Hurrying me away from the last portal, the man shoved me into the backseat of a nondescript black sedan while the woman got in the driver’s seat. We took off, not going over the speed limit or driving erratically. I still didn’t recognize where we were, which meant we were in a suburb of some kind. The buildings didn’t rise as high into the sky as they did in the downtown core where I spent most of my time. Soon we were in a residential area, pulling into the underground parking of an apartment building six stories tall.
A group of people waited for us in the parkade.
Finally, they were treating me like I was a precious asset. When we parked, a couple rushed to the woman in the front seat, helping her out. The rest of our new entourage surrounded me and the shifter man and marched us toward an elevator. “This is the greeting I was expecting originally,” I commented.
One of the men in front glanced back at me with a cocked eyebrow, before his neighbour elbowed him in the ribs. Everyone else ignored me resolutely. In the elevator we only went up to the second floor, and I discovered it was still a construction zone. The outside of the building had looked complete, but in here the walls didn’t have drywall or insulation, exposed wires trailing along the wooden slats.
I was paraded down a long hallway, flanked on both sides by incomplete walls, until we reached a small finished corner area. Steel bars inscribed with runes cordoned off a small three metre by three metre area, just big enough for a bed, a bit of floor, and a corner with a half wall that I assumed blocked the view of a toilet.
“These are some quality guest accommodations,” I said dryly, letting them shove me through the steel door and lock it behind me.
My body immediately felt the effect of the magic-blocking runes sapping my energy. As long as I didn’t do any magic within the confines of them, they wouldn’t do any harm to me. However, the second I did magic, I’d be drained to near empty and knocked out. I’d used runes like this before on the Alphas I’d tortured and killed.
With me locked away, everyone relaxed. The tattooed shifter man turned to me. “He’ll be with you shortly.”
“Tell him to bring my cousin with him. I won’t be cooperative until I see her.”
He didn’t acknowledge me, turning on his heel and leaving. Two of the men stayed behind, hands clasped in front of them and backs facing me. From this vantage point I couldn’t see anything outside my finished room, and I found myself longing for the slat walls on the rest of the floor. My cage was the only thing in here other than an antique rocking chair in the corner, which was an odd choice. Did Kylan spend his time rocking babies to sleep while he interrogated people?
A few cameras were honed in on me, one inside the cell with more outside looking in. All in all, the cell wasn’t as bad as it could have been. The floor was clean, if a little messy with construction dust. In the corner, the bed smelled of only one person, instead of the many people I’d assumed had occupied this cell in the past. The woman who’d created the portals had made up my bed, too, her scent lingering on the fabric. Even the toilet was clean and new with a little sink on the half wall beside it, the cramped style you saw in airplanes.
I sat down on the bed and turned my head up to the ceiling while I waited, trying to plot my way out of here. There was no way to get out until they’d opened the cage, so I’d have to wait until then. When Kylan came for me, he’d likely have enough guards to make killing him impossible, but would he keep those guards with him while he fucked me? Not for long, I assumed. Or not many guards. I’d have to wait a while until he trusted me not to attack or run, but he would grow complacent.
The dark that had been covering the room slowly decreased until the orange light of sunrise shone on my captors. I’d been here for hours, only moving to use the toilet and lay back down.
“Tell Kylan to stop keeping me in suspense,” I said to my guards.
Neither answered.
My irritation grew as the light did. He was a vampire. They were night creatures, although they didn’t burst into flames in sunlight like some Null lore claimed. Was he planning on leaving me in suspense all day? I was trying to be a good little captive, for Mabel’s sake, but it wasn’t in my nature to play nice for very long.
It must have been another hour before I spoke again. “That asshole is fucking playing with me,” I said. “And I know the tactic. Tell him it won’t work and bring him in here.”
I’d used the tactic myself to make my captives antsy, when I had the time. As much as I said it wasn’t going to work, it absolutely was and my words were proof of it. Once again, my guards didn’t move a muscle away from my cage.
Giving up on looking put together, I paced. There wasn’t much ground to cover, only a few steps across before I was turning back around. It didn’t take long for me to get dizzy from the constant turning, but I kept pacing. Soon, I was mumbling under my breath, irritation morphing into anger.
My plan to be a good captive was already going downhill. Maybe if I had an impassive mask like Shan, I’d be able to fake it better.
All I wanted was for Kylan to get it over with. He would fuck me and knot me and I’d demand he set my cousin free and maybe he’d even do it, or maybe I was naïve to assume so. In any case, I would be here and I would be bruised by the end of the visit whenever he deigned to grace me with his presence. Waiting for my inevitable abuse infuriated me.
Part of me was tempted to do magic so the runes would drain me and I’d end up passed out, because sleep wouldn’t come while I was this wound up.
“You’re a curiosity to watch.”
I jumped and spun to face the outside of my cage, but no one new was present. Both guards were still facing away from me, completely disinterested. My gaze caught on the cameras pointed at me, and I glared.
The masculine voice laughed. “Are you eager to meet me?” he asked, his voice coming from all sides of me, which I hadn’t noticed at first.
His security system emitted sound so he could speak to me while not in my presence. I grit my teeth, trying to be discreet about it. How was I supposed to kill him when he wasn’t in front of me? If I played nice, he might have someone fetch me for his pleasure, so I’d have to try.
“More eager than I’ve ever been in my life.”
Fuck, my tone definitely made it sound like a threat.
He only laughed again. “Since you’re clearly not going to rest like I’d hoped you would, I suppose I can come and introduce myself.”
“I know who you are.”
