.”

She hums against my skin. “You’ll show me.”

“You have so much faith in me,” I mutter.

“Someone has to,” she says quietly. “Since you have none in yourself.”

I’ve had enough. Turning, I take in her face a split second before I lift her, carrying her over to my table. She doesn’t flinch when I lay her down, her face open and too fucking trusting for her own good.

Leaning down, I breathe in the fresh scent of her neck. “Fine, then. No more running, little prey.”

I gave her a chance. I gave her the space that I could.

No more.

33 – Zella

Thecoldofthetable presses into my back, making me shiver. Enzo hovers above me, his eyes black and narrowing. “You’re cold.”

“I’m fine.” But he ignores my protests, lifting me again and striding to a door I’ve never noticed before. He kicks it open, and I take a deep breath.

The dungeon smells metallic, cold almost. But this room is all Enzo, dark walls, dark bedding. He sets me down on the soft sheets, and I inhale, giving in to the urge to stretch out like a cat.

This room is like a little piece of him. It even smells like him, a little spicy, and I prop myself up to watch him as he unbuttons his jeans. He leaves them on with the top button undone as he climbs onto the bed, and I suck in a breath as he covers me, pressing me down into the covers with his chest bare.

“Oh, little prey,” he murmurs. Leaning down, he presses his lips to my neck, and I arch against him, gasping when he drags his teeth over the delicate skin. “No escape now.”

I don’t want to escape. I want to burn up in this feeling that has my abdomen clenching as his hands slide beneath my sweatshirt, pushing it over my head.

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