Page 57 of Rapunzel Unchained
The first few times I’d woken, Adam and Gage weren’t there, but they’d left a plastic bottle of water on the table.
This time when I startled awake, sucking in long streams of breaths, my eyes locked onto Gage’s. He sat a tray on the lone table. I expected anger or even disgust to reach me, but what I didn’t expect was pity.
That was so much worse.
Rolling over, I put my back to him, ignoring him as he set out the meal I wouldn’t be eating.
“If you can’t sleep, we can bring you something to help.”
My arms wrapped tighter around myself. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing how being caged affected me.
“Eva.” Gage’s voice grew quiet, his presence a shadow over the bed. “You need to eat. I brought you some clothes to change into. If you don’t like them, I can find something else.”
“Leave me alone,” I muttered, squeezing my eyes shut. I couldn’t bear how nice he was being to me. Where was the asshole who threatened me in the park? The one who told me to stay away from him and his friends? Why was he acting like... like he cared?
“You can pout all you want, but I’m not going to let you starve yourself.”
His firm grip dragged me from the bed, lifting me up into his thick, warm arms. I pushed against him, slashing my nails at his face until he dropped me into the chair at the table.
“Fuck, Eva. You’re being a child,” Gage snapped. He dropped into the chair on the opposite side of the table, touching the side of his face briefly.
I smirked as blood welled up from one of the scratches I’d left on his face.
“Eat. Or I will force feed you.” Gage gestured at the plate in front of me.
My lips pulled down at the sides at the plate. It was flimsy and, with a bit of pressure, ripped. The sandwich and cold vegetables on the plate didn’t require utensils, and he hadn’t given me any. I poked at the food and sneered. “Afraid I’m going to use the plate as a weapon?”
Gage crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Not taking any chances. You’re violent when you’re mad.”
I picked up a carrot and snapped it between my teeth with a vicious grin. “I wonder why.”
Silently, I took one bite of food after the next, not really tasting it as I swallowed it. My eyes burned into Gage’s face, the mask covering his lower half just a reminder of how much he didn’t trust me.
“Shouldn’t you be on the other side of the barrier?”
Gage cocked his head to the side, and I didn’t need to see his lips to know he was smirking at me. “Why? Are you going to kill me?”
I lifted my hand, letting a small ball of fire swell there. “I could easily kill you.”
“You won’t, though,” Gage shot back, tapping his foot under the table. “I’m finally starting to figure you out.”
I let the fire go out and shifted back in my chair, crossing one leg over the other. “Oh, really? Please enlighten me.”
“You’re all bark and no bite.” He tapped his fingers on the table with a grin. “You could have killed Beatriz, too, instead of just threatening her.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Maybe I was giving her a chance to change. Obviously I was mistaken.”
“You could have attacked me the moment I walked through the barrier, but you didn’t.”
“Haven’t yet.”
“You won’t.”
“It’s not too late to test that theory.”
Gage threw his head back and laughed. “See? All bark.”
“And what about the party? I didn’t just bark then,” I snapped, irritated that he was making me out to be some weakling who couldn’t follow through on her promises.
