Page 8 of The Truth Between

My eyes widened slightly at what he was alluding to, but the smirk on his face told me he was bullshitting me.

Soren waited a beat before he snatched the blanket off me. Immediately, I felt embarrassed.

I was still in the formerly pretty black gown that I’d worn to the masquerade ball. It had seen better days, and I definitely looked worse for wear now too. That’s what being locked up in a basement would do to you.

His eyes studied me as if I were a piece of art, and I couldn’t help but wonder what he was seeing that I wasn’t. I was dirty and probably needed to soak in bleach in order to be clean again. This was a far cry from how I looked leaving my dorm room for Chevalier Manor.

A shiver flew through my body as I felt his stare, looking me up and down. He hadn’t even touched me again, and my body was having involuntary reactions to him. Most of me wanted to throw up on him and see if that made him understand how I felt about him, but a small part of me wanted him to take me right here, right now, on this mattress. My mind veered to the times we’d spent together fucking each other until I cut myself off rather abruptly.

I couldn’t let my mind go there. I had more important things to worry about.

Like how to get out of here.

“You haven’t attempted to escape?” Soren’s words cut through my thoughts like a knife as I drew my full attention back to him.

“Depends on your definition of attempting escape. I did ask the guy who served me food to help me, but obviously, he didn’t.”

“Obviously,” Soren said smugly, and I wanted to slap the look off his face. “Franklin knows better than to do such a thing.”

“Because he works for you?”

When Soren nodded, I stored that piece of information away in my mind in case it came in handy at some point. “I was wondering if you were going to lie about that or not.”

It seemed as if I’d made the right decision by being honest, but when Soren’s eyes grew slightly darker, I began to regret my decision. I could see the wheels in his head turning and I didn’t like that one bit.

“Maybe you deserve a reward, petal. Would you like to take a shower?”

5

IRIS

Soren’s question hung in the air as I traced the edge of the cold metal cuff that wrapped around my ankle with my fingers. His offer to allow me to take a shower hung in the air between us, tempting me with the promise of a tiny bit of normalcy in this whirlwind of chaos that he’d turned my life into. I couldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him, so what else did he have up his sleeve when it came to this reward?

“I’m not sure what more there is to think about, Iris. It’s a yes or no question.”

I was half expecting him to tell me that I stunk, but he didn’t, choosing only to stare at me with an unreadable expression.

“What’s the catch?”

“Catch? There is no catch,” Soren said, but I didn’t believe him.

However, a shower sounded wonderful. I just hoped it wasn’t in a bathroom that was in a similar state as this room. “Fine,” I muttered, struggling to keep my voice steady. “I’ll take a shower.”

Soren’s lips curved into a sly smile as if he knew how much I struggled to say that. Our eyes remained locked for a moment longer before I watched him produce a key from his pants pocket and bend down toward my feet. His hand held my leg in a firm grip as he undid the cuff and remained there a second longer than necessary before he stood up once more. He turned toward the stairs and moved to the door that had teased me with my freedom. I waited a beat before I followed him.

We began climbing the staircase that had taunted me, and he opened the door that I’d found myself staring at more times than I could count. It opened into what looked to be a hallway with tall walls covered in dark, soft wallpaper. Light fixtures reminiscent of candles hung from the walls, emanating low light that gave the hallway an alluring and creepy quality.

In between the lights, the walls were lined with old portraits. I tried to shake off the feeling that we were being watched by the painted eyes, but I couldn’t. Not one of the paintings I passed showed anyone smiling, making me wonder if anyone in this house had ever shown a glimmer of happiness.

The floor was made of polished dark wood, so shiny it reflected some of the light from the lamps on the wall. We walked up another set of stairs as Soren led me to a guest room with a huge four-poster bed and dark furniture. He continued to walk until he opened another door in the room and flicked on the light.

I followed him into the room and found myself standing in a bathroom. The walls were decorated with these deep-colored tiles that I was convinced were black. There was just a bit of light coming from old-fashioned lamps on the walls, much like the hallway we walked through.

The bathtub was, without a doubt, the focal point of the room. It was huge and black, with gold trimming and a showerhead attached to the tile. Above the sink, there was a big mirror. Its frame was gold but looked old and worn out, but the glass was clear, looking as if it was brand new. There was not a speck of dirt around, telling me how well cared for this room was.

There were already towels and toiletries in the bathroom, along with what looked to be a T-shirt, sweatpants, and underwear for me to put on. Soren had clearly thought all of this through and was expecting me to say yes to the shower. Giving in to this “reward” felt as if I was selling a piece of my soul to him, but even having a second of peace under the pressure of the water flowing down on me might just make all this worth it.

“Undress,” Soren said, his voice low and gravelly. I glanced at him, confused by his statement.

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